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| Drapery Waves by Timothy Corrigan for Fromental |
Fabulous Fromental... the new hand-painted wallpaper by Los Angeles designer Timothy Corrigan for Fromental reminds me of a fantastic opera stage set. Massive panels from his hand-painted Les Folies collection can be hung as works of art or to cover entire walls. For Corrigan, who is redoing an 18th-century chateau in France where he lives part time, murals painted centuries ago in Europe are a big influence on his own designs. “Murals were the art,” he told me on a visit to Dallas recently. “They don’t just recede into the background, they celebrate the walls. Frankly a lot of wallpapers today tend to be about receding and not being the star.”
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| Drapery Waves by Timothy Corrigan for Fromental |
Corrigan’s papers grab center attention with large-scale, hand-painted designs and special printing techniques that often incorporate silver and gold leafing. But there’s substance behind the show. Corrigan researched all of his designs for historic background before putting his own spin on the collection’s four patterns.
For Broadlands, a classical damask pattern was blown up and reproduced on silk and hand-brushed and gilded linen. The vibrant colors were taken from damask water color sketches used when planning the original jacquards, which Corrigan found in archives at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The inspiration for Drapery Wave came from 17th century Gobelins tapestries commissioned by Louis XIV, and is based on paintings by Peter Paul Rubens.
Jardin Français is a reinterpretation of André Le Nôtre’s famous orangery parterre gardens at Versailles, and is rendered in silk and hand-brushed linen. Oceanic is traced to a 19th century Japanese wood block print, with stylized birds and organic swirling waves enlarged to a super-scale graphic, and hand-painted on textured silk.
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| Timothy Corrigan in front of his chateau in France |
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| Indigo Sea wallpaper by Timothy Corrigan for Fromental |
Teaming with London-based Fromental for the collection was natural. “I’ve used Fromental for years in grand Beverly Hills estates because they are almost like abstract paintings,” he says. “I’m using it in several parts of my chateau in the Loire Valley. There’s a playfulness about the papers, and I wanted the rooms to feel like a mix of the past and the present.”
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| Broadlands wallpaper by Timothy Corrigan for Fromental |
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| Broadlands wallpaper by Timothy Corrigan for Fromental |
Fromental was founded in London in 2005 by Tim Butcher and Lizzie Deshayes, who have fashion and interiors backgrounds. The design house is known for elaborate custom wallpapers, fabrics, and furnishings, made by artisans in England and in China. Unusual collage techniques incorporate luxurious fabrics such as silk and velvet, and hand-painting, embroidery, and screen-printing. In addition to glamorous homes around the world, their designs are found in historic properties including The Dorchester, London; George V, Paris; The Fairmont, San Francisco; and The Jefferson, Washington DC. Les Folies, The Timothy Corrigan Collection for Fromental, at George Cameron Nash, georgecameronnash.com, and fromental.co.uk.
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| Timothy Corrigan at Grand-Lucé, his chateau in France |
