Wall paintings for an 18th century Amsterdam apartment
Mid 20th century modernist masterpieces as Charlotte Perriand's diningtable, the writingdesk by Jean Prouvé and his beautiful "Bahut" cabinet, accompanied by murals of coralfish and seaturtles, gecko's, cheetah's, and a giant Boa Constrictor. Coty's President Peter Harf and his wife Tina, turned an 18th century monument into their Amsterdam Pied à Terre. This stylish apartment blends a world class private collection of French and American modernist design classics with an environment of painted animals by Dutch artist Peter Korver.
Serge Mouille's 1953 ceiling light hovers over the iconic diningtable by Charlotte Perriand
in the classic surroundings of this 18th century apartment.
Over seven meters of Trompe l'oeil mural painting in the entrance hall.
“I WOULD LIKE SOME COMPANY FOR WHEN I’M WRITING”, Tina Harf asked during the initial discussions. And so the Amsterdam pied-à-terre she shares with husband Dr. Peter Harf is not only inhabited by modern masters such as Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouve and Tom Dixon, two propitious geckos also crawl above the writing-desk where Tina works as author Tina Grube. Within a mother-of-pearl palette of soft prism tones, the walls shift hues with every room. Two leopards stretch languorously in the kitchen. In the bathroom the softly hued turquoise walls fuse into a warm sea inhabited by inquisitive coral fish while the tentacles of translucent jellyfish billow gently on the current. A giant sea turtle swims overhead. In the adjoining blue bedroom evening falls and the ceiling stirs with celestial life. A meters long Boa Constrictor meanwhile glides along the violet-gray wall of the entrance hall - in answer to the distant echoes of the ornaments above the doorposts. It is the pièce de résistance. "I think she's a happy snake," Tina motions as we say our goodbyes.
plafondschildering – mural – painted ceiling painting
Two of Korver's painted Gecko's crawl above a black and white Gustave Gauthier floorlight and a Hermes writingdesk by Pierre Guariche with Jean Prouvé's "Fauteuil Direction". A ceramic sculpture by Georges Jouve and a 1950's mannequin on top of Prouvé's 1951 "Bahut" cabinet. Sidetable and sofa by Greta Grossman and an assymetric Luther Conover coffeetable.
The "Lotus Chair" by Erwin and Estelle Laverne takes the center of the stage.
Boa Constrictor Seven meters of Trompe l'oeil mural painting in the entrance hall.
plafondschildering – mural – painted ceiling painting
Trompe l'oeil murals and a painted ceiling in master bedroom and bathroom.
Amsterdam - november 11th
Dear Tina.
Thank you so much. I think we have the list complete now.
By the way, there was a nice side-effect to drawing up this inventory of all the furniture museumpieces in the apartment.
It suddenly made "A Modernist Menagerie" (the French/English title I gave to this project ) resonate more freely. High-lighting the collection aspect of this interior made the connection with the paintings stronger - apart from being an highly personal one of course, one of affection and choise. The word menagerie refers to a collection as well; a collection of animals for ornamental display, entertainment, beauty or even grandeur, as opposed to the Zoological Garden of the18th century and later, wich had a much more scientifical and educational meaning.
There is something very private to the word Menagerie - ZOO being essentially public.
I came to think of this through a journalist the other day, she was wondering how the animals in your apartment related to the ones in my other projects, where their presence to her seemed to have a much stronger relation with the historical context of the house or the surrounding city. Funny thing is of course, that such meanings and internal connections are there the moment one recognizes a good title or any good idea. But somehow, some of these aspects appear to remain dormant for a while, untill they suddenly seem to surface.
I just like it very much when they finally do.
Big Hug from Amsterdam
Peter
Dear Tina.
Thank you so much. I think we have the list complete now.
By the way, there was a nice side-effect to drawing up this inventory of all the furniture museumpieces in the apartment.
It suddenly made "A Modernist Menagerie" (the French/English title I gave to this project ) resonate more freely. High-lighting the collection aspect of this interior made the connection with the paintings stronger - apart from being an highly personal one of course, one of affection and choise. The word menagerie refers to a collection as well; a collection of animals for ornamental display, entertainment, beauty or even grandeur, as opposed to the Zoological Garden of the18th century and later, wich had a much more scientifical and educational meaning.
There is something very private to the word Menagerie - ZOO being essentially public.
I came to think of this through a journalist the other day, she was wondering how the animals in your apartment related to the ones in my other projects, where their presence to her seemed to have a much stronger relation with the historical context of the house or the surrounding city. Funny thing is of course, that such meanings and internal connections are there the moment one recognizes a good title or any good idea. But somehow, some of these aspects appear to remain dormant for a while, untill they suddenly seem to surface.
I just like it very much when they finally do.
Big Hug from Amsterdam
Peter
Photo's; © Georges Hoeberechts
