Elie nadelman biography of rory

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JOHN DICKINSON SEATING SUITE

John Dickinson (1920-1982) sofa and pair of armchairs, circa 1967.  Carved wood, leather upholstery (each mounted with Dickinson’s silk fabric label).  Sofa  H: 26” L: 61” D:  29”; armchairs  H: 26” L: D: 33” 29” each.  Provenance:  John Dickinson, San Francisco; Carlene Safdie.  $50,000

John Dickinson designed this low-slung sofa and matching pair of armchairs for his own home, an 1893 San Francisco firehouse that miraculously survived the 1906 earthquake and fire.  The legs were hand-carved to resemble tree branches, and the original butterscotch-colored-leather upholstery remains, specked with tiny claw marks from Dickinson’s cats (his favorite, Bertie, short for Bertrand Russell, is seen in his arms in the photo).  Discretely sewn to the frames beneath the cushions are labels that bear the designer’s name, location, and membership in the American Institute of Decorators, the precursor to the ASID.  This clever conceit was inspired by fashion-brand labels — Dickinson himself favored Saville Row suits, Missoni, and Brooks Brothers – blurring the distinction between the design and fashion worlds, which wasn’t common then as it is today.

One other nearly identical seating group was made for his friend and client Ralph DuCasse, an abstract painter who created the two minimalist white-on-white canvases that Dickinson hung opposite each other in the firehouse, adjacent to our seating group [below right].  The DuCasse suite differs in having brass-capped feet, and puce-colored-leather upholstery.  Ours were inherited, along with the rest of his estate, by his client, friend, and muse Carlene Safdie, from whom we acquired them.

Dickinson’s beautifully rendered design for both sofa and chairs [below], along with all of his working drawings, were donated

Parisian-born jewelry designer Aurélie Bidermann makes bits and baubles for the jetset life, one she happily seems to be living. Ticking off the list of destinations for her summer travel: “Apulia, Taormina, all the islands around Sicily.” Bidermann’s love of exploration has made its way into her line of colorful, covetable bijoux, which wittily integrate methods and materials culled from her travels, with gold-dipped organic materials for a luxurious, laid-back bohemia. Her Copacabana bracelet, for example, marries a minimal cuff silhouette with earthy, vibrant friendship bracelet-esque braiding.

After getting a Master’s degree in art history and working at Sotheby’s, Bidermann studied gemology in Antwerp. She started her line after a particularly influential visit to India, and art and culture routinely figure into how she sources her inspiration. It’s especially fitting that Bidermann mentions La Piscine, the 1969 French Riviera-set erotic thriller, starring Romy Schneider, Jane Birkin, and Alain Delon, as one of her favorite films (“The setting, the atmosphere, the pictures, to me, is really perfect—all of it,” Bidermann says). The sun-soaked film perfectly encapsulates the louche, luxurious spirit of her designs.

In addition to her Parisian flagship, and selling at Barney’s, The Webster, and Opening Ceremony, Bidermann has opened the doors to her first New York outpost, now open on SoHo’s Lafayette Street, and carrying exclusive pieces featuring scarabs and lapis lazuli for the launch and featuring a commissioned mural from Madrid-based street artist REMED. Interview recently caught up with Bidermann over cortados and pastries at The Smile in New York.

COLLEEN KELSEY: What is your first memory of connecting with jewelry?

AURÉLIE BIDERMANN: I have two important memories. My grandmother was a very refined, sophisticated person. She