Aesthete’s Lament popped on the scene not long after I began blogging.  Briefly, the mysterious Aesthete pulled the plug.  Suddenly “Page Not Found” and I felt a moment of panic.  Not long after the blog returned and I have counted on it ever since to inform and delight.

The writing on An Aesthete’s Lament is half the fun, but for this exercise it was succinct and clear.

“Jacque Grange –

 – nobody is in top form so often.”

Indeed.

“Jaime Parladé  (of Malaga, Spain)- unbelievably genius.” 

“Rose Tarlow

Enough said.
In addition, Aesthete named Isabel López–Quesada saying, “Her work is sublime, like Grange, only with a warmth and feminine gutsiness.”  Unfortunately her website is being revamped and I could only find one image on-line.  I did stumble across a mention that Carolina Herrera frequents her shop in Madrid.  I’m setting my bookmark and waiting for the site to launch; based on the references it should be worth the wait.

It’s interesting that three of the four picks are European, which raises an issue of another reader, “The problem has to do with what is featured, or rather not featured, in shelter magazines of American publishers. Gone are the days when one could see what Deeda Blair, Susan Gutfreund or Gayfryd Steinberg are up to in their own ivory towers. When Marian McEvoy, who featured such style setters, was kicked out, the Hearst Corportation threw out the Babes with the bath water, didn’t they? Not a chance in hell that we’ll ever get to see anything that didn’t fit a formula or is not done by a conventionally professional designer. “

Tomorrow we’ll hear from the House of Beauty and Culture and a frequent reader and commenter, Magnaverde.

Top three images of Grange’s Paris apartment, Architectural Digest.  Remaining two images from the Mark Hotel website.  Parlade’s image via Katie Did, originally AD.  Rose Tarlow’s work is from her book, The Private House.  And, sadly, I have lost track of the site with the image of the bathroom by Isabel Lopez-Quesada.  Forgive me.

Ladies first.  Courtney Barnes writes the acclaimed and admired blog, Style Court.  Courtney has a B.A. in art history and a masters in education; this back ground and a passion for design provide an interesting perspective for her informative posts.  Her picks for lasting design are Michael Smith, Suzanne Rheinstein, Miles Redd and Ruthie Sommers.

Courtney was recently struck by the art picks that Smith was a part of for the private quarters of the White House.  She explains, “Well, of course I haven’t yet seen what Michael Smith is doing with the White House – we may look back and say this was one of the great projects of the new century. I think a lot of people associate him simply with extremely tastefully done, sort of stealth-wealth interiors, but, to me, he’s really skilled at telling a multi-cultural story.

In a subtle way, he weaves a lot of disparate elements together. 19th century English rooms were all about eclecticism – that’s nothing new – however Michael is doing it in a very sophisticated way.

To be fair, this isn’t the first administration or designer to work with modern art, but it appears that Smith will be pushing the boundaries of what we are used to seeing in the White House. He may be the first to create a major bridge between the past and present.”

Courtney says her “Money Room” would be Suzanne Rheinstein’s living room, which evolves both with the seasons and over the years, but remains timeless.

“Not too many designers could create such a symphony of color,” says Courtney.

“I love that her framed wallpaper fragments are heirlooms, something she had up years before the current mania. “

She is able to cover every stick of furniture with those aqua striped slipcovers and nothing feels contrived.”

“I also think Miles Redd is quite innovative. Maybe more complex then people realize. He’s so known for glam and for his hot pink living room, but there is something interesting going on in his interiors!”