With their precious woods and exotic fittings, the Parisian master’s creations embody the audacious elegance of his time.
There’s a piece of Ruhlmann furniture in the paneled living
room of Anne Fitzpatrick’s light-filled corner apartment in a
1917 building in Boston’s Beacon Hill. Its highly lacquered wood
is accented with brass and ivory; the round, two-tiered table is
unmistakably Deco. It stands under an Alex Katz painting and
between a pair of Billy Baldwin chairs, all iconic examples of
20th-century art and design.
“I wanted my living room to be a conversation of artists
who speak to me and to each other,” says Fitzpatrick, herself
an artist, philanthropist, designer, and historic preservation-
FOR A GORGEOUSLY SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF ART DECO STYLING,
CONSIDER THE FURNITURE OF ÉMILE-JACQUES RUHLMANN.
