Audrey in Rome

Audrey Hepburn on the terrace of the Hotel Hassler, in Rome, with the telegram announcing her New York Film Critics best-actress award for "The Nun's Story," 1960 

If you haven't already gotten a copy, you need to run out right now and pick up the May issue of Vanity Fair to see these exquisite photos of Audrey Hepburn in Rome and read the fascinating article about her years in The Eternal City. Her son Luca Dotti recalls his mother's love affair with Rome; she lived there for more than 20 years. He includes intimate photographs that have never been seen before from his new book Audrey in Rome.  He obtained many of them from the Reporters Association archives (much to his surprise, it was a rich repository of candid photos of his mother); they capture her day-to-day life on the streets of Rome and, as Luca says, they never caught her off guard. This was because she always exhibited impeccable composure that was developed from her training in classical ballet and (full disclosure) many of the photographers were her good friends.

Her always chic style, simple and classic, is evident in these photos. And yet, Dotti writes that his mother never thought she was beautiful. He also remembers an inner sadness that came from the war years when she was hungry and hiding from the Nazis in occupied Holland. But he adds that there was also "this fantastic will and enthusiasm. Because after all that sorrow everything was a discovery. When she talked about her career she always said that she was lucky and it was like winning the lottery." Luca Dotti tells a fascinating story of his mother's years living in the Italian capital and the photos capture the fashions and style of the 1950's through the 1970's with beautiful Rome as a backdrop.    

At a cafe in Piazza Navona, 1955
Love the basket purse!

On the Piazza Trinita dei Monti, 1960

With Gregory Peck in a scene from "Roman Holiday," 1953

With her first husband, Mel Ferrer, in the Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, circa 1960

In "Roman Holiday," 1953

 I cannot wait to get a copy of Audrey in Rome by Luca Dotti. It would make a perfect Mother's Day gift.

Photos via here

A Night To Honor Julia

It seems that we can't get enough of Julia Child. Maybe it is because Julia's life story is filled with so many lessons for all of us. As Bob Spitz told the group gathered on Tuesday night to hear him speak about his book Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, she taught us that in mid-life we can reinvent ourselves. At age 40, when she studied French cooking at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and began the journey that would lead to the writing of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking,"she did not even know how to cook. She was 50 years old when her first cookbook was published. And she was 52 when her show "The French Chef" debuted on WGBH in Boston. She had never been on television before and did not even own a television set. It really is amazing to think about.

Julie Robinson and Bob Spitz

On Tuesday night I went to a wonderful event hosted by Julie Robinson of Literary Affairs.  We met at Surfas, a restaurant supply and gourmet food purveyor in Culver City, for an evening called "Dearie and Mastering the Art of French Cooking." The title said it all.  We would be cooking several dishes from Julia Child's "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" under the supervision of Maite Gomez-Rejon of Art Bites.  Afterwards we would sit down to eat the dinner we had prepared, drink some beautiful French wines, and listen to Bob Spitz's warm and affectionate talk about Julia Child. As he happily admitted, he has had a crush on her for a long time.

He told us that he got the opportunity to spend some quality time with her in 1992.  He was in Italy  working on magazine articles when he got a call from the Italian travel commission. They asked if he would like to escort Julia Child on a trip to Sicily. At that point she was eighty years old. He jumped at the chance and spent three weeks with Julia in Sicily, eating and talking nonstop. It was a life changing experience. If his book reads anything like his warm and humorous talk on Tuesday night --he does a spot-on impersonation of Julia Child -- it will be delightful. I cannot wait to get a copy.

Maite Gomez-Rejon created an exciting menu for us to cook from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"

Simple Green Salad with French Vinaigrette

Celery Root in Mustard Sauce

Chicken Sauteed with Herbs and Garlic

Tomatoes Stuffed with Bread Crumbs, Herbs and Garlic

Potatoes Sauteed in Butter

Fresh Strawberry Tart

And so we chopped, stirred, whisked, sauteed and appreciated the beauty of butter. After all, these recipes were from Julia Child and butter was in almost everything. It made the food taste delicious! 

I cheated on the last photo (via here). Our strawberry tart needed more time to set up before having its photo taken. But the strawberry tart (above) from Ina Garten is what ours would have looked like with a bit more time.

By the way, for those of you who live in Los Angeles, Julie Robinson and Maite Gomez-Rejon are local treasures. Julie runs Literary Affairs which puts on stimulating book events with writers and  facilitates book groups all around town. Her Beverly Hills Literary Escape is coming up in October, 2013. Maite created Art Bites in order to combine her two passions: art history and cooking. In her cooking classes, she weaves culinary history with hands-on cooking at museums across the country. I have taken a few of her classes and they are always instructive, educational and fun. Like Julia Child, both these women have followed their passions and turned them into a business. I left the event on Tuesday night feeling very inspired!

A Touch of Glamour

Miles Redd signing his book "The Big Book of Chic"

Sometimes it's fun to add a little glamour to our lives.  Interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein owns one of the prettiest home decor shops in Los Angeles.  Hollyhock is filled with beautiful furniture, antiques, accessories, and art for the home.  It is also the site of some of the best book signings around.  Suzanne hosts elegant evenings that feature interior designers who have written design books.  It is always exciting to go to these events and meet the designers. Lately it seems that many of them are writing books that are as much about their inspiration as about the homes they create for their clients.  The books are beautiful, dreamy, collage-like volumes that intersperse quotes, favorite books, photos of style mentors, images of works of art, and beautiful details of everyday life with images of the rooms they design for clients.   These are the sources of inspiration for these designers and the story of how they pull them all together and use them in their work is very exciting to see.

Suzanne Rheinstein's store Hollyhock in West Hollywood

A couple of months ago I attended a book signing that Suzanne hosted for New York City-based decorator Miles Redd and his book The Big Book of Chic.  As Miles says, "This book is about big glamour -- the kind that inspires the sensation of dancing across an MGM soundstage, silhouetted by a klieg light."

Suzanne Rheinstein with Miles Redd

There are some people that have to be described as debonair.  Such is Miles Redd.  It is almost as if he belongs to another age -- that period of flamboyant glamour between the wars when Cecil Beaton and Coco Chanel were the tastemakers of the day and Noel Coward was the greatest wit.  He is one of today's bright young things, a brilliant young interior designer whose exuberant take on traditionalism includes a mix of playful colors and eclectic glamour that has won him many fans.

After reading up on Miles, I learned that his lucky clients think his style feels like the world's most glamorous party. His sense of fun is contagious.  Not surprisingly, he writes that his favorite period of time is that "between the wars, the era of madcap, bright young things.  Frivolity gets a bad rap, but I will defend it to my dying day." This book includes the beautiful, dramatic, and cozy settings he has created for his clients as well as a medley of images of people, artists, and places that inspire him.  These include Cecil Beaton portraits, Rene Gruau sketches, Fitzgerald and Mitford novels, and royal memoirs that have influenced his unique approach to decorating.

Here are some of the quotes and images that have inspired his design aesthetic:

And here are some of the glamorous and whimsical settings he has created:

These rooms evoke old-style glamour.  They could be the setting for fabulous parties and it is easy to  imagine Noel Coward, Truman Capote or Coco Chanel in attendance.

It is true that sometimes we just need a dose of glamour to brighten up our day.  "The Big Book of Chic" by Miles Redd will do just that, with a healthy dose of wit and whimsy thrown into the mix.   The book reinforces the idea that creativity comes from many different places and is fueled by the evanescent impressions that come our way each day: the books we read, the trips we take, the art we see, the writers we admire.  All of these things live in our memory and if we hang on to them, we will be able to use them later.  Inspiration can come from many different sources -- a beautiful satin ribbon, an antique tapestry, a dinner party scene from a favorite book, a view of the Italian countryside or a painting by a Flemish master.  These impressions inspire the way we decorate our homes, plant our garden, set our dinner table, stitch a needlepoint pillow, paint a watercolor, or write a poem. 

As Miles Redd says about his book,

  "It is a piled-on mix of work and fantasy and perhaps you can make it your own."

Last seven photos via here

A Library to Love

Edith Wharton's library at The Mount

Photo via here

There has been a lot of news about Edith Wharton lately.  Have you noticed how much attention she is getting?  There are several new books about her and a glamorous photo spread in Vogue magazine (the September issue!).  The attention is not surprising considering that this year is the 150th anniversary of her birth.  And now her home in western Massachusetts is the subject of a new book. Edith Wharton's beautiful library (above) at the Mount, the home she designed and lived in during the early part of the twentieth-century, is featured in a new book that has just been published -- "Edith Wharton at Home: Life at the Mount" by Richard Guy Wilson.

Photo via here

Wharton was as passionate and knowledgeable about architecture and interior design as she was about writing novels. In fact, her first book was "The Decoration of Houses" which she wrote with the architect Ogden Codman, Jr.  It was a book that was critical of Victorian design excesses and promoted a return to classical principles like symmetry. Anyone who is a fan of Edith Wharton's fiction knows that descriptions of her characters' homes and environments are a big part of her books.  We sink contentedly into these environments as we become engrossed in her books.  I love the description of Lawrence Selden's library in "The House of Mirth" when Lily Bart makes her unwise and unchaperoned visit to the bachelor's home.  I feel as if I could walk right into that room, which is how I often feel in my favorite books by Wharton.

"He ushered her into a slip of a hall hung with old prints.  She noticed the letters and notes heaped on the table among his gloves and sticks;  then she found herself in a small library, dark but cheerful, with its walls of books, a pleasantly faded Turkey rug, a littered desk, and, as he had foretold, a tea-tray on a low table near the window.  A breeze had sprung up, swaying inward the muslin curtains, and bringing a fresh scent of mignonette and petunias from the flower-box on the balcony."

That is the kind of library I want.  But Edith Wharton's library at the Mount is a much grander room than Lawrence Selden's cozy library in "The House of Mirth."  It is a beautiful space with bookshelves made out of oak and two doors opening up to the terrace.  And it needed to be grand for it was the room where Wharton would entertain her guests -- which included her good friend the writer Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, the diplomat Walter Berry, writer and painter Maxfield Parrish and landscape designer Beatrix Farrand --  for drinks and conversation before and after dinner. And when you consider that it now contains Edith Wharton's personal collection of books which were returned to the Mount from Europe in 2006, it is a very special room.

Photo via here

Do you enjoy visiting writers' houses?  It is one of my favorite things to do when I am traveling.  A trip to the Berkshires for me has to include a visit to Edith Wharton's home.  In fact, the first time I was there was about fifteen years ago when the house was not yet fully restored and was the home for a theatrical group that staged Henry James' novella "The Turn of the Screw."  Seeing this ghost story  performed in Wharton's home around Halloween was an amazing experience!

The best writers' houses are autobiographical, giving us insight into the person.  The Mount is such a house.  It reveals so much about Edith Wharton.    Every aspect of the estate -- including its gardens, architecture, and interior design -- reflects her spirit.  We sense her presence as we walk through the rooms.   This is where she lived, wrote, and entertained her circle of friends which included some of the most prominent writers and artists of the day.  It contains the bedroom where she wrote "The House of Mirth," writing the book in bed each morning and tossing the pages onto the floor for her assistant to pick up and type.

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The library at the Mount, as it was recently photographed for Vogue magazine

And what about Edith Wharton's recent "star" turn in Vogue magazine?  Did you see it?  Wharton and the Mount (with a great scene shot in the library) were featured in the September issue of Vogue magazine.  This gorgeous article and photo spread photographed by Annie Leibovitz and styled by Vogue's art director Grace Coddington on the grounds of the Mount has created a huge buzz.  The article (written by Colm Toibin) tells the story of Edith's love affair with Morton Fullerton, the American expatriate journalist.  Wharton's good friend Henry James was also in love with him. The photos form a gorgeous visual accompaniment illustrating the literary life and love story of Edith Wharton. Everyone who read it was thrilled that the photos featured writers, actors, and artists of today playing Edith's inner circle of friends, including writer Jeffrey Eugenides as Henry James and writer Jonathan Safran Foers as architect Ogden Codman.  One of the scenes was shot in the library (photo above) with actor Jack Huston (from HBO's "Boardwalk Empire") playing Morton Fullerton, model Natalia Vodianova as  Wharton, and Jeffrey Eugenides as Henry James.  Go here to read more.

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Photo via here

There is also a new novel about Edith Wharton's life written by Jennie Fields.  In "The Age of Desire" Fields tells the story of Wharton's life through two points of view:  Wharton's own and that of her literary secretary and confidante Anna Bahlmann.  The book recreates Wharton's turn of the century world which consisted of Paris, her country estate in western Massachusetts, and Henry James home in Rye, New York.  I just picked up a copy of this book and can't wait to immerse myself in Edith Wharton's world, as well as read about her love affair with Morton Fullerton and her relationship with Anna Bahlmann.  Apparently, when she was with Fullerton, Wharton revealed a side of herself -- vulnerable and passionate -- that she didn't show to most people.  Henry James, despite his conflicted feelings regarding Fullerton, encouraged her to have the affair.  The story sounds as intriguing as any of her novels.

By the way, now that we are all becoming more familiar with Edith Wharton's life through the new books and articles about her, I wonder if someone will make a movie out of it.  What do you think?  Vogue magazine may have gotten the ball rolling with its luscious reimagining of Wharton's life at the Mount.  It had the feel of a small costume drama. Hmmm...who could play Edith Wharton?  Maybe two actresses, one playing Wharton as a young woman in her twenties, and one playing her later in life, perhaps in her forties.  Rebecca Hall and Emma Thompson?   Just a thought...the casting would be so much fun!

Lily Pond Table

Lily Pond table

Photo via here

I am often amazed at how much I learn from my favorite blogs.  While happily reading through some recent postings on the Persephone Post, (part of their larger website which is chock-full of delightful information for book lovers) I spotted this image. It is the Lily Pond table designed and painted by British artist Duncan Grant  for the Omega Workshop around 1913.   I fell in love with this at Charleston in Sussex, England (the home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant) when I visited there last September.  I learned that several of these tables were made by the Omega Workshop and that the one featured above is in an art gallery in Australia.

When I first saw the Lily Pond table at Charleston, I noticed how often the Bloomsbury artists used garden imagery in their creations.  Bringing the garden inside was something that they loved to do.  Because Charleston is in the country and surrounded by nature, it made sense that so many pieces of furniture, rugs, pillows, and wall coverings incorporated this theme.  It is one of the reasons the house is so exuberant -- flowers and leaves are everywhere.  The beautiful garden that is behind the house was often a subject of the paintings done by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

The Lily Pond table is in Maynard Kenyes' bedroom at Charleston.  He was such a frequent guest at Charleston that he was given his own room.  Can you imagine having this piece in your bedroom?  I remember that the table was in front of a window which had a beautiful view of the pond and the nearby countryside.  That side of the house would have been covered with beautiful white clematis in the summer.  It seemed like a wonderful room for sleep and a peaceful room for work.   Duncan Grant's design for the table was based on the goldfish pond in Roger Fry's garden at Durbins as seen from above.  The paint was poured in puddles, rather than carefully applied, to achieve a more free flowing effect.   After doing a little research, I wasn't surprised to find out that the Lily Pond table was one of the Omega's most popular patterns for painted furniture.

If you you love beautiful books and don't know about Persephone Books,  you should take a look at their website here. They also have two charming stores in London.   They reprint neglected novels, diaries, short stories and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to mid-twentieth century.  These books are beauties!  All are elegant paperbacks with a dust jacket.  They have dove-grey covers with cream labels and printed endpapers often of a fabric from the original year of publication. The books come with matching bookmarks inside.  You can buy the books on their website or if you are in London, go to their store!  The one I visited was very cozy and English, perfect for lingering and browsing through all the great titles.

A post card I bought when I was there

And by the way, I just found out that they will be publishing "A Writer's Diary" by Virginia Woolf this summer.  Something to look forward to!

Virginia Woolf

Photo via here

Endpaper for the Persephone Post edition of "A Writer's Diary"

Photo via here

Beautiful May

"The world's favorite season is the spring.  All things seem possible in May."  --  Edwin Way Teale

May is a joyous month -- gardens are blooming, the sun is shining and the air has a delicious freshness.  Graduations are coming up and garden tours are happening all over the country.  It is the month when we take out our summer dresses, put on our hats and go to garden parties.   There is a delicious buzz in the air as we move all of our activities outside.  We sit on a chaise lounge in dappled sunlight, sip a lemonade and visit with friends. We watch as the miracle of nature occurs.  We can't help but smile.

My daughter gave me a wonderful book on gardening.  It is the classic "First Garden" by C.Z. Guest.  C.Z. Guest was a renowned socialite and lifelong gardener who decided in 1976, while recovering from a riding accident, to write a clear and concise garden primer that would allow any beginner to learn the satisfaction of working in the garden. Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 1976,  it was long out of print and demand from the collector's market prompted C.Z. to reprint the book in 2003.  That is the copy that I have.

  
Introduced by Truman Capote and illustrated by Cecil Beaton, this book has impressive collaborators.  Here is some of what Truman Capote wrote in the introduction about C.Z. Guest.  Reading his description of the first time he spotted her takes us back to a time of glittering New York nightlife:

"The first time I saw Mrs. Guest was during the entr'acte of 'My Fair Lady.'  Escorted by Cecil Beaton, the play's costume-designer, she was standing at a bar across from the theatre.  There were fifty-odd fashionable ladies crowded there, but one could not have overlooked this one.
As Raymond Chandler remarked of his femme fatale in 'The Long Goodbye,' 'There are blondes, and there are blondes.' Mrs. Guest, shimmering in the blue smoky light, was one of the latter.  Her hair, parted in the middle, and paler than Dom Perignon, was but a shade darker than the dress she was wearing, a Main Bocher column of white crepe de chine.  No jewelry, not much make-up; just blanc de blanc perfection.
Beaton introduced me to her, a gesture she acknowledged with ice-cream reserve.  Who could have imagined that lurking inside this cool vanilla lady was a madcap, laughing tomboy..."

And describing C.Z. in her garden, Capote wrote:

"...once she has stepped across the threshold that leads from the glass houses to the walled garden that contains her row upon row of edibles and lookables, the true CeeZie emerges, like a sun sliding from behind the clouds.  There with her baskets and spades and  clippers, and wearing her funny boyish shoes, and with the sunborne sweat soaking her eyes, she is part of the sky and the earth, possibly a not too significant part, but a part.  And that is what this little testimony of Mrs. Guest's is about; well, yes, it is about gardening -- but it's also about belonging, being a part of living things:  just, you might say, life itself." 

Truman Capote could not write a sentence that wasn't beautiful!

Here is what C.Z. Guest wrote about the value of gardening:

"There are so many fabulous things about gardening, and the best is that absolutely anyone can do it.  It's great fun, and for someone who is unhappy or lonely, having a garden is like having a good and loyal friend.  Gardening can also be a tremendous relaxation for someone who is nervous.  I find that being outside and using my hands to care for each flower is very soothing.  In addition, once you plant your garden you'll feel such a thrill to see your things growing. Each day you'll find it's different -- a new surprise!  After a good rain all the young flowers and vegetables seem to sprout right out of the earth, as if to say, 'Here I am!'  Your garden will help you discover a whole new world...
And best of all, your garden is never finished.  You must keep up with it and tend to it every day.  It's like watching your children grow.  It will give back to you all the love and care you put into it.  Your garden is a good friend -- a true friend.  And if you help it grow, it will never disappoint you."

This book is a gem and I hope you can find a copy for yourself or to give as a gift to a gardening friend.  And for the Persephone Book lovers out there, these endpapers will make you very happy!

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day!