Stylist Lili Diallo's Chic Brooklyn Loft

Stylist Lili Diallo's Chic Brooklyn Loft

I've managed to contract the plague that is going around New York right now so I'm too busy chugging cough syrup and watching the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice to write anything coherent. Until I recover, I'm leaving you with some lovely photos of stylist Lili Diallo's Brooklyn loft. I think this is a prime example of the type of features that Domino does best. A very personal home that is filled with treasures from around the world and is full of personality. Unlike me a the moment. Enjoy!

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Annie and the Queen

Annie and the Queen

 

Detail of Annie Leibovitz photograph

A few nights ago Barbara Walters hosted a special on the Queen of England using footage from a BBC documentary based on a year in the life of the Queen and her family.    As it turned out, the most fascinating segment of the two hour special was a photo session with famed American photographer Annie Leibovitz and the Queen Elizabeth.  Leibovitz was hired by the Queen to take her official portrait to commemorate the royal visit to Jamestown in celebration of  its 400th birthday.  The documentary captured a few tense moments when Annie asked the incredulous Queen to remove her tiara because "the garter robe is so.....," Annie paused, and the Queen snapped back "Less dressy?  What do you think this?" while angrily pointing to her over-the-top garter robe.  This exchanged caused a major controversy in England when the BBC's aired the special. In the BBC version, the camera cuts to the Queen storming out after the exchange with Leibovitz.  It then shows the Queen testily saying  to her Lady-in-Waiting:  "I'm not changing anything.  I've had enough dressing like this thank you very much."  Someone at the BBC was actually fired for showing this scene out of context.  Barbara Walters got the context correct.  The scene with the Queen stomping out and refusing to "change anything" was actually filmed as she was walking INTO the photo session with Leibovitz not OUT of it.  British Fleet Street had a  field day with the BBC's deception and Barbara Walters wasn't about to repeat the error. 

Regardless  of all the uproar over the photo session, the actual footage of it was amusing and it showed the Queen acting "human" in front of  the cameras for the first time in memory.   What is not surprising is that Leibovitz' resulting photographs  are stellar.  Leave it to Leibovitz, more used to photographing rock stars and actors,  to capture the Queen as she has never been captured before.  The photographs are moody, regal, dark, atmospheric, and mesmerizing.  Rarely has the Queen been successfully shown both artistically and beautifully.  Most artistic portraits of Elizabeth to date have been downright hideous.  Leibovitz released four pictures from the photo session.  Each is fascinating.

 

Critics of this Leibovitz photograph say the Queen looks like a vampire. Instead, I find it hauntingly beautiful.

 

Contrast the above Leibovitz picture with this official one taken by the Queen's brother-in-law, Lord Snowdon.  Nice, but utterly boring. 

Another photo from the Leibovitz sitting.  This one was inspired by the portrait of Queen Charlotte that hangs in the National Gallery in London (below).  The room is regal enough, but the windows look like they were stolen from a government building.

Queen Charlotte, Leibovitz' inspiration for the  photograph shown above.

The third Leibovitz photograph:   The Queen in her garter robe, taken

right after she was asked to remove her crown.   I love the composition here with the Queen to the right while the room takes up most of the space.

Contrast the above Leibovitz photograph with this one of the Queen in her royal robes taken by Calder.  Leibovitz' pictures look like paintings rather than photos.   Here, the Queen looks like she was just told a funny joke.

This is a still taken from the documentary at the exact moment Leibovitz asked the Queen to remove her tiara.  " Say what????? "   She doesn't look too pleased with Leibovitz here!   The Queen's main concern was how her hair would look if the tiara was removed.

The final photograph released from the photo shoot.   Again, this picture seems more a painting than a photograph.  Art critics raved about the photos, while the public was mostly appalled by them.

The Queen painted by Lucian Freud, one of the world's most famous and accomplished artist.  The public severely criticized this portrait, but the art critics loved it. The Queen was said to be not amused.  Knowing what a Freud looks like, she should not have been surprised.  Note:  She's wearing her tiara here!

This commissioned portrait painted by Rolf Harris, was more accepted than Freud's and Leibovitz' images of the Queen.  I think it's just terrible and doesn't even look like her.

The Queen as a cabbage patch doll by George  Condo.  Believe it or not, this actually hung in the Tate Museum of Modern Art.

The Queen,at her coronation photographed  by the great  Cecil Beaton.  The contrast between Beaton's style and Leibovitz' style could not be greater.

Royal portraiture from another age:  The first Queen Elizabeth painted by Damley.        

 

Which is your favorite image of Queen Elizabeth - and don't say  The Cabbage Patch Doll!

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David Netto's Chic Progression

David Netto's Chic Progression

I have California on the brain this week so after posting Kaufmann House designed by Richard Neutra, I thought it might be fun to see how David Netto's style progressed after he moved from New York apartment to a Richard Neutra house in Los Angeles. Above is David and his wife, Elizabeth and their daughter Madelyn as seen in the January issue of Vogue. Rus Meyer wrote the accompanying article which makes me wonder if it had originally been slated for for House & Garden. Although, Vogue profiled David Netto and his then fiancee Ione Skye in 2003 but I'll get to more about that later.

I think the best thing about living in California and in a Richard Neutra house is the blurred line between indoors and out and the abundance of floor to ceiling windows. Which is perfect since it's sunny 360 days a year. In the living room above, a Mies van der Rohe daybed and Poul Kjaerholm lounge chairs sit a top a rug that looks suspiciously similar to one in the house Netto shared with Ione Skye which you'll see coming up. The white sculpture is by John Koga and the wicker ottoman is by Franco Albini.

David wasn't afraid of color as evidenced by his bright red office above which to me looks like it harkens back to his Upper East Side upbringing. The sofa is by Zanotta and the artwork is by Gregory Crewson, Al Held, Michael Muller and others.

In the dining area that faces the interior courtyard, sits a Jean Prouve table and Jens Risom stools. The lamp is Giacometti and the photograph is by Candida Hofer.

The best thing David Netto ever did for the world of design was create Netto Collection his "line of stylish furniture and accessories for kids and the parents who love them." I could never understand why all baby furniture and accessories had to be pink and blue. I will definitely be buying it when I have children. The best part is that it's all eco-friendly and non-toxic and non-VOC emitting!

David's last house in Los Angeles was the one he shared with Ione Skye when they were together, above. It was originally owned by Ione and now she lives there alone. Vogue profiled the two of them for a 2003 article and Domino published her home in September 2005.

Of course, Ione picked out the IKEA lounge chairs on the pool deck. We all know David has much more expensive taste!

A montage of David and Ione's New York apartment and LA home above.

You'll have to excuse the small images but I thought they were too cute not to include. Above is a photo of David and his parent's taken in East Hampton where they had a house. He admits he had an privileged upbringing and was interested in interior design from a young age. When he was 14, he upholstered his bedroom at 1020 Fifth Avenue in green velvet. His father was also responsible for reviving Cowtan & Tout which David said was "instrumental in fueling the eighties look of glazed chintzes."

You have to wonder if David's daughter Kate above or his other daughter Madelyn will follow in his interior design footsteps.

David was the one who overhauled Ione's home when he moved in. He sanded the floors, painted the whole house white and converted Ione's studio into the master bedroom. I think the nicest touch are the African touches he added to warm it up like the pillows, baskets and stools.

He also added cozy sheepskin rugs which add texture and Ione's paintings including the one in the background.

The low dining table is not something that most would try but Ione says it's inviting and great for kids. Just hope there is someone on hand to help you back up later.

I think you couldn't help but be inspired if you sat at a red desk like the one in Ione's office! The photograph above is by John Swope.

In daughter Kate's room, David converted an Italian bookcase into an armoire which inspired his Netto Collection. He says and I agree, "a child's bedroom doesn't need to suffer overly cutesy furniture."

In the bedroom they shared, a jute rug takes center stage in the calm bedroom.

In the bedroom that is hers alone now, Ione traded out the jute rug for fun stripes and added a patterned coverlet. You can see her hippie making the house her own again.

Before he moved to Los Angeles permanently, David kept his apartment in New York and would commute back and forth. I would be loathe to give up such an amazing apartment on Washington Square too! I think we have all at one time or another discussed how much we love David's co-mingling of modern furniture and antiques. It really is the perfect mix!

I would kill for a wall of bookcases like his and the Cy Twombly and the Yves Klein coffee table. I love it all. "You're not living until you have an Yves Klein coffee table" insists David. I'll remember that!

I especially love the odd assortment of chairs that you know he probably picked up here and there along his travels. “The signature of my work is to make people look like collectors, no matter what they haven’t got,” David says. “That’s how you get personality into a house.”

“I wanted the space to feel like the most beautiful suite on a 1930s French luxury liner.”

“The most elegant interiors are just slightly tatty.”

In the sitting room are a pair of French leather armchairs and a cocktail table from the 1920s, and an 18th-century Swedish drop-front secretary. “I wanted it to feel like a movie set.”

In the kitchen, a Charles X opaline chandelier hangs above a Alvar Aalto table and chairs.

The walls of the master bedroom are covered in a hand-blocked wallpaper mural by Zuber. “It has taken Elizabeth a while to get used to it,” Netto admits, “but I think it’s extremely cool.” It serves as the backdrop for a Jean-Michel Basquiat drawing and a Regency mechanical table. I'm not sure I could have moved to Los Angeles if I owned this apartment! It's too perfect!

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