20th Century Decorators Series: Jansen (2006)

ATRONIZED BY CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY, LADIES of international society and the occasional dictator, Maison Jansen was the most famous and influential interior decorating house of the 20th century. Founded in Paris by Dutch entrepreneur Jean Henri Jansen in 1880, the firm eventually opened offices or boutiques in Buenos Aires, London, Cairo, Alexandria, New York, as well as Prague, São Paulo, Rome, Milan, and Geneva.

Although Maison Jansen continuously promoted a “modern” or “reform” aesthetic throughout its existence, the design house became renowned for its adoption of the 18th-century neoclassical styles associated with the last French Bourbon kings. This regal look would become its hallmark. Designer Stéphane Boudin, who led Jansen from 1936 to 1961 and whose name was virtually interchangeable with his firm, established what became the internationally recognized Jansen look: a skillful melding of 18th-century palace historicism, country house subtleties, and 1920s Hollywood theatrics.

JANSEN presents a detailed history of this celebrated house with project profiles of some of the 20th century’s most prominent interior design commissions. Included in this volume are rooms for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Shah and Shahbanu of Iran, and President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, for whom Jansen renovated and redecorated the White House.

Condition: dust-wrapper worn to extremities with some scuffing to rear panel. Spine a little shaken, otherwise very good.