Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors (Hardcover)

~ Armelle Baron (Author), Christian Sarramon (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Review

MULTIFACETED AXEL

Belgian antiquaire extraordinaire AXEL VERVOORDT is not only a charismatic dealer; he is also a master of the mise-en-scene. A new book by Armelle Baron and Christian Sarramon, Axel Vervoordt : Timeless Interiors (Flammarion; $75), reveals him to be a virtuoso of light and an alchemist with color - and a very good decorator, to boot. In an Antwerp house (above), Vervoordt contrasts a Ming dynasty chair with a 1955 Le Corbusier stool and a modern slate table, never failing to enchant the eye. Tycoons, rock stars and quite a few renowned decorators have visited his castle and his complex of warehouses, both outside Antwerp, to ogle objects spanning th ecenturies, not to mention the simple pieces Vervoordt designs. Yes, he makes furniture too. -- Town & Country 2007

"A new book by Armelle Baron and Christian Sarramon, Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors (Flammarion; $75), reveals him to be a virtuoso of light and an alchemist with color--and a very good decorator, to boot." -- September 07 Town & Country

Today, in addition to dealing in art and antiques, he and May, with sons Boris and Dick, operate an eighty-five-person design practice, a multidisciplinary center of decorative arts and crafts in the Kanaal, a complex of restored nineteenth-century warehouses and silos near the castle keep, all of which the writer Armelle Baron and lensman Christian Sarramon celebrate in their new book Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors.

Baron, a journalist who has had unprecedented access to Vervoordt, and Sarramon, whose camera was welcomed around the world for this book, have assembled an elegant, quite dreamy volume that includes twenty-plus projects by Vervoordt and his talented team. These are places to fantasize about, to learn about, to cultivate in memory - exceedingly fine, powerfully beautiful and well loved without being overstuffed. -- Veranda

examines the Belgian dealer-decorator's influential patrician rooms, everywhere from a medieval chateau to a Tuscan farmhouse." -- ELLE DÉCOR October 2007

Product Description

Axel Vervoordt began purchasing antiques in his teens and has steadily built a vast collection of exquisite objects from around the world. He is renowned for his prestigious exhibitions at major world antique fairs, including the New York Design Fair and TEFAF Maastricht. His interior designs, in both traditional and modern settings around the world, combine antiques from all continents with a Zen sensuality, and they blend the old with the new to create harmonious interiors. His unusual pairings may include Chinese porcelain with English furniture or a Roman relic alongside a 1930s Flemish painting.
The extent of Vervoordt’s talent is revealed in the twenty-three homes in Europe and the United States presented here through Christian Sarramon’s photographs. The variety of styles reflects Vervoordt’s eclecticism, and his authentic and welcoming interiors are inspirational treasure troves. From the rustic charm of a Swiss chalet to the classic finesse of a Bordeaux château to the modern allure of a Miami mansion, Vervoordt’s creations are perfectly in tune with the character and history of each space.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Flammarion; illustrated edition edition (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2080305352
• ISBN-13: 978-2080305350
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,809 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Axel Vervoordt as decorator and antiquaire, October 7, 2007

By	J. Landau (Orinda, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Along with many other antique collectors, we first discovered Axel Vervoordt of Antwerp at the 1984 Paris Biennale des Antiquaires where he created a sensation with his display of Ming porcelain that had recently been recovered from a ship lost in 1645 in the South China Sea. His huge display of table after table of the blue and white Ming in a large booth at the center of the Grand Palais was the immediate focus of attention for everyone as they entered the fair.

We were fortunate enough to have bought a few pieces, very reasonably priced in part because of the extraordinary number of pieces recovered (surprisingly well preserved by being packed in rice hulls which presumably cushioned their fall and with grains of sand from firing still stuck to the bottom rims of most pieces) but also because centuries in salt water had given the pieces an unusual semi-matte finish. The larger pieces were sold almost immediately, in huge numbers, and the talk around the fair was that the buyers were several Saudi princesses seen hitting the booth at the opening and going over the material at length.

Vervoordt, relatively young (37) at the time, had already been avidly collecting antiques for over twenty years, focusing principally on European pieces from the Renaissance to the present, but also including ancient arts from Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The 1984 Salon launched him into a greater orbit and allowed him to acquire a huge castle in the Belgian countryside which he very tastefully restored over the next four years, using it both as a home and as a shop, albeit one covering acres and acres. More recently, he has refurbished a huge industrial complex on a canal in Antwerp, the Kanaal, to provide a series of shops, work rooms and storage, both indoors and out, for the thousands of pieces in his inventory and to create a large decorating practice.

This new book, by Armelle Baron and published by Flammarion, shows the interiors Vervoordt has created for connoisseurs who share his sophisticated, eclectic interest in beautiful objects (and possess large pocketbooks). The 250-plus pages are full of large format, color photographs showing some twenty homes around the world, where Vervoordt has beautifully incorporated a collection of Basquiat paintings with country furniture; furnished magnificent chateaux for the Queen of Belgium and for the merely wealthy; decorated a Dallas home with sophistication we doubt Texas has ever seen before. All appear very comfortable. Some of the homes featured are not at all grand but are every bit as tastefully done: a Swiss chalet, a Provencal farmhouse, a Palladian-style home on a Florida waterway.

The present book comes six years after "Axel Vervoordt: The Story of a Style", 2001, published by Assouline, which provides a magnificent introduction to his aesthetic as well as his collection, his castle and his extraordinary skill at mixing styles and periods. This is a taste which flawlessly displays a huge Anish Kapoor sculpture (maybe fifteen years old at the most) next to ancient Thai carvings, Renaissance bronzes and wonderful European furniture, all in a gorgeous stone interior.

The current book would be a wonderful gift for anyone interested in interior design or antiques. My only quibble would be the interior photography; some of the many photos do not show sufficient detail across all of the image. The 2001 book from Assouline would be the better choice if you were principally interested in antiques (and has better photography, on a par with the Givenchy monograph of a few years ago). Vervoordt has a different aesthetic than Bunny Williams or John Fowler; think Rose Tarlow working with a very sophisticated European client in the French countryside or a Greek isle instead of Beverly Hills.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous, November 1, 2007

By	AH Art lover UK - See all my reviews

A beautiful book with perfect interiors atmospherically lit and framed. The soft half-light does leave me trying to decipher the detail a lot of the time, but I suppose that is not the purpose of these pictures. The interiors are wonderful - sparse, minimal and perfect, with the texture of old wood and stone blending together like a gentle whisper of the passage of time. Truly gorgeous, and a visual delight.
One of the great pleasures of interior design books is the chance to see private collections in their native settings, and my only regret about this volume is that all the houses are either full of "Axel objects" rather than individually chosen works of art reflecting the taste of the owners (with one sparkling exception full of modern paintings and classical antiquities), or pieces cannot be seen because of the lighting. A small enough sacrifice.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interior Integrity & Grandeur Lives..., June 22, 2008

By	colorful-one (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Vervoordt's peaceful environments invade space with mood. The resulting grandeur of such tranquil beauty and gentle sophistication is most admirable and thoroughly revealed in this beautifully accessorized volume. Leafing through this book will calm your design sensitivities, as period inpressions drift from page to page. The dramatic and dimly lit photos featured here capture the essence of time. The historical significance of such a talented artist can not be denied, as Vervoordt's careful selection and discerning eye for arranging will be learned from for years to come. There is an art to assemblage, and this designer definitely defines it!

As a professional in the interior decorating field, I chose this book along with another,Your Home A Living Canvas: Create Stunning Faux Finishes & Murals with Paint, by Curtis Heuser, and was pleasantly surprised by each. As I work mainly with customers who wish to develop time worn feeling and comfortable living spaces, both of these books proved wonderful additions for helping with that thought process. "YOUR HOME..." follows the creative rebirth of the author's/decorative artist's historic 1890's home, with hundreds of beautiful full color before/after and during renovation illustrations, accompanied with full spread finished room concepts. I would love to see the two of these talents in collaboration - as both artist have a keen sense of using color, texture and light to bring a space to life. Though these books are so different in energy level (Heuser uses dramatic color and unique murals and specialty paint finishes to stage the scene), both offer immense inspiration for helping one to envision and recreate "timeless interiors"!