The first authoritative assessment of Mario Buatta by a protegee of the decorator. Never-before-seen archival material is culled to present the design master as someone who remains impactful in today s world of maximalist interiors. This book presents the design tricks and decorative life of Mario Buatta (1935 2018), one of America s most famous interior decorators. Drawing upon Buatta s vast archives and revealing the foundations of his work, which include hundreds of presentation boards, more than eighty scrapbooks chronicling his career, and correspondence with clients and such design notables as John Fowler and Sister Parish, Anatomy of a Decorator illuminates the designer s work with a focus on influences, process, and evolution. His very last projects, not included in Rizzoli s comprehensive book on the decorator in 2013, are evaluated and provide readers a masterclass in decorating a la Buatta. Ribbons, needlepoint, fine English and American antiques, floral chintzes, blue-and-white porcelains, lacquerware, botanicals, vibrant color combinations, and whimsy abound. Chapters include a close look at the important figures who guided his trajectory, including Nancy Lancaster, Rose Cumming, Keith Irvine, and Albert Hadley; an assessment of how the designer catapulted from Staten Island without a college degree to become a household name; and a breakdown of Buatta s design vocabulary and how-tos. This book is an essential addition to the libraries of design aficionados.

The eagerly anticipated first monograph to celebrate the fifty-years-and-counting career of decorating legend Mario Buatta. Influenced by the understated elegance of Colefax and Fowler and the doyenne of exuberant American decor, Sister Parish, Buatta reinvented the English Country House style stateside for clients such as Henry Ford II, Barbara Walters, Malcolm Forbes, and Mariah Carey, and for Blair House, the President's guest quarters. The designer is acclaimed for his sumptuous rooms that layer fine antiques, confectionary curtains, and sublime colorations, creating an atmosphere of lived-in opulence. This lavishly illustrated survey-filled with images taken for the foremost shelter magazines as well as many unpublished photographs from the designer's own archive-closely follows Buatta's highly documented career from his professional start in the 1950s working for department store B. Altman & Co. and Elisabeth Draper, Inc. to his most recent projects, which include some of the country's finest residences. Buatta shares exclusive insights into his process, his own rules for decorating, and personal stories of his adventures along the way.