For Your Consideration

This Sunday, February 24th marks the 85th Annual Academy Awards and of course, one of the many awards I look forward to are those in the Best Art Direction category. From the fantasy worlds of Pi and Baggins to the period interiors of Russia, France and the Lincoln White House, they represent the best in set designs for 2012. For a quick tour, see my article in Architectural Digest here.

Architectural Digest will also host the Oscar Greenroom, the ubiquitous spot where winners, nominees and presenters go to relax in between awards. Designed this year by AD100 designer Madeline Stuart, the Art Deco inspired room pays homage to the legendary trend-setting art director Cedric Gibbons who was considered one of the most influential men in film. During his 32 year tenure at MGM, he oversaw 150 productions including Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz (he is actually credited on 1500 films) and was responsible for the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles of films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Married to the very glamorous actress Dolores Del Rio, one of his most famous creations was the design of the Oscar statuette. You can read more of writer Mitch Owen's piece here.

Ian Espinoza rendering of Madeline Stuart's designs for the Oscar Greenroom

Dolores Del Rio and Cedric Gibbons at their home in the Santa Monica Mountains

Happy Oscar week! It's Hollywood's Super Bowl and Fashion Week all rolled into one. And personally, I can't wait until the Bond Tribute and songs by Shirley Bassey.

Photo Credits: MGM, Focus Features, Madeline Stuart/Architectural Digest

All Things Oscar

With the Academy Awards upon us next Sunday,  I thought conduct a quick history lesson on Oscar, perhaps the most coveted award next to the Pulitzer or Nobel Peace Prize (depending on who you ask!)

He was born in l928 at the hands of celebrated MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, one of the 36 founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (Lore has it Gibbons sketched the design on a notepad during a meeting). Gibbons was nominated a record 39 times and won eleven for his outstanding work in art direction. Since the first Awards ceremony in l929, 2,071 have been awarded to date.

The dashing Cedric Gibbons (left)

Legend also has it that Oscar is named after AMPAS librarian Margaret Herrick's uncle Oscar (who remarked on the resemblance after seeing the statue and the name stuck). He stands 13 1/2" tall and weighs 8 1/2 pounds and fifty statues take up to 3-4 weeks to manufacture. Officially known as the Academy Award of Merit, Oscar is actually a  knight standing on a reel of film with five spokes at the base -- each one representing a branch of the Academy (actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers).




The most recognized, coveted, speculated and dreamed about award resides in some pretty interesting places. For some, Oscar is placed proudly on the library or home office shelf (Sidney Poitier, James Stewart, Cecil B. De Mille, John Wayne and George Clooney)  while others honor his presence in the most unlikely of spaces -- the bathroom (Kate Winslet) or a suit closet (Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful award).

James Stewart's Oscars on display in a library niche

Cecil B. Demille's home office houses
his award for The Greatest Show on Earth

John Wayne called this space his "50 Years of Hard Work Wall"

Sidney Poitier's awards reside on the top shelves of his built -in bookcases. His office
was designed by his wife, interior designer Joanna Poiter of JSP Interiors

Winslet quoted "The statue is going in the toilet, next to (husband) Sam's (Mendes)"

Kevin Costner had a specially designed shelf for his Dances With Wolves Oscar. "I used to have my Oscar in my underwear drawer for three or four years until I built the scrrening room. Now they are in a specially designed shelf unit." Barbra Streisand reportedly houses her award in a barn (custom built for her memorabilia collection) at her Malibu ranch).

The little gold man has even found himself orphaned in a pawn shop or given away (father /daughter Jon Voight and Angelina Jolie passed the awards on to their mothers) while Julia Robert's sister became the lucky recipient of her award for Erin Brockovich.


At least the Oscar winners didn't turn their statues into lamps. One day I hope to have a pair to use as bookends (which will of course be after I win the lottery, become Mrs. George Clooney, find a cure for cancer and discover the meaning of life):)

For all things Oscar, take a look at 80 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards by Robert Osborne (you know him from Turner Classic Movies) and my friend Jim Piazza (truly one of the wittiest people I know) and Gail Kinn's book The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History (Black Dog). Both are available on Amazon.

The Oscars will be telecast on Sunday, March 7th at 8:00 PM CST on ABC.

Photo Credits: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cathy Whitlock, Architectural Digest

The Cinema as Muse: Then and Now

The late Art Director Cedric Gibbons (1893-1960) and Founder and President of J. Robert Scott Sally Sirkin Lewis no doubt are kindred spirits and would have had much in common had the two met.

Both were (and are) extraordinarily accomplished. Both favor clean, uncluttered contemporary lines and hand-polished lacquer finishes in their work. And the two designers have had a major impact on their industries -- Gibbons is credited with a record 1500 films during a 30 plus year tenure at MGM while Lewis has been awarded 150 U.S. and British patents for her innovative textile and furniture designs.

Gibbons even designed the coveted Oscar statuette (he was nominated 39 times and winner of 11) while Lewis' upholstered designs with a dressmaker's attention to detail put home couture on the map. He is said to have driven to the studio in his Dusenburg every day clad in top hat and gloves while she was the driving force behind the concept of California Design.

From a body of work ranging from Grand Hotel (1932) to Kismet (1955), Gibbons' aesthetic is seen on every MGM set, prop, costume and even the logo during his reign as supervising art director. He preferred all white rooms steeped in luxury and draped in fantasy and moviegoers loved it.

Gibbons in his Art Deco home with actress/wife Delores Del Rio

The Night Is Young (1935 )

Gibbon's Art Deco designs for The Merry Widow (1934) won him an Oscar nomination

Oscar winning fantasy sets for An American in Paris (1951)

Gibbons would have loved J. Robert Scott's collection of furnishings with exotic veneers (such as shagreen, snake and goatskin parchment) and 22-carat gold finishes and would have had a field day browsing through the hand-woven silks, mohairs and velvets.

Many of these furnishings would fit right at home on an MGM set as well as modern interiors of today...

The Medallion Daybed

The Le Ronde Bed

The Escargot stool

Susie Slipper Chair

Pleats Mirror and Darby Chaise

For more on Gibbons, see Twenties Cinema Style on The Kiss, The Single Standard and The Wonder of Women. For more on J. Robert Scott and Sally Sirkin Lewis, visit their website.

Photo credits: J. Robert Scott, MGM