close

RIP Andree Putman: Grande Dame of Monochrome

Andree Putman was the grande dame of French design. Known as La Reine du Damier (the Queen of the Checkerboard),Putman was renowned for her signature monochrome style and has been credited with inventing boutique hotel style.

Putman's signature monochrome graphics at the Morgans Hotel in New York. image from wallpaper.com
Putman’s signature monochrome graphics at the Morgans Hotel in New York. image from wallpaper.com

The designer, who died at her home in Paris on Saturday at the age of 87, gave her name to a skyscraper in Hong Kong,  as well as redesigning in interior of Concorde, several luxury stores and numerous private residences in a career that spanned nearly seven decades.

A Putman-designed room. image from dezeen
A Putman-designed room. image from dezeen

She was a passionate believer that good design should be affordable. “Of course style and money have nothing to do with each other,” she said in an interview with House Beautiful magazine. “Good design is pure and simple, and I am interested in that family of things that will never date. “

Another image from the New York Morgans Hotel, courtesy of aestheteblog.com/
Another image from the New York Morgans Hotel, courtesy of aestheteblog.com/

Born in Paris in 1925, Putman was destined to become a concert pianist. But that dream, which was possibly that of her musician mother, came to an abrupt end when one of her professors told her it would take ten years before she would know if she was a great composer. Putman abandoned music and moved into design.

Putman's store for Azzedine Alaia. image from dezeen
Putman’s store for Azzedine Alaia. image from dezeen

After a brief stint working for magazines, in 1958 Putman became artistic director for the home accessories range of Prisunic, a chain of shops known for its cheap fashion fixes. There she promoted the idea of good, honest everyday designs for every budget, according to Wallpaper .

Tiles for Bisazza
Tiles for Bisazza

Putman then worked for various style agencies and designed private residences and boutiques for friends such as Karl Lagerfeld and Thierry Mugler, before setting up her own company, Écart, in 1978. It specialised in re-editions of furniture by designers such as Eileen Gray, Mariano Fortuny or Robert Mallet-Stevens.

another image from the Morgans Hotel, with thanks to sleepermagazine.com
another image from the Morgans Hotel, with thanks to sleepermagazine.com

Then came the Morgans Hotel, on New York’s Madison Avenue in 1984, which has since been called the moment at which the boutique hotel was invented. The black and white bathrooms (pictured above) made her name internationally and she began designing hotels all over the world. In 1994, she redesigned the interiors of the supersonic Concorde for Air France.

Albrecht, Donald. Andrée Putman: Complete Works. New York: Rizzoli, 2009.
Albrecht, Donald. Andrée Putman: Complete Works. New York: Rizzoli, 2009.

The Belle Etoile bench designed by Putman for the Italian company Serralunga

Putman's reinterpretation of a classic bench
Putman’s reinterpretation of a classic bench

 

Andree Putman, La Grande Dame of Design.

Andree Putman who died on Saturday 19 January 2013 at the age of 87
Andree Putman who died on Saturday 19 January 2013 at the age of 87

 

 

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

1 Comment

Comments are closed.