Thursday, 28 August 2008

Gianni Ricci frescos

While flipping through World of Interiors from March 2004, I came across an article about a castle in Monferrato in Piedmont overlooked by the Alps with amazing frescos. The frescos were originally done by Vittorio Accornero (who was famous for his designs for Gucci and Hermes) in the 1930s and were later reworked by architect Gianni Ricci from nearby Turin in the 40s.
The owner 'strove for gaiety in her surroundings, a sophisticated yet informal atmosphere in which American eccentricity merged with European antiquity.'. I think this was achieved, don't you? Although I am not sure I've heard of American eccentricity, but rather British eccentricity; I guess in a British magazine though...........
In the dining room, seen in the picture above, the dumb-waitor is painted to look like a birdpage.
'the blue bedroom' - probably the most perfect shade of blue I've come across for a bedroom! Not too soft, not too bright - bold but not insane.
The master bedroom, above, has wallpaper by Zuber and not frescos. I love the yelow with the blue/gray.
This shows some of the frescos completed in the 40s by Ricci. The owner wanted to replicate painted baroque trompe-l'oeil details similar to other piedmontese palaces. The crumbling of the walls only adds to their charms; I never would have expected these to have been painted in the 20th century!