DOROTHY DRAPER

'Dorothy Draper' (born Dorothy Tuckerman November 22, 1889, died March 11, 1969) was an influential and innovative American interior decorator of the early to mid 20th century. She helped inspire a generation of home improvement devotees with her 1939 book ''Decorating is Fun!'', subtitled "How to Be Your Own Decorator". ^[1].
Born into the aristocratic Tuckerman family in the Tuxedo Park section of New York City, Dorothy stated later that she had "no schooling to speak of, except that I was brought up where I had the privilege of being constantly in touch with surroundings of pleasant good taste," ^[2]. Extensive travel in Europe added to her observations; after she married Dr. George Draper in 1912 and continued to live in glamor, she redecorated her homes in such style that other high society friends were asking her to do the same for their homes. Soon, she was being hired by architects; Douglas Ellman then hired her to re-do New York's Hotel Carlyle. Over the years, she did makeovers for New York's Hampshire House, World's Fair Terrace Club, and Maison Coty; Chicago's Drake Hotel, Washington's Mayflower Hotel; and Hollywood's Arrowhead Springs Hotel. Among decorators, it was said that these locations had been "Draperized". ^[3]
She was one of the few early women to really delve into the male dominated construction industry. Her style was big, brash, bodacious, bold, and bordered on what some would consider gaudy, shocking both men and women of her day. She was a predecessor of Morris Lapidus, the architect that would redesign, stylistically as well as almost literally, all of Miami Beach. The two had similar styles and approaches, yet his was firmly modernistic, while she still used traditional elements and principles in her work, albeit grandiosely.
Her style can still be seen influencing the looks of more current interior decorators. Robert Denning & Vincent Fourcade used her sense of scale with even more polish and excess. Certain elements of her neo-baroque elements are used by Philippe Starck.
In May 2006, The Museum of the City of New York held an exhibition of Draper's work, curated by Donald Albrecht and designed by the Manhattan studio Pure+Applied. Draper-designed furniture was lent by The Greenbrier Hotel and The Arrowhead Springs resort—two of her best-known projects. A 9 foot tall white "bird-cage" chandelier that Draper designed for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Dorotheum cafe was also on display. See images of the exhibit here [1].
From December 2006 thru July 2007, The Women's Museum in Dallas, Texas hosted "In the Pink: The Legendary Life of Dorothy Draper. It featured archival photographs of Draper's work from The Stoneleigh Hotel and the St. Anthony. The exhibition was designed by Pure+Applied of New York. Photos at this link [2].
She is also the cousin of another influential interior designer, Sister Parish.
Her book ''Entertaining is Fun! How to Be a Popular Hostess'', was reissued in 2004. (ISBN 0-8478-2619-8)

Contents

Carleton Varney

References

Carleton Varney

Draper's protege, Carleton Varney has designed many places inkeeping with Draper's ''American Baroque''Styling. He has designed Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island), and many other remarkable places. He has a Wife and three sons. Varney continues to honor Draper at The Greenbrier.

References

★ Owens, Mitchell, "Living Large: The Brash, Bodacious Hotels of Dorothy Draper" in ''The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts'', Issue 25, Spring 2005. (published by the Wolfsonian - Florida International University.[3]

★ Varney, Carleton. ''The Draper Touch The High Life & High Style of Dorothy Draper,'' New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1988. (ISBN 0-13-219080-X)

★ Dorothy Draper and Company [4]