Frances Elkins

"Frances Elkins (1888-1953) belongs to the pantheon of legendary interior decorators. This first book devoted entirely to her life and work offers a tour of twenty-nine major Elkins residential and public commissions, as well as a visual guide to Elkins's signature furniture, fabrics, wallpapers, and accessories." "The sister of renowned "great house" architect David Adler, Elkins was among the most celebrated interior designers of the early twentieth century. Unlike her classically trained brother, with whom she often worked, Elkins was famous for her progressive taste. Inspired by the great avant-garde talents of Europe - including the French designer Jean-Michel Frank, the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, and other modernists of her era - she confidently integrated their work with sumptuous traditional furnishings of varied periods and styles, from French provincial and chinoiserie to Louis XVI and English country." "Stephen M. Salny catalogs Elkins's three-decade career and her illustrious clientele, from the early commissions on the North Shore of Lake Michigan that came to her through her brother to the residences, clubhouses, and university work in northern California, where she lived, and as far afield as the East Coast and Hawaii. Generously illustrated with color and black-and-white archival photographs that illustrate the range of her elegant and timeless designs, Frances Elkins: Interior Design is an essential reference for decorators, interior design students, and homeowners, and a view of one of America's grandest dames of interior design."--Jacket.