Putman, Andree

Putman, Andree
▪ 1999

      From the interior elegance of Air France's Concorde jet to the prosaism of the toothbrush, French designer Andrée Putman had by 1998 firmly put her stamp on late-20th-century style. She had long been known for her minimalist, avant-garde furniture and interior designs that were issued through her Paris companies Écart S.A. and Écart International. In 1997, however, she opened a new company under her own name and published a second edition of Andrée Putman. Written by Paris-based journalist Sophie Tasma-Anargyros, the monograph presented a comprehensive analysis of Putman's influential oeuvre from 1979 to 1996.

      Born Andrée Christine Aynard in Paris on Dec. 23, 1925, she was educated at the Collège d'Hulst and studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the school's highest award at the age of 20. Although she turned her back on a career in music, her training would later serve her well—the balance, harmony, and rhythm of musical composition would be reinterpreted in her designs in the restraint of simple lines, monochromatic colours, and unique combinations of materials.

      Putman began her professional life as a journalist in 1950 at Femina magazine; she moved to Elle in 1952, where she was a design columnist until 1958, and then to L'Oeil (1960-64) as the interiors editor. Self-taught in design, she was also stylist for the Prisunic department stores in Paris from 1958 to 1967. After working with various publicity agencies and designer groups from 1968 until well into the '70s, she founded her own furniture and interior design business in 1978. Through Écart, she reissued classic Modernist furnishings from 1930s designers Eileen Gray, Mariano Fortuny, and Pierre Chareau, and she began creating boutiques for well-known fashion designers—Thierry Mugler (Paris, 1978), Yves Saint Laurent (Saint Laurent, Yves ) (q.v.; 15 throughout the U.S. from 1980-84), and Karl Lagerfeld (Paris, New York City, Toronto, and Melbourne, Australia, from 1980-85).

      Commissioned in 1984 to refurbish, on a tight budget, New York City's Morgans Hotel, she shunned what she called the "vulgarity" of traditional luxury and opted instead for a streamlined yet opulent comfort. Her signature black-and-white checkerboard tiles were featured throughout the hotel's hallways and bathrooms, along with lobby and guest room interiors in shades of gray. Other interiors included the Orchid Club House in Kobe, Japan (1992), and the circular Wasserturm Hotel in Cologne, Ger. (1989), converted from a water tower built in 1868. She also redesigned the interior of the 1916 Villa Turque in Switzerland, an original by architect Le Corbusier.

      Putman received numerous prizes, among them the Interior Design Hall of Fame Award (New York, 1987), the Grand Prix National de la Création Industrielle (Paris, 1995), and an honorary doctorate from Parsons School of Design (New York, 1996). Her later work included sets for Peter Greenaway's 1996 film The Pillow Book and, in 1998, for the Lagerfeld Gallery in Paris. She also continued to create original designs in home furnishings, such as lighting, tableware, and fabrics.

REBECCA RUNDALL

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▪ French designer
original name  Andrée Christine Aynard 
born December 23, 1925, Paris, France

      French designer, known for her Minimalist, avant-garde furnishings and interior designs.

      Putman was educated in Paris at the Collège d'Hulst and studied piano at the Paris Conservatory, winning the school's highest award at age 20. She became frustrated with musical training, however, and developed an interest in the visual arts; she was particularly intrigued by contemporary painting. Putman began her professional life as a journalist in 1950 at Femina magazine; she was a design columnist at Elle from 1952 until 1958, and she then worked at L'Oeil as the interiors editor from 1960 to 1964. Self-taught in design, she was also a stylist for the Prisunic department stores in Paris from 1958 to 1967.

      After working with various publicity agencies and designer groups from 1968 until well into the 1970s, she founded her own furnishings and interior design business, Écart, in 1978. Although she had turned her back on a career in music, her training informed her design practice—she reinterpreted the balance, harmony, and rhythm of musical composition in her designs through the restraint of simple lines, monochromatic colours, and unique combinations of materials. Through Écart, Putman reissued classic Modernist furnishings from 1930s designers such as Eileen Gray, Mariano Fortuny (Fortuny, Mariano), and Pierre Chareau. She also began creating boutiques for well-known fashion designers such as Thierry Mugler (Paris, 1978), Yves Saint Laurent (Saint Laurent, Yves) (15 throughout the United States, 1980–84), and Karl Lagerfeld (Paris, New York City, Toronto, and Melbourne, Australia, 1980–85).

      Commissioned in 1984 to refurbish, on a tight budget, New York City's Morgans Hotel, Putman shunned what she called the “vulgarity” of traditional luxury and opted instead for a streamlined yet opulent sense of comfort. She used her signature black-and-white checkerboard tiles throughout the hotel's hallways and bathrooms, and she designed the lobby and guest room interiors in shades of gray. Putman subsequently received other important commissions, including interiors for the circular Wasserturm Hotel in Cologne, Germany (1990), which was converted from a water tower built in 1868, and for the Orchid Club House in Kōbe, Japan (1992). She also designed the interior of Air France's Concorde jet (1993).

      Putman received numerous prizes, among them the Interior Design Hall of Fame Award (New York, 1987) and the Grand Prix National de la Création Industrielle (Paris, 1995). Her later work included sets for Peter Greenaway's 1996 film The Pillow Book. Putman also continued to create original designs in home furnishings, such as lighting, tableware, and fabrics. She opened a new company under her own name in 1997 and released a perfume named Andrée Putman in 2001.

Additional Reading
François-Olivier Rousseau, Andrée Putman: A Designer Apart (1990; originally published in French, 1989); Sophie Tasma-Anargyros, Andrée Putman, 2nd ed. (1997; originally published in French, 1993).

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Universalium. 2010.

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