"David Hicks on Home Decoration, " First Edition Book
View Similar Items
"David Hicks on Home Decoration, " First Edition Book
About the Item
- Creator:David Hicks (Author)
- Dimensions:Height: 12.25 in (31.12 cm)Width: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Depth: 0.75 in (1.91 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1972
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. small signs of wear/owner's initials.
- Seller Location:valatie, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: NP-627-1st1stDibs: LU2605110218461
David Hicks
Let there be no doubt about it, suave as he was, with his bespoke suits, slicked-back hair and patrician good looks, David Nightingale Hicks (1929–98) was a committed revolutionary. Composing rooms of arresting opulence through his magisterial orchestration of cacophonous colors and patterns, Italian modern mixed with Louis XV furnishings and counterintuitive plays of scale, he forever rocked the stately world of interior design.
As a zealot of style, he took no prisoners. “Dedication to design means ruthless criticism and losing friends,” he once declared. He was not exaggerating. His wife claimed that he conceived his signature high-gloss brown walls as a result of her throwing glasses of Coca-Cola at him during their alarmingly frequent marital spats.
By the time he was 25, Hicks, who had attended London’s Central School of Art and Design and endured a couple of arid years in the art department of the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, had the crème de la crème of London society as clients — and he was being entertained by them! Within a few years, he was courting Lady Pamela Mountbatten, the daughter of Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy of India, and the uncle of Prince Phillip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband. They married in 1960 and acquired Britwell, a Georgian pile in Oxfordshire, which became the family seat, design lab and showplace.
The first truly modern interior Hicks ever designed was Lord John Cholmondeley’s penthouse overlooking Hyde Park, in 1967. The graphic boldness of the scheme — brightly colored walls outlined in dark hues and dynamic geometric-patterned carpets — echoed the energy and attitude of the hard-edge painting that was then at the fore. Here, as in all his interiors, he included what he called “tablescapes,” vignettes of artfully arranged objects and artworks that added interest and life to the room. They were soon widely copied. Another landmark interior came in the early 1970s, when he revived Baronscourt, a grand neoclassical house in Northern Ireland, by giving it an entirely contemporary decor.
In addition to his immense creative talent, Hicks had a keen entrepreneurial acumen and vision. While he could have made a fine business simply designing grand homes for the wealthy and titled, he expanded his studio to include offices, boutiques, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs. He had showrooms all over the world, and he embarked on licensing agreements for ranges of vividly hued, geometric-patterned sheets and towels, clothes, umbrellas and bags.
The British designer was as daring as he was debonair, deploying a brazen mix of colors and patterns that came to define the groovy-glamorous interiors of the Swinging Sixties.
Find David Hicks furniture on 1stDibs.
NPT Books
- David Hicks on Bathrooms, First Edition BookBy David HicksLocated in valatie, NYDavid Hicks on bathrooms. Britwell Salome: Britwell Books Limited, 1970. First American edition hardcover with dust jacket. 151 pp. The third in a series of books on decorating by the famous English decorator David Hicks. He was known for his use of bold color, mixing antique and modern furnishings, and contemporary art for his famous clientele. He did projects for Vidal Sassoon...Category
20th Century English Books
MaterialsPaper
- "Visual Culture, " First Edition BookLocated in valatie, NYVisual Culture edited by Chris Jenks. London and New York: Routledge, 1995. First edition softcover. 269 pp. An exploration of the 'visual' character of contemporary culture in a ser...Category
20th Century American Books
MaterialsPaper
- "American Painted Furniture, " First Edition BookBy Susan Klein, Cynthia V.A. SchaffnerLocated in valatie, NYAmerican Painted Furniture by Cynthia V.A. Schaffner and Susan Klein. New York: Clarkson Potter Publishers, 1997. Stated first edition hardcover with dust jacket. An examination of A...Category
20th Century American Books
MaterialsPaper
- Mr. Punch's Motor Book, First EditionBy The London CharivariLocated in valatie, NYMr. Punch's Motor Book, London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1931. First edition hardcover with no dust jacket as issued. 99 pp. A humorous book of comics taken from Punch; or The London Ch...Category
20th Century European Books
MaterialsPaper
- David Adler: The Architect and His Work by Ezra Stroller, First Edition BookBy Richard Pratt, Ezra StollerLocated in valatie, NYDavid Adler: The Architect and His Work by Richard Pratt. NY: M Evans, 1970. First edition hardcover with dust jacket. Black-and-white photos by Ezra Stroller...Category
20th Century American Books
MaterialsPaper
- At Home in Savannah, Great Interiors, First EditionBy Harris TattnallLocated in valatie, NYAt Home in Savannah, Great Interiors. Boca Raton: Gold Coast Publishing. First edition hardcover with dust jacket, 1978. 87 pp. A photographic overview of 21 houses and their interio...Category
20th Century American Books
MaterialsPaper
- First Edition of David Hicks on Home Decoration BookBy David HicksLocated in New York, NYA first American edition copy of the eponymous "David Hicks on Home Decoration" book. In very good condition. Hardcover with dust jacket.Category
Vintage 1970s American Books
MaterialsPaper
- DAVID HICKS Style & Design First Edition Book 1987By David HicksLocated in New York, NYA first edition book by David Hicks, titled "David Hicks Style & Design." 1987 printing. Hardcover with dust jacket.Category
Late 20th Century English Books
- David Hicks Style & Design First Edition Book, 1987By David HicksLocated in New York, NYA first edition book by David Hicks, titled "David Hicks Style & Design." 1987 printing. Hardcover with dust jacket.Category
Late 20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Books
MaterialsPaper
- David Hicks Living with Design First Edition BookBy David HicksLocated in New York, NYA first edition book by David Hicks titled "Living with Design." Printed in 1979. Hardcover with dust jacket.Category
Vintage 1970s English Books
MaterialsPaper
- David Hicks On Living With Taste First Edition 1968 BookLocated in London, GBDavid Hicks On Living With Taste Leslie Frewin, London, 1968. First edition. Travel back in time to the swinging 60s with the rare first edition of David Hicks On Living With Taste...Category
Vintage 1960s European Books
MaterialsPaper
- David Hicks Set of First Edition Garden and Flower Arranging BooksBy David HicksLocated in New York, NYA set of three first edition books by David Hicks, the legendary designer. This set of out-of-print books focuses on garden design and flower arranging. All in very good condition with dust jackets. Includes the following three titles. The David Hicks Book...Category
Vintage 1970s English Books