Delve into a combination book review and decoration inspiration featuring four modern salon/living room designs sparked from the charismatic historical figures (Peggy Guggenheim, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Ottoline Morrell, and Jim Morrison) that author Saxon Henry brings to life in her captivating book The Modern Salonnière.
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At first glance, it appears that Saxon Henry is guiding the reader through history introducing each compelling cast member as their inimitable story takes center stage in her latest book The Modern Salonnière – a collection of essays architected on the foundation of Henry’s love for travel, history, the arts and reading creative nonfiction.
It is tempting to view each essay as an entertaining, thought-provoking stop along the time-travel journey. But that would gloss over the brilliance of Henry’s work. She does not merely transport the reader back in time, though her subjects are most definitely historical figures, she ingeniously brings the past into the present as she blends her travels with deep research on each character. Doing so she creates a unique, simulated space – completely unbound by time and space- filled with interesting guests curated from the worlds of literature, art, and culture.
In these time-agnostic gatherings of artists, authors, poets, society mavens, innovators, thinkers, and luminaries, Henry magically metamorphosis into the role of a modern-day Salonnière (a woman who hosts salons). She hosts magnificent salons and introduces her readers to fascinating guests who have been freed from their place in history and wander in and out of the reader’s mind (salons of the mind). The reader in turn transforms from a spectator into a participant as she wanders from salon-to-salon meeting some of history’s most interesting people – some whose brightness has barely been dimmed by the passing of the decades or centuries, and than others who, sadly, are barely remembered and have been relegated to the dust-covered library archives to slowly be forgotten as distance grows between their heyday and modern-day.
For me, each essay served as a virtual salon where the Salonnière would graciously introduce me to the guest -the star of the essay- and from there I was immediately pulled into their story. I began the journey in a linear, structured path following the numbered essays in the order the author had devised. Soon, I found myself leaving the path and skimming the titles of essays – seeking, as did salon-goers in days-gone-by the most compelling, “must-attend” salons. There among dozens of others, I found four figures that have remained with me at each re-read of The Modern Salonnière: Jim Morrison, Peggy Guggenheim, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, and Ottoline Morrell – an unknown to me until picking up Henry’s book (though those she invited to her salons, surrounded herself with and in some cases offered patronage included D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Virginia Woolf and dozens of others whose names have not been forgotten by history).
On my third read of The Modern Salonnière (yes, I loved it that much and at each read I discover something new-an interesting fact or sentiment- I missed on the prior read) the idea of attending these salons, with my favorite historical figures of the literary and artistic universe with the connection-brokering Henry as the delightful hostess, crystallized into inspirations for taking the salons I had imagined and translating them into a design space fitting for a modern-day salon hosting the likes of Peggy Guggenheim, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Ottoline Morrell and Jim Morrison. (The titles for each salon space shown below are the essay titles from Saxon Henry’s book.)
Henry introduces us to the narcissistic and temperamental Peggy Guggenheim, the wealthy socialite and famed modern art collector – who at the smallest slight would sever ties with the offender. Then as swiftly, Henry allows us a glimpse of Guggenheim’s vulnerability leading the reader to question if her self-absorbed behavior was a shield to protect her from the emotional pain she endured – especially at the hands of the Beats.
Guggenheim’s Venetian palazzo was the stage for her popular salons where the glitterati would gather to converse, dine on culinary treats, imbibe the best wines, view the modern art exhibits, listen to poetry readings, and watch plays in the splendid canal-front garden. But invites to her salons were not the easiest to come by if she felt even the tiniest of transgressions as was the case with Beat poet Allen Ginsburg.
Ginsburg found himself embroiled in a situation during a poetry reading by his then boyfriend Peter Orlovsky. Guggenheim, seated next to Ginsburg, was bombarded with a sweaty towel tossed by Orlovsky. Accounts differ as to what the catalyst was – or whether it was intentional or not, regardless – it angered the art-collecting heiress. Henry describes the punishment and subsequent groveling by Ginsburg in an attempt to ingratiate himself with Guggenheim.
She excluded Ginsberg and Orlovsky from her parties forever after, a disappointment that caused Ginsberg to write this note to her: “I’ve never been in a great formal historic salon before and naturally have been eager to go there, be accepted, see the pictures at leisure, sip big cocktails, gaze over [the] grand canal, be a poet in Venice surrounded by famous ladies, echoes of Partisan Review and the 20s and Surrealists, butlers and gondolas…I’d like to come. I don’t want to leave Venice without big high-class social encounters.”
Saxon Henry, The Modern Salonnière
I felt a tinge of sadness for Guggenheim. How terrible and lonely she must have felt to receive a note focused on Ginsburg’s regret at missing out on the fabulous salons rather than missing Guggenheim’s friendship.
Accessories
—Danillo Curetti “Femme au Collier” vase for Emaux de Longwy ;Vetraria Muranese glass vase. Both available via 1st Dibs.
Art
—Marc Chagall’s “The Acrobats”
Fabric/Decorative Textile
—“The Sophia” Textile Pillow Art with Vintage Brooch available at The Pillow Goddess by Deborah Main; Ngala Trading feather trimmed lumbar pillow
Furniture: “Tabu” cocktail table by Koket; Rivington flared sofa; “Natasha” antique brass side table; “Zach” Mid-Century lounge chair; EthniCraft bookshelves
Lighting: Jeff Zimmerman custom light pendant; Eichholtz “Compton” tree floor lamp
Rug: Tufenkian geometric, knotted wool rug in red colorway
Meeting Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun in the wonderful salon-inspired world Henry created within her book was like encountering an old friend – through a mutual friend, and then all effortlessly resuming conversations – without a feeling that any time at all had passed since the last get together.
The famed French portraiture artist and personal portrait artist to Queen Marie-Antoinette has long been one of my favorite artists. She was a witness to historically significant moments and a trailblazer in a world dominated by male artists. I was excited to see Vigée Le Brun from Henry’s perspective.
Henry takes the reader by the hand and brings them behind the scenes as Vigée Le Brun is busy preparing for a dinner party. The theme for her stellar supper party was sparked by a book her brother was reading on ancient Greece.
Vigée Le Brun loved the idea and gave her creative spirit free rein, spending an afternoon prop-gathering so she could transform all of her guests. “As I was expecting some very beautiful women, I thought it a good idea to dress everybody in Grecian costumes,” the painter wrote. She collected drapes from her atelier so she could make togas for everyone, and for the décor she borrowed several Etruscan vases that she put on a bare mahogany table from Count de Paroy. “After that I placed behind the chairs an immense screen,” she wrote, “which I took care to hide beneath some drapery, hung from point to point as one sees in [Nicolas] Poussin’s pictures.”
When each person arrived, she enveloped them in luxurious folds and helped the men embody the theme by taking from them their powdered wigs, unfurling real tresses of hair that made the rare appearance that night. Once her exotic Athenians were seated around the table, the poet Ponce Denis Écouchard Lebrun made a grand entrance in the guise of Anacreon. Everyone applauded as he floated in, swathed in a purple mantle and crowned with laurels as he smiled at a choir singing hymns to Bacchus.
Saxon Henry, The Modern Salonnière
Her Greek-themed “salon” garnered great attention as guests shared their extraordinary experience with the poor souls who didn’t make the invite list. Of course, this perceived slight would get all the gossips talking and making snippy comments while at the same time practically begging Vigée Le Brun to be invited to the next soiree.
Accessories
—“Lita” navy vase available at Kravet; Phillip’s Collection cast natural vase
Art
—Jack Graves III’s “Greek Goddess Head Icon” available via 1st Dibs.
Fabric/Decorative Textile
—Velvet lumbar pillow from Thurston Reed; “Bowie Breeze” square linen pillow
Furniture: “Ether” curved, velvet sofa by Jonathon Adler; Antique Rosewood Breakfront; Vintage Italian Greek Key brass accent chair; “Marseille” side table from Woodbridge; and Hekman Copely oval coffee table
Lighting: Schonbek “Vesca” chandelier; “Athena” table lamp by Robert Abbey
Rug: Dash & Albert wool rug – multi-colored paint chip abstract pattern
Of all the characters in Henry’s book, Ottoline Morrell would prove to be the one I cared the most about. As it is in “real life”, when one makes a connection at an event or in this case a virtual literary salon a deeper bond can occur.
Henry’s introduction to Morrell was the first time I had heard of this eccentric, wealthy patron of the arts and of the salons she hosted with literary luminaries, innovative thinkers, philosophers, artists and talented new-comers. Most famous among her salon guests were members of the Bloomsbury Group – including Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster and Lytton Strachey.
Her story is one of great complexity and fraught with emotional turmoil. Turmoil that she often brought upon herself augmented with the pain and deception of being wickedly betrayed by those she generously helped and financially supported – in this Strachey was the most deplorable.
In the early years of Garsington, Strachey was one of the longer-staying guests. His snarky communiques dispatched from there to other friends were filled with mockery. “The house is a regular galanty-show…very like Ottoline herself, in fact—very remarkable, very impressive, patched, gilded and preposterous,” he wrote to David Garnett. To Virginia, he reported that Ottoline was stingy with food and that the bathrooms were insufficient, a major complaint of his no matter where he stayed.
Saxon Henry, The Modern Salonnière
Strachey was the biggest whiner, but his bitchiness manifested in private letters. Others cast Morrell in their literary works in the most unflattering ways.
Though this level of mockery was mostly hidden from her, the humiliating caricatures by the novelists who accepted her hospitality were not. D.H. Lawrence was the first, using bits of her personality for a character in Women in Love. In her memoirs, Ottoline wrote, “I read it and found myself going pale with horror, for nothing could have been more vile and obviously spiteful and contemptuous…for many months the ghastly portrait of myself written by someone whom I had trusted and liked haunted my thoughts and horrified me.”
Saxon Henry, The Modern Salonnière
Morrell wasn’t without fault and could be overbearing and intrusive as Henry discovered in her research.
Others dished about her habit of dropping into bedrooms clad in an enormously long nightgown that trailed several feet behind her to chat with her female guests as they brushed their hair. Her matchmaking and meddling in everyone’s love life caused quite a lot of scuttlebutt, and for good reason.
Saxon Henry, The Modern Salonnière
In spite of her rumored busybody habits, Morrell is a sympathetic character that lures the reader in and begs the reader to get to know her better. Which is exactly what I did. Henry brokered the incredible introduction to Morrell, and when I finished the essay I set out to learn more about this fascinating woman, her legacy and the incredible contribution she made to 19th and 20th century literature and the arts through her patronage of emerging authors, poets, artists and philosophers.
Accessories
—Cala Lily table vase by Michael Aram
Art
—Margaret Lipsey’s “Becoming” available via the artist’s website (details below).
Fabric/Decorative Textile
—Thurston Reed pleated velvet lumbar pillow; Marolizana Pillows’ gray-yellow, quatrefoil pillow and Moonfairy Co. decorative gray-yellow tasseled lumbar pillow.
Furniture: “Chayoga” armchair from Charlton Home; Bernhardt’s “Palisades” sofa; Hekman’s European Legacy coffee table; Woodbridge Furniture’s “Montecito” etagere/bookshelf and Maitland Smith’s brass and iron side table with decorative bird element.
Lighting: Hammerton Studio “Aalto” chandelier; Eichholtz “Lorenzo” floor lamp
Rug: Bashian knotted rug in abstract pattern with yellow-gray colorway.
The world knows the iconic rock singer Jim Morrison as the frontman for The Doors. Renowned for his voice, songs, style, looks and rebel attitude, Morrison is given another dimension thanks to Henry’s research as she retraces Morrison’s last days in Paris.
Henry examines Morrison’s desire to be known first and foremost as a poet rather than as a singer. Based on Henry’s research, Morrison’s strives to model himself and his works after those of the French poet Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud.
After a second reading of Fowlie’s books and an exploration of Morrison’s poems, I began to hear certain repetitions in Morrison’s poems and The Doors’ music; catching phrases that threaded through the verses and the lyrics that certainly felt like they were inspired by Rimbaud’s philosophy. The singer referenced assassins in his music, a word that ends Rimbaud’s poem “Morning of Drunkenness” with the line “Behold the time of the Assassins.” In Rimbaud’s poem “Hunger,” from A Season in Hell, he wrote, “Morality is a weakness of the brain.” And it’s Jim’s disillusionment I hear echoed in Rimbaud’s poem “Evening Prayer”: “Like the warm excrement of an old pigeonhouse, / A thousand dreams gently burn inside me…”
Saxon Henry, The Modern Salonnière
As Henry delves into the similarities between Rimbaud and Morrison’s styles and words, I find myself thinking about the quiet desperation Morrison must have experienced as he fervently wanted the world to know him as a poet above all. In this truth, Morrison represents the reality of so many artists who put their works out and hope the world will love them. It’s soul-crushing when the public rejects or minimizes an artistic work.
Even with the extraordinary success Morrison had as a songwriter – he felt he was a failure if he wasn’t recognized as a poet by the public. Which was unfortunate because the reality was that Morrison’s music was poetry and his poetry was music – his talent had no bounds and could not be boxed in. Several decades after his untimely death, Morrison was heralded as one of the major poets of the last quarter of the 20th Century – unfortunately, as is the case with many artists the accolades and appreciation of brilliance comes far too late for them.
Accessories
—Anakarem’s “Ruffled Dahlias” pottery vase via UNICEF Market; L’Objet’s snake bookends in gold finish and Amara’s “Leaf” spherical vase.
Art
— Zondille Zondo’s “NameIsimangaliso Sothando” (Miracle of Love) beaded artwork available via Ubuhle Beads.
Fabric/Decorative Textile
—Annie Selke’s orchid, combed sheepskin lumbar pillow; The Pillow Goddess by Deborah Main’s “Vintage Orange and Navy Satin Scarf” decorative pillow
Furniture: “The Other Side of the Prune” lounge chair by The Hass Brothers; Phillips Collection geometry side table; Hand-carved Rococo coffee table; Kardiel’s “Woodrow” walnut trimmed aniline sofa; and antique Louis XVI ebonized mahogany bookcase.
Lighting: Arteriors’ “Statement” chandelier; Uttermost’s “Achates” emerald agate lamp
Rug: Mohawk Industries’ “Technicolor” area rug in Pomona purple and orange colorway.
Learn more about the artisans behind some of the art, decor, furniture and lighting shown on this page.
