Monday, March 28, 2016

Stavros Niarchos at Chanaleilles

The entrance hall of Chanaleilles
created by Emilio Terry.
Photo via Architectural Digest.
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Millennials think of the 30 year old, rich, celebrity-dating, international playboy, jet-setter when they hear the name Stavros Niarchos, but those of my generation and older might be familiar with his grandfather, the multi-billionaire, Greek shipping tycoon, 1909 to 1996.  His rivalry with Aristotle Onassis, his marriages, and his relationships with women that included Pamela Churchill (later Harriman) and Princess Firyal of Jordan (see previous post here) could be the subject of a melodramatic TV mini-series.  But it is his incredibly chic Paris residence that is the subject of this post of The Devoted Classicist.
Vintage view of the entrance from the
rue de Chanaleilles by René-Jacques.
Photo: via culture.gouv.fr
The hôtel particulier, not an inn but a private, free-standing townhouse with an entrance court and a garden beyond the residence, is named for the Marquis de Chanaleilles who bought it in 1840.  The property can be traced back to the seventeenth-century when it was a hunting lodge, a folie of the Duc de Maine, Louis Auguste de Bourbon (the legitimized son of Louis XIV and his mistress Madame de Montespan).  The present house dates from about 1770.

The entrance to Chanaleilles.
Photo by Jerome Zerbe.
LES PAVILLONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Owned by the Marquis de Brabançon (of Belgium) at the time of the Revolution, it was confiscated and sold several times in quick succession before being given to Madame Tallien by her suitor.  (She later married the Comte de Caraman, who became Prince de Chimay, and died in 1831 at Menars, the former home of Madame de Pompadour's brother, the Marquis de Marigny).  Madame Tallien, also known as Thérésa Cabarrus, was one of the style setters of the Directoire period and her Paris residence was one of the centers of fashionable activity during the post-revolution time.  Madame Tallien enclosed the colonnade from the street to become a handsome galerie with an exceptional parquet floor and installed a notable Pompeian style bathroom.
A view of the west garden of Chanaleilles
with the enclosed colonnade on the right.
(Treillage covers an adjacent building)
Photo by Jerome Zerbe
LES PAVILLONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
After years of being closed, Stavros Niarchos bought the house in 1956 and brought in the Cuban-born architect/decorator Emilio Terry for architectural improvements and modern conveniences and Stephane Boudin of Maison Jansen for interior design. 
The east garden of Chanaleilles before
restoration by Niarchos.
Image: culture.gouv.fr
A mid-20th century view of Chanaleilles
before purchase by Niarchos.
Image:culture.gouv.fr
The east garden after the excavation.
Photo by Jerome Zerbe.
LES PAVILLONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
According to a 1969 article in "Life" magazine, he paid $500,000 for the house as a present for his third wife Eugenie (daughter of shipping magnate Stavros G. Livanos), a marriage which had ended in divorce in 1965.  The floods of 1907 had deposited soil that raised the level of the garden, and excavation brought natural light back to the basement level.
A current view of Hôtel Chanaleilles
showing the main house surrounded on three sides by gardens
and the auxiliary building at the sidewalk.
Source: MapQuest.
The plan of the Hôtel de Chanaleilles is T-shaped in plan with the gallery extended along the spine from the entrance facing the street.  The rear garden was lost in the 19th century; the sheer walls in the satellite photo are a neighboring property.

The galerie of Chanaleilles
Photo: Bagues
The gallery's parquet floor of rare woods glows with the bright yellow curtains and four large crystal chandeliers made for the space by Bagues.
Stavros Niarchos in the red salon of Chanaleilles
Photo: Life magazine, March 28, 1969,
The red salon has walls covered in red velvet between engaged Corinthian columns below a gilt ceiling.  The floor is covered with a Savonnerie with the royal arms for the King of Poland, a gift of Louis XV and the furniture includes an ebony bureau plat with mounts by Gouthiére.  But the real focus of the room is the art: a Goya, a Seurat, and the famous "Pietà" by El Greco bought for $400,000 to celebrate New Year's Eve in 1954 according to the "Life" magazine article.
The boudoir at Chanaleilles.
Photo: Jerome Zerbe
LES PAVILLONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
White and gold boiserie from the Parr palace in Vienna (where Marie Antoinette was betrothed) decorate a boudoir with a Renoir.

A salon at Chanaleilles
with Règence period lacquer panels.
Photo: Bagues
The largest salon was created by extensive rebuilding by Emilio Terry in able to accommodate some Régence lacquer panels set into the boiserie.  Here these panels act as the art, but there is another spectacular Savonnerie rug and three lavish rock crystal chandeliers along with museum-quality furniture.
The principal dining room at Chanaleilles.
Photo by Jerome Zerbe.
LES PAVILLONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
A white salon with a Gauguin is on the other side of the T beyond the red salon.  In addition to a children's dining room, there is a principal dining room with a parquet floor and paneling from Madame Tallien's era.  Empire period Puyforcat gilt-silver vessels, part of a whole collection bought at auction and presented to the Louvre as a gift, are displayed in the dining room along with Meissen and Sèvres porcelain and Chelsea tureens and more paintings.
The Puyforcat gilt-silver at Chanaleilles.
Image: "Connaissance Des Arts" Novembre 1960
Hollywood film star Edward G. Robinson provided about sixty Impressionist paintings from his collection through New York's Knoedler Galleries, sold to Niarchos in 1957 for $3,125,00 to satisfy community property terms of his divorce settlement.
Emilio Terry's display gallery
for the classical collection at Chanaleilles.
Photo by Jerome Zerbe
LES PAVILLONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
A special room was created by Emilio Terry in the neo-classical style with bold ebonized and gilt columns on mahogany plinths.  This architectural framework displayed the Niarchos collection of classical pottery and sculpture fragments. 
The Pompeian bathroom at Chanalleilles.
Photo by Jerome Zerbe
LES PAVILLONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Madame Tallien's bathroom with Pompeian style mosaics and a classical bathtub carved from a block of granite was restored.

It is believed that Niarchos' 61 year old son Philip, an active but low-profile collector of contemporary art, still owns and occupies the house.  In 2001, eight works of art described as from a "private collection" were sold by Christie's for more than $10 million; they were paintings by Pierre Bonnard, Eugene Boudin, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Renoir, Georges Rouault and Maurice Utrillo thought to have been sold from Chanaleilles to settle a legal dispute among the heirs.  In 2005, a large part of what is believed to be the Stravos Niarchos collection, estimated at a value of more than $250 million, was given to Kunsthaus Zurich on long-term loan.

The photos from LES PAVILLONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY are by Jerome Zerbe and the text from that book provided some of the history of the house.  Now out of print, used copies are available through The Devoted Classicist Library.

Unfortunately, there are currently no good English-language books about Emilio Terry now in print.  For more about the legendary design firm Maison Jansen, read JANSEN by James Archer Abbott.

19 comments:

  1. A wonderful collection. It's a pity that a lot of it isn't there any more. It must have been fabulous to see.

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    1. I had notes on this house but did not know much about Madame Tallien until I saw the Marlon Brando film "Desiree" on TV this weekend with Carolyn Jones playing the Tallien role.

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  2. Les Pavilions has been a Bible substitute for me for many years...in times of dreary weather, a blue mood or a quick shot of inspiration...Cyrill Connolly and Jerome Zerbe created a natural high! It's companion book is just as lovely, and what better way to peek into a splendor long lost...though I'm sure still shimmering for a few. Beautiful images and I do recall that Pompeiian bath...still wishing for a languid bubble bath indeed like a Goddess Divine! The garden today must be quite Frickian!

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    1. T.S., I often find myself wishing that both Connolly's text and Zerbe's photos were a little more clear, but very, very thankful for what we have. They had access that was unique and I appreciate their books so much.

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    2. You are right...clear and in color...would've been divine! I especially love the Puiforcat Silver...in color that dining room with the painted boiserie, Meissen and Sevres dressed table with that sterling silver would've been stunning. Years ago, at Tony Duquettes auction, a fragment of a Bessarabian carpet woven with gilt threads was offered...I recalled seeing it in a black and white photograph of the library at Le Hermitage, in Les Pavilions. Instead, I went for the four Louis Seize fauteuils with original tapestry upholstery...but to this day, I lament not getting that carpet fragment!

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    3. My first job out of architecture school -- years ago -- had me living and working in a historic but very isolated village. So interest was all local and one cottage had the most beautiful large fragment of a Savonnerie rug that must have been palace-sized originally. The lavender, pistachio, gold, etc. were still gorgeous though worn. So I can identify your remembering a rug! Thank-you for commenting.

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  3. Thank you for a wonderful post.

    Evangeline Bruce's well-written "Napoleon and Josephine" is a good source for information on Madame Tallien and the cultural/social scene in Paris of that time. I've always wanted to see Menars, reputed to be a gem, but it's been closed to the public for a number of years.

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    1. S.D., I'd like to visit Menars, too. Thank you for commenting.

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  4. I have long admired Emilio Terry's Directoire-style bathroom as featured in "David Hicks on Bathrooms" so it was a treat seeing it put into its architectural context.

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    1. Nancy Mitford to Diana Mosley, 27 Dec 1958:
      ..."After my Xmas luncheon Walter Lees took us all over Niarchos's house. Exploded forever is the myth of Emilio's good taste. Only wish I could send a photograph of the electric light fittings for a start....The house reminds me of Du Barry's at Louveciennes as done up by Coty in about 1920 I suppose--a form of bad taste one thought dead. I believe I'd rather live in a Le Corbusier house, c'est tout dire."

      Hmmm. Not that Nancy M was right about everything. It was she who found the flawless film Kind Hearts and Coronets weak and wanting (well she did a bit of work on it and others took the reins so complete objectivity didn't enter into her appraisal)

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    2. Even today, or I should say especially today, there is an absolute abhorance (is that a word?) of a French 20th century tribute to the 18th century but with all the major conveniences. (When I taught at Parsons Paris one summer, a French faculty member filed a formal complaint against me for taking my class to the Cammondo!). And, in this case you quoted, I imagine there was some eye-rolling about Niarchos being able to buy so much "class." Many, many thanks for contributing.

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    3. Yes, T.W., that bathroom stands on its own. (As you all know, these comments cannot be edited. My earlier reply was deleted because of a typo).

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  5. Breathtaking! I would so love to see color images of the art, pottery and sculpture collections!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Featuring Artist Scott McBee

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    1. K.A., I think I have seen color images of the entrance hall, classical library, and bathroom in the classic issues of HG magazine in the late 1980s-early 90s.

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  6. John,
    Loved this post, since ET has become slightly obscure. I was fortunate to see photographs of the Getty residence on Fifth Avenue, where PH had created a library that a virtual shrine to Terry. I am sure that Tice had something to do with it-in conjunction with AH of course, but it was a masterpiece of mahoganized columns, with ebony striping and gilt details, mixed with Napoleon III upholstery (banquettes). TA had also written a piece about Terry in the old Connoisseur magazine...my favorite of the images you've shared is the large salon with the inset lacquer panels, which concept was also used in the Getty apartment for the powder bath walls!
    Amazing and stunning.
    Dean

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    1. Dean, I think I may have a box in storage somewhere with old Connoisseur issues when Tice was writing a column each month. Apparently there is nothing to be found on-line. Thank you for commenting.

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    2. John, How I would love to get my hands on that box! TA also created a shrine to Carolos de Beistegui in his west side apartment at The Althorp...(sp) with Jean Michel Frank inspired faux parchment square walls!

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  7. He was married to Eugenie Livanos, the sister of Tina Livanos who was married to Aristotle Onassis at the time. She later married Sunnie Blandford heir to the Duke of Marlborough. Eugenie died in mysterious circumstances Did she commit suicide or was she poisoned? He was cleared after a long investigation. He later married Charlotte Ford with whom he had a daughter and eventually Tina Livanos Onassis, his former sister in law. It was a long saga and we lived it all vicariously. I don't know as much about architecture or design but I sure know my social history and gossip! Oh and his sailing yacht was the Creole which was beautiful and certainly rivaled the Christina, Onassis' yacht. Those were the days...Even the nouveau riche had style compared to today. Thanks for keeping us sane dear Classicist!

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    1. Eugenia was found dead under mysterious circumstances, indeed, but I think now it is accepted that the cause was an overdose of barbiturates. (It was not then known that the drug could build up in one's system and a larger than usual dose was not required to have an overdose). Thank you for commenting, J.

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