In Nineteen Seventies Paris, Betty Catroux and her husband, François, had been the glittering couple on the coronary heart of French excessive society and what was once often called the worldwide jet set.
She was the androgynous mannequin and darling of the French designer Yves Saint Laurent, he the self-taught inside decorator who reworked the mansions, grand residences and chateaux of the super-rich or royal, amongst them the Rothschilds, Diane von Furstenberg and, later, Roman Abramovich.
At Chez Régine nightclub, the celebrated venue on the rue de Ponthieu, the towering 6ft Betty and her husband, described by one good friend as having the air of “a Riviera playboy”, held courtroom with the likes of Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, or visiting Hollywood stars reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn and Ava Gardner.
When the partying ended, the Catroux returned house, usually in one among his costly sports activities vehicles. And their final homecoming was to be to an outstanding house within the former Maeterlinck Palace overlooking the Baie des Anges on the French Riviera at Good, the place François had determined he would finish his days. It was a best-laid plan; tragically the Côte d’Azur flat, a private fruits of his life’s work and designed completely for him and his spouse, was barely accomplished when Catroux found he had most cancers. He died in November 2020.
Now your entire contents of the property, wherein the couple are mentioned to have spent solely a handful of nights, are to be offered off in a single public sale as a tribute to the discreet designer usually hailed as probably the most influential decorators of the twenty first century.
François Catroux, born in Algeria, was the grandson of the Gen Georges Catroux, a distinguished army hero who met Charles de Gaulle whereas in captivity in Germany throughout the first world battle and joined the Free French in London throughout the second.
As a boy, Catroux was a pupil on the identical Roman Catholic boarding faculty in Oran as Saint Laurent, who later grew to become his shut good friend.
He was dwelling in New York, working as a journalist for Elle journal writing about luxurious residences, when the Italian style queen Mila Schön requested him to design her Milan showroom. The end result, a laminate spaceship, induced a storm worldwide and put the 30-year-old Catroux on the design map.
As an inside designer, Catroux began with the staples of sixties design, Plexiglas and metal – however shortly moved to pure supplies, wooden, leather-based and cotton, mixing the fashionable and comfy with conventional furnishings and artwork.
Whereas largely unknown to most of the people, he shortly grew to become the decorator of alternative for aristocrats, royals and the tremendous rich. He earned plaudits for mixing previous, such because the Rothschild’s seventeenth century tapestries, work by the masters and heritage furnishings, with fashionable designs of his personal invention.
For Von Furstenberg, a longtime good friend, and her husband, Barry Diller, he designed homes in Los Angeles and Connecticut, in addition to the inside of their luxurious yacht.
He met Betty, whom he described as a “dwelling model” for YSL, when she despatched him a drink in Régines, the place she additionally met Saint Laurent. The couple married in 1968.
The Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello, now the inventive director of Saint Laurent, instructed the New York Occasions: “Betty likes to say she was the bipolar double of Saint Laurent, which is an elegant and elusive means of expressing their twinning. By means of her, he was in a position to give life to his imaginative and prescient. Because of him, she was in a position to grow to be herself.”
The sale of the contents of the couple’s Riviera house, overseen by Sotheby’s, contains about 100 heaps reflecting François Catroux’s private style, together with up to date artworks and objects from Asia and Africa, in addition to a few of his personal creations.
Florent Jeanniard, European head of design and vice-president of Sotheby’s France, mentioned the Catroux’s house was an “unmatched setting”. “Right here, works by nice up to date artists and cutting-edge designers mingled with timeless antiques that the decorator treasured for his total life. He beloved this place and it suited him,” he mentioned.
Jeanniard added: “The whole lot you see contained in the house is up on the market. The superb factor is that this chic place is Catroux … it was his final nice work.
“François needed to finish his days within the solar in order that they purchased this house and he designed every little thing in it. This place and every little thing in it's François Catroux’s universe. It was nearly completed when he grew to become sick in order that they by no means lived there aside from a couple of nights. After he died, it grew to become too painful for Betty to go there, so the household has determined to promote it.
“Catroux was greatest recognized in France and america the place he had many purchasers, however was not a well known identify to many individuals. Nevertheless, he was doubtless probably the most essential decorators of the twenty first century and we consider this sale will likely be a tribute to him.”
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