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| (C) Dean Farris Interior Design 2016 |
The first time I actually met Albert Hadley was when he came to FIT to give a talk to the interior design students. He had his assistant at the time, Tice Alexander, with him. Tice and I had been friends when we both studied at FIT- and I just happened to be wearing a bright-ish teal sweater that day- (a purchase I had spent a lot of time agonizing over, from the old Barneys when it was still downtown)...later Tice told me that the only student that Albert thought had style was that guy wearing the teal sweater! This was around 1982 or so.
Fast forward to 1996 or 97, and lo and behold, Albert had purchased a small cottage in Old Naples! I was thrilled. (I had moved to Naples from NYC in 1996) One day AH and I were spending some time in the tiny guest house behind the main cottage, and I saw the chair- the chair I fell in love with- it was TEAL ! I died. I swooned. Albert saw how much I loved it and agreed to sell it to me. I was able to convince a client, who had never paid any fees, to buy the chair for me, in lieu of a fee- and she agreed! I was in heaven! :)
While this chair still gives me pleasure, and reminds me of the days of wine and roses with Albert- I do realize that it's perhaps a little too grand for how I really live. Not that it's museum quality, but the fragility and the provenance...I adore it! It inspired me to pursue more objects of quality and upped my game when it comes to furniture selection. I see it as a piece of sculpture in a space. Not really a chair. An art object. An object of desire.
Teal reminds me of my childhood, when I would see this teal Rolls Royce convertible sitting in a carport on my way home from school. One day when I happened to be walking on Madison Avenue in New York, I saw Mrs. Petrie being driven up the avenue in HER teal Rolls Royce! It was a fabulous sight- very glam. I also love this color as seen in 18th century oil paintings, often juxtaposed with a tomato red. Beautiful!
DF *****
