Described as ‘a man of grand culture, but also a free spirit,’ artist and collector Guy de Rougemont, who died in 2021, is known for colourful, exuberant, headily patterned work that spans disciplines and dimensions. Especially interesting to us is the fact that his output exists in the space between fine art and decorative art.
Iconic homeware pieces such as the ‘Nuage’ (Cloud) table carry a direct, seamless link to his grander-scale sculptural work, such as the series of Totems, born of his obsession with the cylinder, which marked a shift to public art designed to play with the interior and exterior proportions of urban spaces.
A house for painting, reading, and writing. I am not so knowledgeable, but I am curious.’ — Guy de Rougemont
A shape-shifting and unclassifiable artist, de Rougemont’s time in the downtown New York art scene in the mid-60s, where he encountered the work of Andy Warhol and Frank Stella, marked a pivotal moment in his trajectory as a groundbreaking colourist with spades of joie de vivre. His home in the South of France is a vibrant extension of a life’s work and a masterclass in eclecticism, with the 18th century compound of buildings, turned carefully, and joyfully, over time, alongside de Rougemont’s late wife, Anne-Marie Deschodt, into a studio, artist retreat, and sprawling, overflowing gallery of collected art, antiques and mementos.
High-ceilinged rooms connected by tiled hallways and sweeping stone staircases are filled to the rafters with colour, and contain an endless supply of books, notebooks, and sketch pads, with de Rougemont describing it as ‘a house for painting, reading, and writing. I am not so knowledgeable, but I am curious.’
Deep reds, rich blues, and earthy greens painted on walls and window frames all swirl together elegantly with ceiling-mounted art works, upholstered screens with picture frames attached, and baroque-style furnishings to create an ageless mix of old and new that’s truly singular.
Photographs by Ambroise Tezenas for Architectural Digest