Yesterday's lecture and books signing by Mr John Saladino was all and more that I expected. That he would show slides of his latest book Villa was predictable. (I overheard someone in the queue for the signing exclaim that the contents of the book were the same as the slide show.) But I must tell you these slides – although whoever had digitized them for Mr Saladino should be ashamed of letting them out of the door – were accompanied by photos of other work, equally impressive, as driven by profound knowledge of architectural principles and as masterly decorative as might be expected from this man – a man for whom the whole room stood and applauded on his entrance. Mr Saladino warned his audience that the lecture would take about an hour, but because of his photos, his knowledge, his humor, his enthusiasm, his self-deprecation and wit, it seemed by the end too short a time.
Below a photo of the elevator shaft I mentioned in yesterday's post - not green or verdigris, as in my memory, but stone. It was the archway that had been treated to resemble oxidized bronze.
The title A reward? Mr Saladino mentioned a number of times axes at the end of which were visual rewards, eye-catchers.
Photo of elevator hallway by René Stoeltie from Style by Saladino, The Monacelli Press, 2000.
Photo of Yummy Scrumptious and Mr Saladino courtesy of my iPhone and my lack of reading glasses.
"the whole room stood and applauded on his entrance" wow. It would be great to have his presentation on video. Sometimes we enjoy both the book and the movie.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it would and it might well be. The people to check with are the editors at Veranda magazine. The book contains a CD/DVD of ... I've never looked at it. Will remedy that this weekend.
ReplyDeleteFirst let me say that I am an admirer of Mr Saladino's work, a wonderful mix of the classic and the modern, the antique and the original. After admiring the published photos of this Gracie Square duplex apartment, I was excited at the prospect of actually visiting it when a potential building contractor wanted to show me an example of his work. That colossal column is a "trompe l'oeil" finish given to part of the building's elevator shaft that intrudes into the apartment's entrance hall. The coloring was sublime, no doubt influenced by the East River adjacent. But Mr Saladino's new furniture, by Baker if I remember correctly, looked very cheap and was quite a distraction. A subsequent owner tore most of it out a number of years ago; the photos are all that remains.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, John T. I have wondered a number of times whilst writing posts if the interior in discussion still exists and here you tell me this is gone. Not surprising, I suppose, given the influence of fashion and fad on decoration. Eleanor McMillen Brown's apartment stayed the same for fifty years with only an occasional refreshing. Once it's right, it's right - you'd think.
ReplyDeleteApropos, Mr Saladino's furniture, occasionally I have found it etiolated and overly stylized- this from photos, as I have not seen it in reality.