The Art of Elegance

From the pictures available on Amazon's website, I got my hopes up about the quality of Marshall Watson's large format interior design book, "The Art of Elegance: Classic Interiors." And when I saw that the book's publisher was Rizzoli, my hopes rose to such a dizzying height, that there was really no way the book could live up to my unrealistic expectations. Well, now that I've spent a week with it, I am happy to report that Mr Watson's book has not only exceeded my wildest expectations, it has completely obliterated them.To begin with, the book is beautifully made, as one expects from Rizzoli; the paper is of an excellent quality; the photographs are beautifully composed and superbly printed. The design is, in every detail, gorgeous and complements Marshall Watson's taste and style perfectly. I have never seen a more beautifully made book."The Art of Elegance" is a perfectly apt title: Mr Watson's rooms are always elegant, and there's an extraordinary amount of artfulness in creating rooms that are elegant, beautiful (very often ravishingly so), and also comfortable, both to sit in and to move around in. His rooms never look over-designed; no matter the style, there's always a certain spontaneity to his arrangements, and also a sense of rightness that makes the choices seem inevitable, even when they are also surprising. It appears that he always remembers that rooms are to be lived in. His eye for color is, in my opinion, unsurpassed. There are more startling, beautiful color combinations in "The Art of Elegance" than I have ever seen in any other book of interior design. Moreover, he's clearly not limited to one particular style or era, but appears to be able to adapt to any style, from extravagant and sumptuous to clean, light and simple. In one passage, he mentions "I am not afraid of pretty." That's certainly borne out by the photographs in his book, but he is also not limited to designing rooms that are merely pretty. I believe the secret to the elegance of the rooms shown in the book -- the one element they all have in common -- is appropriateness. The libraries he designs look like nice environments in which to read; the dining rooms look like delightful places in which to eat.But as much as I admire the photographs in the book, it is just possible that I am even more bowled over by Mr Watson's text. His prose is clean, straight-forward and very informative. It is also full of charm and personality. Mr Watson not only designs beautiful rooms, but he writes sentences that scintillate while they enliven and enlighten.

Excellent book and pictures.

great for ideas and dip in and out of. lovely images, descriptions and background are useful and do not clutter the pages. great coffee table book!

Uno dei libri d'arredamento che ho amato di più

LIBRO MUY COMPLETO ADEMAS DE LAS FOTOGRAFÍAS CON COMENTARIOS, CON GRAN VARIEDAD DE ENTORNOS Y AMBIENTES. SOFISTICADO Y MUY ELEGANTE.