Texas Design Week Houston — Architect Peter Pennoyer, the Entertaining India Hicks, and All Things Chinoiserie with Aldous Bertram

Fascinating Illustrated Talks, Books Signings and Cocktails Abound

BY Lisa Collins Shaddock // 04.17.22

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Peter Pennoyer will speak and sign his book Rowdy Meadow Wednesday, April 27, 10 am at Decorative Center Houston followed by a book signing at Schumacher

At Rowdy Meadow designed by Peter Pennoyer, Johnny Swing’s "All the King’s Men," a sofa designed in 2010, sits next to an eggshell and black lacquer side table from Dune and under Lucy Dodd’s "Egg" (2017) and Dana Schutz’s "Assembling an Octopus" (2013). The rug, A-Z Carpet Furniture: Office, was designed by Andrea Zittel (2008).

Damien Hirst’s triptych "Bringing Forth the Fruits of Righteousness from Darkness," 2008, hangs in Peter Pennoyer’s Rowdy Meadow estate project

Flanking the door to the gallery, Glenn Brown’s "The Great Queen Spider" (2009) and Yan Pei Ming’s "Innocent X Outremer" (2015) hang above a pair of black, silver, and mother- of-pearl demilune cabinets from Galerie Mougin that display a nickeled-brass candelabrum by Bruno Paul (ca. 1901) and a silver sculpture by Kevin Francis Gray (ca. 2015). The seating area includes an Eileen Gray Bibendum chair ,and a pair of Leleiere armchairs by Émile- Jacques Ruhlmann (ca. 1925) that flanks a Maria Pergay coffee table (ca. 1958), on which rests a Josef Hoffmann lamp (1923).

An André Sornay ash desk and chair (1937) are paired with a Sornay table lamp (1935). Works by Michaël Borremans, Luc Tuymans, Frederick Sommer, Dan Fischer, Jay DeFeo, and Ikeda Manabu rest on the shelves behind.

On the south façade, the chimneys and great double-height bay window of the library are commensurate with the scale of the prospect. To the east, Reed Hilderbrand’s garden design ties the house plateau to the meadow, which slopes toward the new pond.

The custom silk-and-wool rug was made by V’Soske. The nailhead-studded, Oregon pine and beech chairs were designed by André Sornay (ca. 1936). The table is set with a dinner service by Steuben Glass Works (ca. 1925), violet wine glasses by Otto Prutscher (1912), a Leune vase (ca. 1925), and two Vittorio Zecchin Veronese glass vases designed for Venini/Cappelin (1925).

A seating area is furnished with a rocking chair by Joe Graham, a settee by Josef Gočár (ca. 1914) reupholstered in leather, the Perini coffee table, and the owner’s own rug.

A jagged hand-blown cut-glass and cast-bronze light fixture by Thaddeus Wolfe (2015) descends from the faceted planes of the vaulted ceiling. Hung on the angled walls are Josef Engelhart’s pencil-and- watercolor sketches for his Merlinsage frieze (1904).

Claude Lalanne’s great bronze apple, "Pomme d’Hiver," appears to have been plunked down on the shoulder of the drive leading up to the house.

The walls of the screened porch are clad in green, burgundy, gray, and purple Moroccan zellige tiles in patterns inspired by the work of Koloman Moser and Joseph Urban.

Flanking the door into the living room are two Cibachrome prints by Mike Kelley, "John Glenn" and "Bigfoot" (2001). In the niche above is Mamma Andersson’s "Hangman" (2014). In the foreground, a rosewood, shagreen, and ebony table- bibliothèque tournante (ca. 1920) by Clément Rousseau is flanked by a pair of Royère Polar Bear chairs fabricated by August Studios.

India Hicks will speak and sign her book An Entertaining Story, Wednesday, April 27 at 5:30 OKA

India Hicks’ entertaining advice: Check your tide charts before hosting on the beach. Meet India at OKA for cocktails, where she presents a very entertaining talk followed by a book signing

Aldous Bertram will sign his much-Instagrammed book Dragons & Pagodas, a Celebration of Chinoiserie Friday, April 29, 6:30 pm at FOUND

The Chinese Cabinet seen from the Chinese Drawing Room in the Pagodenburg, a small chinoiserie lodge on the grounds of the
Nymphenburg Palace, Munich. In the upper chambers are panels of black and red lacquer with imported Chinese wallpaper

On the second floor of the Royal Pavilion, a double lobby links all the guest bedrooms. The faux-bamboo fretwork pattern on the vivid blue walls was inspired by the imported bamboo furniture.

One of a pair of vibrant pink staircases in the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, decorated with blue floral designs and edged with faux bamboo. Beneath a richly painted ceiling, stained-glass windows depict life-size Chinese figures.

The upswept roof of actress Claudette Colbert’s beach pavilion in Barbados perfectly marries oriental flair with the simple architectural language of the islands. Chinese lattice panels permit an unobscured view of the ocean.

In the kitchen at Tureholm Castle in Sweden, the blue-and-white motifs on Chinese dishes were adapted on a fantastic scale to transform the very
walls and ceiling into one cohesive chinoiserie confection.

The Chinese House on the grounds of the Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam, dreamed up by Frederick the Great in 1754

Peter Pennoyer will speak and sign his book Rowdy Meadow Wednesday, April 27, 10 am at Decorative Center Houston followed by a book signing at Schumacher

At Rowdy Meadow designed by Peter Pennoyer, Johnny Swing’s "All the King’s Men," a sofa designed in 2010, sits next to an eggshell and black lacquer side table from Dune and under Lucy Dodd’s "Egg" (2017) and Dana Schutz’s "Assembling an Octopus" (2013). The rug, A-Z Carpet Furniture: Office, was designed by Andrea Zittel (2008).

Flanking the door to the gallery, Glenn Brown’s "The Great Queen Spider" (2009) and Yan Pei Ming’s "Innocent X Outremer" (2015) hang above a pair of black, silver, and mother- of-pearl demilune cabinets from Galerie Mougin that display a nickeled-brass candelabrum by Bruno Paul (ca. 1901) and a silver sculpture by Kevin Francis Gray (ca. 2015). The seating area includes an Eileen Gray Bibendum chair ,and a pair of Leleiere armchairs by Émile- Jacques Ruhlmann (ca. 1925) that flanks a Maria Pergay coffee table (ca. 1958), on which rests a Josef Hoffmann lamp (1923).

An André Sornay ash desk and chair (1937) are paired with a Sornay table lamp (1935). Works by Michaël Borremans, Luc Tuymans, Frederick Sommer, Dan Fischer, Jay DeFeo, and Ikeda Manabu rest on the shelves behind.

On the south façade, the chimneys and great double-height bay window of the library are commensurate with the scale of the prospect. To the east, Reed Hilderbrand’s garden design ties the house plateau to the meadow, which slopes toward the new pond.

The custom silk-and-wool rug was made by V’Soske. The nailhead-studded, Oregon pine and beech chairs were designed by André Sornay (ca. 1936). The table is set with a dinner service by Steuben Glass Works (ca. 1925), violet wine glasses by Otto Prutscher (1912), a Leune vase (ca. 1925), and two Vittorio Zecchin Veronese glass vases designed for Venini/Cappelin (1925).

A jagged hand-blown cut-glass and cast-bronze light fixture by Thaddeus Wolfe (2015) descends from the faceted planes of the vaulted ceiling. Hung on the angled walls are Josef Engelhart’s pencil-and- watercolor sketches for his Merlinsage frieze (1904).

Flanking the door into the living room are two Cibachrome prints by Mike Kelley, "John Glenn" and "Bigfoot" (2001). In the niche above is Mamma Andersson’s "Hangman" (2014). In the foreground, a rosewood, shagreen, and ebony table- bibliothèque tournante (ca. 1920) by Clément Rousseau is flanked by a pair of Royère Polar Bear chairs fabricated by August Studios.

The Chinese Cabinet seen from the Chinese Drawing Room in the Pagodenburg, a small chinoiserie lodge on the grounds of the Nymphenburg Palace, Munich. In the upper chambers are panels of black and red lacquer with imported Chinese wallpaper

One of a pair of vibrant pink staircases in the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, decorated with blue floral designs and edged with faux bamboo. Beneath a richly painted ceiling, stained-glass windows depict life-size Chinese figures.

The upswept roof of actress Claudette Colbert’s beach pavilion in Barbados perfectly marries oriental flair with the simple architectural language of the islands. Chinese lattice panels permit an unobscured view of the ocean.

In the kitchen at Tureholm Castle in Sweden, the blue-and-white motifs on Chinese dishes were adapted on a fantastic scale to transform the very walls and ceiling into one cohesive chinoiserie confection.

Architect Peter Pennoyer Discusses his Czech-Cubist-Inspired Masterpiece

Wednesday, April 27, 2022: 10 am to Noon at Decorative Center Houston followed by a book signing at Schumacher

The challenge: Design an estate and sprawling sculpture park for a contemporary art collector client in Hunting Valley, Ohio, with the intent that it be both a family home and ultimately bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art. The twist? Draw inspiration from Czech Cubism, also known as Cubo-Expressionism — a short-lived avant-garde design movement that had its heyday for less than five years in the early 1900s.

AD100 architect Peter Pennoyer of New York architecture and design firm Peter Pennoyer Architects served as architect and designer for this extraordinary project, integrating collections of 20th-century furniture, decorative arts, and a world-class contemporary art collection, culminating in a sculpture park with 146 acres of Reed-Hildebrand-designed meadows, orchards, forests and ravines. Pennoyer’s resulting work— an estate built to showcase art that is itself a work of art — is chronicled in his book Rowdy Meadow: House, Land, Art (Vendome Press).

With a foreword by World of Interiors features editor Mitchell Owens and stunning four-season photography by Eric Piasecki, the book is like turning a kaleidoscope, with each image illustrating how the structure’s geometric angles seem to expand, contract, refract, and transform — a mesmerizing energy brought to life within its stately stone walls. An added delight is the extraordinary art collection with works by Damien Hirst, Walton Ford, and Takashi Murakami, as well as the 150-acre garden with sculpture by Ai Weiwei, Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor, Sol Lewitt, and six installations by Andy Goldsworthy.

Peter Pennoyer will deliver an illustrated talk Wednesday, April 27, 10 am at Decorative Center Houston, followed by a reception and book signing at Schumacher showroom. This event is open to Decorative Center Houston Spring Market guests and Texas Design Week Houston ticket holders. TXDW ticket holders will have reserved seating at this Keynote.

Texas Design Week is a ticketed event. For information, the full Texas Design Week Houston schedule, and link to purchase tickets, go to TexasDesignWeek.com.

Design Royalty: India Hicks

Wednesday: April 27, 2022: 5:30 pm to 8 pm at OKA

India Hicks’ entertaining advice: Check tide charts before hosting on the beach. Illustrated talk, cocktails and book signing at OKA.

Of all of the entertaining guides peppered with recipes and seasonal tableaux, the gatherings showcased in India Hicks’ book An Entertaining Story (Rizzoli) are ones we would actually want to attend. The hostess — as well as designer, entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, Bravo Top Design host, and mother of five — presents her slightly madcap spin on entertaining with breezy style and sense of humor. The book begins with the most important meal of the day — cocktail hour — and moves to Panic Dinner, when you find yourself suddenly playing host, interspersed with memorable anecdotes about past party guests such as Mick Jagger.

Such gems are plentiful from Hicks, who was born in London and whose father was interior designer David Hicks and her mother, Lady Pamela Hicks. Hicks is granddaughter of the Lord and Lady Mountbatten of Burma, second cousin to the Prince of Wales and was a bridesmaid to Lady Diana and Prince Charles. She’s lived in the Bahamas for 26 years.

Bonus: Preview the new collection by British Brand Hester Bly, for which India consults.

Meet India Hicks for cocktails as she discuss life in the Bahamas and growing up Hicks followed by a book signing Wednesday, April 27, 5:30 pm at OKA.

Texas Design Week is a ticketed event. For information, the full Texas Design Week Houston schedule, and link to purchase tickets, go to TexasDesignWeek.com.

Dragons & Pagodas, a Celebration of Chinoiserie with Historian Aldous Bertram

Friday, April 29, 2022: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Found

Calling lovers of all things chinoiserie: A delectable art history lesson awaits. The utterly charming Aldous Bertram’s much-Instagrammed book Dragons & Pagodas: A Celebration of Chinoiserie (The Vendome Press), is filled with his study of pagodas, follies, summer palaces, ornate plasterwork, painted wallpapers, and illustrated with ravishing watercolors from Bertram’s own hand. With a doctorate from Trinity at Cambridge University on the historical influence of China on English garden design and architecture, Bertram, who grew up in England visiting country estates, began his artistic life building miniature houses for Harrods in London, and painting murals in private homes in Palm Beach in the employ of designer Amanda Lindroth.

Cocktails with Aldous Bertram as he discusses all things Chinoiserie followed by a book signing Friday, April 29, 6:30 pm at Found.

Texas Design Week is a ticketed event. For information, the full Texas Design Week Houston schedule, and link to purchase tickets, visit TexasDesignWeek.com.