books
by
E.F. ULMANN
Renaissance Man Duane Hampton celebrates her late husband, Mark Hampton, in a new book from Rizzoli
Right: Mark Hampton: An American Decorator by his widow, Duane Hampton, pictured left 28 | AVENUE MAGAZINE · AUGUST 2010
piano, drums and auto harp, concert and opera enthusiast, avid theater and movie-goer, lecturer and teacher, renowned wit, champion debater, snappy dresser, dishwasher, diaper-changer, occasional cook and continual life of the party!” Whew! Duane, by the way, has a master’s degree in English literature, and it shows in her Homeric lists like that of Mark’s love of the whole gamut of effects of wall treatments—from marbleizing to paint that resembles mahogany and other kinds of wood. He loved “all kinds of painterly effects—sponging, stippling, strié, glazing, stenciling, Venetian plasterwork and lacquered finishes—the whole lot.” Mark reveled in a client like Mrs. Prentis Hale of San Francisco who told him that for her drawing room curtains she wanted “the whole enchilada.” She got strié silk with tassels, fringes, rosettes, bows and tiebacks. As Michelangelo had the patronage of Lorenzo the Magnificent and the Medici popes, Mark was lucky to have had some of the richest clients in the period of the greatest wealth
FRONT COVER PHOTO © OBERTO GILI; ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF RIZZOLI BOOKS
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t seems only yesterday that Mark Hampton was among us. Town & Country wrote that he was “America’s best known and most-admired interior designer.” Paige Rense of Architectural Digest said, “His knowledge of the decorative arts was unparalleled, and he conducted his career in a way that gave stature to all those involved in interior design and decoration.” He died 12 years ago at the early age of 58, much mourned by friends and clients among the cognoscenti of what constitutes the beau monde. Now his widow Duane Hampton has written a charming and witty appreciation of her husband accompanied by a comprehensive portfolio of his work in a magnificently illustrated edition from Rizzoli: Mark Hampton: An American Decorator. The book was released in April, and a second edition is already in the works. Anyone with any interest in the history of decorative arts will want a copy for his or her library. Duane underscores for those who knew, and those who might not have, the remarkable intelligence and knowledge Mark Hampton brought to his work. Although brought up in small-town Indiana, he was well-traveled and had a profound appreciation of the great houses, monuments and museums here and abroad. Furthermore, he had an undergraduate degree in European history, and a master’s in art history, specializing in the Italian Renaissance. To speak of which, he was early recognized by his fellow students as a Renaissance man. Duane writes, “In addition to his career in decorating, he was also an art and architectural historian, draftsman, painter, world traveler, reader, writer, museum haunter, gardener, photographer, dancer, singer and lyricist, player of