Lot Essay
Angelo Donghia was an internationally acclaimed interior designer sought after by celebrities and the fashion set of New York in the 1970s and 1980s. Throughout his career, Donghia pushed the boundaries of what interior décor could look like. Taking cues from Jean-Michel Frank, the designer created chic interiors with a highly controlled palette that acted as a backdrop to the urban life of enlightened city dwellers. Donghia created rooms that combined ultimate luxury with comfortable and uniformly colored furnishings set amongst deeply colored or highly patterned walls.
With an education at Parsons, and a career that began at Yale Burge Interiors, Angelo Donghia soon made his mark on decoration in the 1970s, partnering with Burge to create the highly successful Design Firm Burge-Donghia. Often choosing existing sculptural works as dramatic or surreal elements in his rooms, Donghia forged a strong friendship with John Dickinson, whose white plaster designs fit perfectly into the functional and comfortable rooms he designed. Celebrities such as Diana Ross, Liza Minelli and Ralph Lauren commissioned the designer for their apartments.
The present lot (en suite with lots 50, 52 and 53) come from a custom Fifth Avenue apartment interior created by Angelo Donghia for Beverly and Albert Weiss in 1974. For the couple, the interior was a dream come true. Beverly Weiss recounted to her family that she would “pinch herself” when she left the apartment and stepped out onto Fifth Avenue into Central Park. Working with Angelo Donghia as their designer, their apartment had a contemporary, urbane style that stood the test of time, looking as fresh in 2021 as it did in 1970. As a testament to the subtle genius of Angelo Donghia, the Weiss interior reflected the combination of the designer’s creative process and the owner’s exquisite eye for uniqueness and elegance.
With an education at Parsons, and a career that began at Yale Burge Interiors, Angelo Donghia soon made his mark on decoration in the 1970s, partnering with Burge to create the highly successful Design Firm Burge-Donghia. Often choosing existing sculptural works as dramatic or surreal elements in his rooms, Donghia forged a strong friendship with John Dickinson, whose white plaster designs fit perfectly into the functional and comfortable rooms he designed. Celebrities such as Diana Ross, Liza Minelli and Ralph Lauren commissioned the designer for their apartments.
The present lot (en suite with lots 50, 52 and 53) come from a custom Fifth Avenue apartment interior created by Angelo Donghia for Beverly and Albert Weiss in 1974. For the couple, the interior was a dream come true. Beverly Weiss recounted to her family that she would “pinch herself” when she left the apartment and stepped out onto Fifth Avenue into Central Park. Working with Angelo Donghia as their designer, their apartment had a contemporary, urbane style that stood the test of time, looking as fresh in 2021 as it did in 1970. As a testament to the subtle genius of Angelo Donghia, the Weiss interior reflected the combination of the designer’s creative process and the owner’s exquisite eye for uniqueness and elegance.