|
|
|
With increasing frequency, owners and designers are distinguishing their superyacht interiors with a little help from the superstars of the art world, past and present.
by Matthew Esposito
photography by Bob Marchant
|
06/01/2007
|
In the early 1990s, designer Donald Starkey was working on the interior of a
200-foot Feadship. The topic of art did not sit at the forefront of his mind as
he made his drawings. Mid-project, the owner announced: "I have some paintings I
would like to put on board. Why don’t you go to my apartment and see what you
think?" The apartment Starkey entered had close to 30 paintings of the finest
caliber—"Picasso, Chagall, Dubuffet, all the greats were there," says the
designer. Eventually all made their way on board Mylin IV, where,
although it was not intended, they looked much better than they did in the
apartment, according to the owner and Starkey.
 A Lalique crystal mask on Atlantide. (Click image to enlarge)
Placing fine art aboard yachts has been a growing trend among
owners and designers for more than two decades. The pace has quickened in recent
years. According to several leading designers, yacht owners who already enjoy
art collections on land generally fuel this trend. However, more and more, the
stray Picasso, Miró or Dalí will make the cut even when the owner is not
officially an art connoisseur.
"Fifteen or twenty years ago, people were trying to find
paintings that matched their place settings and window treatments," says
designer Ken Freivokh. "Now you wouldn’t see something like that. It is more
likely they will choose to include something of value from a recognized artist."
Top: Aboard Harbour Moon, renowned glass artisan Dale
Chihuly fills a space formerly envisioned as an aquarium. Photograph courtesy of Donald Starkey. Bottom: This
arrangement in a Disdale interior forms a multimedia
relationship. Photograph by Bob Marchant (Click images to enlarge)
As fantastic as some of the works being installed on today’s
yachts may be, they are still essentially meant to complement the interior, not
dominate it. In the case of Mylin IV, inclusion of the collection did not
drive the design, but the works were artfully positioned in Starkey’s interior.
"We had already halfway completed the interior when the subject of art was
mentioned," says Starkey, "although many people thought, as in the case of the
dining room, that some of the rooms had been designed around the paintings."
Some examples make it seem that too much art can compromise
the design, though the talented designers responsible for these interiors have
found a way to make them work. On the 289-foot Perini Navi The Maltese
Falcon, Freivokh knew he had quite a collection to contend with when he
planned the yacht’s interior. Large-scale paintings were to be a staple aboard
The Falcon and drove many of the wall heights, as well as some fabric and
upholstery choices. Before the designing began, pieces were selected from the
owner’s collection and spaces to display them were developed accordingly. Some
of this development included modifying nearly half the canvasses chosen (by
scoring and bending) to fit along the curved bulkheads.
 Several paintings aboard The Maltese Falcon hang on curved
bulkheads. Photograph by Giuliano Sargentini. (Click image to enlarge)
"This is not ordinarily how it is done," says Freivokh.
"Sometimes the art is an afterthought. We create a niche, or area or alcove
first, and the selection of what goes there comes later. It is only when the
owner has pieces to begin with that it greatly affects the design."
Terence Disdale has a similar tale. When completing his firm’s
largest yacht project, the 457-foot Lürssen Al Salamah, 680 paintings,
each specifically commissioned, were given as part of the design brief. "It took
a huge amount of time and energy over a nine-month period," says Disdale. Again,
as with The Maltese Falcon, Disdale confirmed this was not your average
project and that, quite often, his firm commissions artwork for every space. "We
select an artist, discuss imagery, furnish [the owners] with color references of
the room, and specify the exact size and frame."
|
|
|
|
|
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Email This
Printer Friendly Version
Reprints & Permissions
Most Popular Searches