“I learned my trade by going out every evening as a young man. I went to every pretty house in France and Italy and other places, too, and I remembered them all, even down to what was on each little table.”
So said interior designer Vincent Fourcade (1934-1992), a master of the magnificent.
Simply put, nothing beats keeping your eyes open.
The advice to keep ones' eyes open is always valuable, but when it comes to invitations to pretty houses, Natural Selection always favors clever & good-looking young people over the shy & dorky. I speak from experience. Then again, my formative years were spent in Danville & Peoria, where pretty houses were few & far between, so it's not like I missed much, anyway. Thank heaven for books & old-school librarians.
ReplyDeleteHe'd be hard pressed today.
ReplyDeleteSurely words of wisdom! Elated to see you're back.
ReplyDeleteJonathan O.
Surely words of wisdom!
ReplyDeleteI'm elated to see a new post.
I would love to catch a glimpse at his address book.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that you are back.
Hear, hear! Life is so much more rewarding through observation of everything too.
ReplyDeleteIndeed! Well said and something I practice every day!
ReplyDeleteI perhaps just do not remember all the details as he did!
Very true.Keeping your eyes open to great art and bautiful houses is an education that will give great pleasure and will always stand you in good stead , and will help to develop a good eye for things.
ReplyDeleteMagna, shy perhaps but not in the least dorky. AL, as the rest, I am always happy to see that header pop up in my reader.
ReplyDelete...and imagine what more he could have done with a digital camera!!
ReplyDeletehttp://maybrady.blogspot.com/
Excellent Toad...as I enter a new chapter in my life and art, the special details are becoming more and more apparent.
ReplyDeleteI have a Luxurious New Giveaway on my site....Come and enter!!
Xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
It is always in the detail....xv
ReplyDeleteI agree with the sentiment. I remember the first time I was taken to Monticello and still remember every little detail, like the narrow staircase, or the knife holder in the Octagon House in D.C. I was just reading New York Social Diary the other day, and the apartment of two gentlemen. I found myself studying how they arranged crystal. It's all in the detail and balance.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. Sometimes it is far worse to look, Darling. Some visions leave me badly scarred...
ReplyDeleteSimply put, absolutely so
ReplyDeleteI can't decide if this justifies dilettantes, or demonstrates how clever people use their resources. Condemned to a life of fine entertaining? Make use of it! :) He certainly put those experiences to excellent use.
ReplyDelete-SF
P.S. I'm hosting a Marc Jacobs jewelry give away - I hope you'll stop by! http://sfair.blogspot.com/2010/10/marc-jacobs-give-away.html
This kind of describes me :) I remember every detail from every Kips Bay Showhouse in NY I've ever been to!
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