Dorothy Draper
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Dorothy Draper (born 1889 in Tuxedo Park, New York, died 1969) was an influential and innovative American interior decorator of the early to mid 20th century. She was one of the few early women to really delve into the male dominated construction industry. Her style was big, brash, bodacious, bold, and bordered on what some would consider gaudy, shocking both men and women of her day. She was a predecessor of Morris Lapidus, the architect that would redesign, stylistically as well as almost literally, all of Miami Beach. The two had similar styles and approaches, yet his was firmly modernistic, while she still used traditional elements and principles in her work, albeit grandiosely.
Her style can still be seen influencing the looks of more current interior decorators. Robert Denning & Vincent Fourcade used her sense of scale with even more polish and excess. Certain elements of her neo-baroque elements are used by Philippe Starck.
In May 2006, The Museum of the City of New York held an exhibition of Draper's work, curated by Donald Albrecht and designed by the Manhattan studio Pure+Applied. Draper-designed furniture was lent by The Greenbrier Hotel and The Arrowhead Springs resort—two of her best-known projects. A 9 foot tall white "bird-cage" chandelier that Draper designed for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Dorotheum cafe was also on display.
She is also the cousin of another influential interior designer, Sister Parish.
Her book Entertaining is Fun! How to Be a Popular Hostess, was reissued in 2004. (ISBN 0-8478-2619-8)
[edit] References
- Owens, Mitchell, "Living Large: The Brash, Bodacious Hotels of Dorothy Draper" in The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Issue 25, Spring 2005. (published by the Wolfsonian - Florida International University.[1]
- Varney, Carleton. The Draper Touch The High Life & High Style of Dorothy Draper, New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988. (ISBN 0-13-219080-X)
- Dorothy Draper and Company [2]
