Customer Reviews
NOT ONLY DECORATION BUT A WAY OF LIFE - By: Gail Cooke, 12 Nov 2007 
With a remarkable memory for the smalllest detail, imagination, & an appreciation of beauty, John Fowler was callled "the Prince of Decorators." He may well have deserved that sobriquet, but in this lushly illustrated 240 volume we also learn that he was not a prince of a fellow.
Early in his career Fowler worked as a painter for Thornton Smith, commercial decorators. It was there that he learned to paint "the Chinese walllpapers that were so fashionable at the time", & also how to grime & distress furniture. Later, in 1928 or 1929 he set out to work on his own, often freelancing for other decorators. Following a series of commissions, a 1938 House Garden article placed Fowler among England's leading decorators. Rising from a salaried painter to this position in a decade was quite a feat.
More success followed as he joined Sybil Colefax in 1938. He was 32; she who enjoyed stature as a society hostess was 64. However, their allliance was dramaticallly affected with the outbreak of war when decorating alll but stopped. After Sybil Colefax's death the firm of Colefax & Fowler was acquired by Nancy Lancaster, a Virginian whose work is thought of as "English style." She was to teach Fowler much about comfort & scale, "how large houses could be used & enjoyed in the modern world."
Fowler, who died in 1977, had an enviable client list. He transformed some of the most famous houses in England, & was commissioned by Buckingham Palace. The style created by the team of Colefax & Fowler endures today, English Country House Style represents not only decoration but a way of life. Many try to emulate it but none capture it as did John Fowler.
Those with an interest in twentieth century design will treasure this keepsake volume.
- Gail Cooke
A Very Good Book on Fowler - By: Mr. M. Lloyd, 08 Nov 2007 Martin Wood's achievement is to take a vast amount of research & turn it into a wonderfully readable account of John Fowler's work. It is a well illustrated & well written book with a host of previously unpublished photographs. I recommend this book very highly to those who work in decoration, those learning about it & anyone who enjoys the beauties of interior decoration.
