Saturday, February 7, 2015

Valerian Rybar and Jean-Francois Daigre on Sutton Place

Advertisement from August, 1982
Architectural Digest.
Coming across this 1982 advertisement for blinds photographed in the Manhattan apartment of interior designer Valerian Rybar brought to mind that the designer, internationally known among the Jet Set Rich and Famous during the 1970s and 80s, might not be a familiar name today.  And what better way to present a decorator than with photos of his own home?  With his partner Jean-Francois Diagre, who was perhaps more famous in Europe but usually regulated to a side remark in U.S. publications, Valerian Rybar (sometimes referred to as Stux-Rybar or Styx-Rybar) lived in a six-room Sutton Place apartment that they completely remodeled in the early 1970s to showcase their talent, leaving no original material or feature visible.

Rybar & Daigre in costume for Le Bal Oriental,
as used for the cover of the 2003 Christie's catalog.
Officially known as Valerian Rybar & Daigre Design Corporation, they promoted being identified as the world's most expensive decorators and undoubtedly worked to make that a reality.  Rybar, who was born in Yugoslavia, worked as a trainee at Lord & Taylor department store before designing packaging, displays, and shop interiors for Elizabeth Arden.  Rybar joined Daigre in 1968 to stage a spectacular ball for Mr. & Mrs. Antenor Patiño (see widow Beatriz's Paris apartment in a previous post of The Devoted Classicist here) introducing 1300 guests to their new country house, Quinto Patiño, set in a 200 acre park in Portugal.

Rybar & Daigre at Le Bal Oriental, 1969,
as documented in watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff.
Image via Scala Regia Inspirational Archives.
The following year, an even more spectacular fete designed by Rybar and Daigre, Le Bal Oriental, was hosted by Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Redé, at his home in Paris, Hôtel Lambert.  Read an excerpt from ALEXIS: THE MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE REDE about the famous ball provided by the blog Scala Regia here.

The Rybar-Daigre Living Room, Sutton Place.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.
The coral (more like the orange-ish color of cnidarians than the pink-ish polo shirts) velvet walls of the Living Room had radius corners and mirror-finish stainless steel bands as the base and cornice.  Etched steel plates covered the floor accented with a mink rug by Oscar de la Renta.  Most of the furniture was designed by Rybar and custom made by Karl Mann, but there were accents of antiques such as a Boulle tortoiseshell and brass filigree desk, and a carved crystal bust of Ferdinando de' Medici.

The Rybar-Daigre Dining Room, Sutton Place.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.
The Dining Room had the same steel flooring with walls lined with concealed closet doors that were designed to appear as shelves filled with books; the titles stamped into the leather of the otherwise identical false books spines were written to reflect chapters in the designers' past.  An article by Jeff McKay in "New York Magazine" states that the title INTERNATIONAL BOREDOM referred to Rybar's marriage (1956 to 1965) to Irish brewing heiress Aileen Guiness, the Jet-Set chatelaine of Luttrellstown Castle near Dublin.  Again, custom made furniture filled the room, with Rybar-designed tables covered with batik fabric in this 1972 photo.

The bedside console in the Rybar-Daigre Master Bedroom.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.
The Master Bedroom's bedside leather console topped with mirror-finish stainless steel was fitted to hold a slim-line telephone handset which also served as an intercom, and controls for the alarm clock, television, stereo, and dimmable lighting as well as the electric blanket.

The Rybar-Daigre Dressing Room, Sutton Place.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.
The Dressing Room with the same low-cut pile caramel carpet as the bathroom was larger than the bedroom.  Based on a concept of display, double-hanging rods held suits and sloped shelves held shoes.  Translucent plastic drawers held folded shirts and glass shelves held rainbow stacks of sweaters.  A 3-way tailor's mirror figured prominently in the space, but the most memorable feature was a bench upholstered in hand-painted pony skin whose height could be electronically adjusted to serve as a luggage rack, ironing board or massage table.

The Rybar-Daigre Master Bathroom, Sutton Place.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.
The Master Bath featured a custom-made stainless steel bathtub and a lavatory set in a pedestal of marble.  Tall mirrored cabinet doors provided storage for toiletries and reflected tortoise-shell faux finished walls and ceiling also punctuated with a section of mirrors.  Carefully stitched leather-covered masks by Nancy Grossman provided ominous decoration.

Marie-Hélène de Rothschild  (wife of Baron Guy de Rothschild
who owned Hôtel Lambert) with Valerian Rybar at Le Bal Oriental.
1969 photo via Artnet.
According to Rybar's 1990 obituary written by Carol Vogel for The New York Times, he was 71 years old and died in his Manhattan home of prostate cancer.  Daigre's 1992 New York Times obituary reported that he died of an AIDS-related illness in a Paris hospital at age 56.  This notice reported that Daigre had been hired at age 19 to work at designing décor, textiles and packaging for Christian Dior before joining Rybar to plan the Patiño ball.  It also said Diagre had managed the business side of the firm while continuing to be involved in the planning of gala events.

Valerian Rybar, Paris, 1967.
Leonard Nones photo via Corbis.
The couple's Paris residence, usually assigned to Daigre in print, was even more opulent and will be featured in a future post of The Devoted Classicist.

23 comments:

  1. John,
    Another fascinating post from TDC ! I heard through the decorating grapevine, when I was still residing in Manhattan, as a practicing New Yorker, that Mr. rybar had a great fear of being perceived as effeminate, although apparently he had a somewhat high pitched voice- and that he once flew to Texas for scoping a party site out, heard one mention of something about the cost, and exploded and immediately flew back to New York. All hearsay, no idea of any truth- just thought it was relevant to your post- what a couple of characters they must have been! Perhaps somewhat similar to Denning and Fourcade? As ever - yours,
    Dean

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    1. Dean, I was just telling someone that people today often confuse Rybar & Daigre with Denning & Fourcade. Thank you for commenting, Dean.

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    2. I worked for them in the 80's and they were quite a pair
      Looking back today - I can't believe I worked for such a
      world renowned company - I was pretty young and naive at the time - today I love to goggle them - I do have some piece of their furniture that was given to me - when the company closed in the 90's

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    3. Thank you, Gale, for commenting. Yes, it was indeed an internationally famous firm in its day.

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  2. Their style was certainly "different", and although not something I could live with, the schemes appear to have been executed to a high standard of craftsmanship.

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    1. Columnist, I understand your point! Many thanks for commenting.

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  3. Fascinating John, of course coral and orange are favorites of mine and are stunning in their Sutton Home! I also enjoyed the feature and illustrations at Scalia Regia of that infamous ball. It reminds me of an even Hutton Wilkinson might throw at his home and grounds.

    xoxo
    Karena
    The Arts by Karena

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    1. Karena, Le Bal Oriental could be a post of its own. But it was interesting to read Baron de Rede's own account, no? Thank you for commenting.

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  4. Their work sends chills up my spine, and not in a good way.

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    1. Toby! Although I wasn't particularly a fan at the time, now I appreciate the commitment to carry through on the given theme. And I think we can all learn -- for better or for worse -- from these efforts of the past. Your comments are always greatly appreciated.

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  5. So very late 70s early 80s...I remember I had those Levolors in Gold. I notice not one window anywhere. I recall seeing another of his homes in black walls...not a window, dungeon like - shades of night escapades where the Sun never shines! His mother thru him left some gorgeous beaded and bejeweled Roger Vivier for Dior shoes to the Met Costume Institute, absolutely Masterful...the apple didn't fall far from the tree. I recall seeing on NYSD, a Palm Beach home early in his career, so really tame, almost a bore!

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    1. The Swan, much of the interiors photography at that time was done without natural light because of technical issues, but clearly this was a 'night time' apartment that never saw the light of day. I have seen photos of that Palm Beach house you mentioned that really lacked punch. But there was a Miami project that had made the cover of Architectural Digest that had a lot going for it, the Candib residence. Thank you for commenting.

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  6. Well that was all most fascinating.
    I shall be writing before long about Aileen Plunkett (née Guinness) and her house outside Dublin, Luttrellstown Castle, so that might be of interest to you.

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    1. Yes, I.A., we will be looking forward to your essay on Luttrellstown Castle! Thank you.

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  7. Although I tend to agree with Toby Worthington in general on this, the talent involved is undeniable. I'm afraid that after reading this post, suddenly my perfectly nice life seems rather unglamorous---and my closet and wardrobe completely inadequate. Oh my.

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    1. D.E.D., hopefully Spring will soon come to Maine and any wardrobe issues will be the last thing on your mind. I appreciate your taking the time to leave a comment.

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  8. Albert Hadley sent me to see Valerian Rybar for a job when I was in my 20's. I met both Rybar and Daigre -- but after meeting them, and seeing their office, I got scared, calling them the next day to say I had changed by mind. At the time I was way too young to realize how odd, and perplexing this must have been for them...they hadn't had time to offer "alberts friend" a job, and he was telling them he did want them! The office was clad in grey planked rough cedar, there were chrome ball lamps and black leather sofas....I wanted to do Lancaster and Georgian.

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    1. Dear Reader, and then what happened? Did you indeed satisfy your goals of chintz slipcovers and fringed lampshades?

      When I joined Parish-Hadley, they were just settling into a new space on East 63rd Street, the first time in many years that the whole firm was in the same building. Before that, the architects were in the same building as Rybar's offices; that may have been 78 E 56th Street. But in any case, that is the Rybar-Hadley connection.

      Thank you for commenting.

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    2. And by the way, I LOVE chintz slipcovers and fringed lampshades plus just about everything Nancy Lancaster had anything to do with.

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    3. Thank you for posting my memory. The Georgian part happened, but no Lancaster...maybe some day. I remember 63rd when ya'll moved in, it was great looking! Sister's green beveled masonite floor, Albert's super skinny metal desk.

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    4. The floor in Mrs. Parish's office was indeed Masonite cut and beveled then painted to resemble marble. It required a repainting after about five years; a real stone floor would have been less costly, but arguably lacking the artistry.

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  9. John,
    It was my old school friend, Marcy Masterson, she worked for VR and McMillen. Her sister married into the Cecil family, who still own Biltmore, in Asheville, NC. I think Marcy is a great gal, and she was profiled on NYSD in the decorator section.
    Dean

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    1. Rybar to McMillen really shows a range. Thanks, Dean.

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