French High Priestess of International Style~

The abby owned by Andrée Putnam's grandfather where she spent
summers...now a UNESCO World Heritage Site~

"To not dare is to have already lost. We should seek out ambitious projects…things only happen when we dream"

Globe-trotting minimalist Andrée Putman lived her entire life in the 6eme of Paris where she was born, eyeing artistic icons and expats at Café de Flore whom she admired for their emancipation from "...conventional beaten tracks”.

Called a 'Joan of Arc' for democratizing good design--she made an astonishing success of her career begun at 53 and based on austerity internalized during summers at the Abbey of Fontenay—in Burgundy--then owned by her grandfather:

 “…The effects of stone and light, the richness and diversity of non-colors, the atmosphere that instilled in me a wariness of the awful excesses of anything.” She was one of the first in Paris to live in a loft for the openness, light, and serenity of few beautifully crafted things.

When a near fatal accident at age 20 erased her illusion of safety—she emptied her bedroom of everything but an iron bed, a chair and a Miró poster--stating that she begins every design with a blank page. She claimed to be the family ‘black sheep’ for recasting her existence in this insouciant manner.

She'd worked for art publications and married Jacques Putman, art critic, collector and publisher. After entering into interior design--she went bankrupt, suffered through a difficult divorce, and again chose to live in one room furnished with a bed and two lamps “...in total austerity, because I no longer knew what I liked”.  

Her early award-winning study of music composition imbued respect for mathematical pattern, and gave her a sense of geometry. Just as summers in the Cistercian abbey impressed her sensibilities with the perfection of proportions achieved through music’s numerical ratios.

A sleek monochromatic approach with lighting a key element—was at the heart of the company she founded in her 50s. Her 1984 design of the boutique Morgans Hotel in NYC sparked a global trend. Use of subtly rich textures and neutral color that is "temporal, calm, muted" was inspired by the open space of museums, "Where the environment lets what is displayed speak for itself."

At age 71, she opened her Studio with daughter Olivia as Art Director. Designs were produced for Veuve Clicquot, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Bally, Lagerfeld, Thierry Mugler, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Azzedine Alaïa, hotels, restaurants, offices, private homes, skyscrapers, the Guggenheim in NYC, interiors for Air France’s Concorde, and for her own label that included an iconic chair and perfume.

Declared a ‘national treasure’ Paris Mayor Delanoë made her President of the first Paris Design committee. In 2010, Paris paid tribute with a retrospective: Andrée Putman, ambassador of style--curated by her daughter. She died at 87 in her 6eme Paris apartment on January 19, 2013--having lived as she dared.