Female interior designer Andrée Putman was born Andrée Christine Aynard on December 23, 1925, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. You could say that her family was somewhat colorful. Putman’s paternal grandmother, Rose de Montgolfier, had ancestors that invented the hot air balloon. Putman’s father was highly educated and spoke several languages, but committed to a life of self-discipline and solitude to protest against the opulence of his family.
On the other hand, Putman’s mother, Louise Saint-Rene, was a concert pianist who loved that opulence allowed her to be a “great artist without a stage.” Putman had a formal education in the arts, but the arts were in the form of music.
When given the news that she didn’t have what it took to be a virtuoso, she pivoted her focus and started to study composition. At nineteen years old, she obtained the First Harmony Prize from the National Conservatory of Paris. Fortunately, Putman was true to herself and knew that music wasn’t in her destiny. Her destiny was to be a successful female interior designer.
An inspiration on so many levels, Putman officially started the successful part of her career when she was 53 years old. Her success came after her company’s failure, which aimed to develop the textile industry. The name of her company was Créateurs & Industriels, and it was this company that brought her in touch with the cream of the crop designers. That’s when her intuition took over. Her interior design of the Morgans Hotel in New York in 1984 was what put her on the track to success.
The formula for this female interior designer is simple but genius. She rehashed the pieces of furniture designed by forgotten designers of decades past. Then she created the interior, such as the Morgans Hotel, which she planned on a budget and made into a high-level hotel.
Very much her father’s daughter, Putman loathed pompous luxury. She focused on the essential, which would be the framework and the basic elements. She made art using what others had created as an interior designer. Putman highlighted the interior style by creating visual effects without changing the integrity of what others had created.
Putman is known for reissuing and rediscovering early Modernist French furniture, and from that, she became the designer of interiors. The New York Times referred to her as a “global interior designer” because she was in demand worldwide.
Putman has received countless awards during her lifetime. We made her our pick as a top female interior designer for Women’s History Month because of her ingenuity and being an original influencer. We honor you, Andrée Putman.
Photo Credit: interiordesign.net
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