Elsie de Wolfe 
The Birth of Modern Interior Decoration
by Penny Sparke
Edited by Mitchell Owens
20th Century Decorators series
10 x 12 inches, 374 pp.
Nearly 300 illustrations in duotone.
Cloth, dust jacket.
ISBN 978-0-926494-27-5
April 2005
I am going in now for interior decoration.
By that I mean supplying objets d'art and giving
advice regarding the decoration of their houses
to wealthy persons who do not have the time, inclination,
nor culture to do such work for themselves. It is
nothing new. Women have done the same thing before.
Elsie de Wolfe is a 20th-century legend. Her name is familiar to many who practice the art of interior design or who are linked to the fashionable world of tastemaking. She played a key role in the formation of the modern American interior decorating profession, which provided appropriate settings for the "new rich" in the first half of the 20th century. In the process, she also helped to shape our understanding of what we have come to know as the modern domestic interior.
This large format, profusely illustrated book covers 29 individual projects and concludes with a timeline of her works. Written by English decorative arts scholar Penny Sparke and edited by New York Times contributor Mitchell Owens, Elsie de Wolfe presents the most in-depth look ever into the design aesthetic of this early 20th century master decorator.
FROM THE PRESS
"Beautifully illustrated, definitive work. One of the top 5 illustrated books of the year."
—Sunday Times (London)
"Well written...and interesting.The most-thorough examination of de Wolfe's work yet."
— Publishers Weekly
"This book, lavishly illustrated with hundreds of period photographs will provide hours of pleasure for those who wondered where tented ceilings came from, or mirrored fireplace surrounds."
—Florida Inside Out
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