Goya
10 avenue George V, designed by architect A.L.Voisvenel in 1887
from the eulogy delivered by Father Robert Pieplu, BALENCIAGA's parish priest:
BALENCIAGA's consistent eye for harmony sought suitability in all his interiors -whether in his workplace or at home. Style, too, was to play its part in the interiors of Balenciaga- his references to his fellow Spaniards' art in his design aesthetic is equally evident in these spaces. Along with furniture- the strokes of Goya, Velasquez, Zuburan, Miro and Picasso reside there. The opulent shock of a matador's cloak, the simplicity of a monk's habit, the austerity of a monastery find a harmony in the world the Master BALENCIAGA inhabited.
THE HOUSE
of 
Velazquez
in the Boutique
10 . Avenue George V
Balenciaga arriving at the Boutique of the House(ground floor)
photograph Gyenes
Located on the ground floor of BALENCIAGA, Christos Bellos designed the Boutique space in 1948- when the House expanded to the first floor level of the neoclassical A. L.Voisvenel designed building. A few accessories were styled and shown in the Boutique for purchase-scarves, bags, perfume.
opulent upholstery and curtains with scalloping hems and pelmets
in
The Salon
Accessing the Salon, located on the 1st floor-via lift-clients walked down a long corridor to the Main Salon. Stucco arabesques were fitted around doors and windows. The walls were white; the carpets a pale gray. Nothing in the decor was to disturb the clothes. Gold salon chairs for clients lined the walls and heavy marble ashtrays on gilt stands perched in front of the chairs created a separation between the model and client.
Mark Shaw photographs of The Balenciaga Salon
The other spaces in the House were reserved for the private scenes of a Maestro and his acolytes at work. Simple. Austere. The studio, ateliers, and offices were quite- a reverence pervaded. Assistant to BALENCIAGA, Courreges spoke of a workshop that was 'pure white, unornamented, and intensely silent.'
an atelier on the premises with Monsieur in attendance
photo Kublin, 1960.
favorite model Colette in the Grand Salon, 1937
photographer Luigi Diaz
photographer Luigi Diaz
from El Diario Vascxo, August 25,1972 article by Jose Maria Arielza:
His fashion house had a curious monastic seal, in which there was no room for loud and outspoken people, nor for laughter and disorder. Everything was done in an atmosphere of silence and efficiency: fashion shows, work, rehearsals. Even among his models there was a sign of restraint, nor airs or graces. To see his show was to be present at a pure aesthetic spectacle, reverent and organized.
THE RESIDENCE
Avenue Marceau, Paris
photograph -Cecil Beaton (collection of Sothebys)
BALENCIAGA was a collector of leather bound volumes of books, 19th century fashion plates, modern drawings and bronzes. These collections were housed at the Avenue Marceau. Cecil Beaton also recalled collections of rock crystal, Chinese porcelain, old silver and 18th century furniture. Among his possessions-seascape paintings-one in particular- a Braque painting of a grey sea with a small fishing vessel- looked much like his own childhood village on the Cantabrian coast.
couture at home on Avenue Marceau
Clifford Coffin photograph of Mrs.William Klein,1948
(there are discrepancies in where this photograph was taken-
a photographic collection of Coffin's work is sited here.
according to another source the photograph was taken at couture House.)
in Spain
E I S A
In his homeland of Spain, BALENCIAGA had three fashion Houses that were operating-in addition to his Paris one. The EISA label- followed many of the Master's designs and cut of the clothes showing in BALENCIAGA's Paris. San Sebastian, Barcelona and Madrid were the cities where his Spanish clients lived, played, ruled- and he was there to see that they had BALENCIAGA at their polished fingertips every moment of the day. At one time or another, artisans, seamstresses, apprentices were working in or training at one of these locations and in Paris as well.
The 1942 EISA House in Barcelona was at calle Santa Teresa, 10. A two story house, the ground floor was done up for fashion shows, with the fitting rooms on the 1st floor. Living space was also on this floor- a terrace, kitchen, bath, drawing room, dining room and bedroom.
From Goya ,of course, came the prettiness of black lace and satin ribbons, but what of the spumes of frosted embroideries, the showers of mother of pearl, the pale slightly-stiffened silks layered in silver and gold so that you did not know which moved first, the dress or the light? (referencing the village of Guetaria, on the northern coast of Spain, Balenciaga's birthplace.)
-Pauline de Rothschild
Goya
The Madrid EISA, photographed by Juan Gyenes below, had a more casual straightforward interior than the Paris house. Chairs are simple folding things. Heavy framed mirrors, simple curtains and lanterns finish off the decor. Flowers were used to enhance perfumes shown and sold in the space. Fabrics were draped on surfaces, pattern and sample books were left open- a no nonsense working state seems to have been part of EISA in Spain.
BALENCIAGA with a model in Madrid-
Gyenes photograph from the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana, Madrid.
A ravenous antique collector, BALENCIAGA spent hours scouring the Rastro Market in Madrid amassing furniture, antique Spanish rugs and other treasures. Spanish bronze keys and a collection of ivory bilboquet-a Spanish court game where part of his collections, along with collecting black pearls-a passion shared by his friend Picasso.
THE IGUELDO SPAIN RESIDENCE
Zubaran
As you look you see the swatches of a Balenciaga collection, rain-washed blues, grays with a greenish tinge. The weather has in places washed the dark brown wood to pale coffee, to white, and sometimes left a harsh metallic blue...The eye that chose so much for us knew the beauty of the black hills in Atlantic mists, black against eggshell, against brown.
- Pauline de Rothschild
Here-to Igueldo-Balenciaga retired. He had come to this house often over the years. Mostly bare white washed walls predominated in the rooms. Low ceilings with exposed beams dominated the Dining Room. The room was filled with beautiful highly polished Spanish furniture, Spanish silver, faience, simple patterned curtains, many iron candle holders, a religious painting and a pair of lamps & mirror on the simple mantel.
Gyenes photograph from the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana, Madrid.
In BALENCIAGA's bedroom his mother's sewing machine stood in front of a mantel holding a painted wooden crucifix and figures of saints or apostles. On the walls a pair of carved wood mirrors hang and figured curtains cover the windows. In the Gyenes photograph clothes are tossed on sofas- the room was used and certainly not styled for a photograph.
Gynes photograph from the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana, Madrid.
At the age of 77 BALENCIAGA died of heart failure. It is recorded that he owned three private properties in Spain- his Igueldo residence, a flat in Madrid, another in Barcelona- in France- a Paris flat and an estate near Orleans. He was buried in his childhood village of Guetaria. Pauline de Rothschild described his resting place:
His tomb is the highest of two BALENCIAGA family plots, looking out toward the vineyards and the sea and one lone beautiful pine tree. BALENCIAGA's tomb is particularly ugly. Slab upon slab of gray granite, and a standing headstone of granite topped by an ill-shaped cross. It promises total blindness and deafness. Solid, expensive, it needs no upkeep,, no gestures of fondness, it doesn't allow for weeds.
What is he doing there, the austere voluptuary who so often gave us Cinderella's three dresses, one the color of the weather, the other the color of the moon, the third the color of the morning sun? He would be happier with the poor further down, lucky to lie under the green grass, who only require black cast-iron crosses of delicate patterns with the green of the grass showing through...
Unlike today-when photograph after photograph of designers homes are spreads in magazines and books, few photographs exist of the homes and ateliers of BALENCIAGA. It is fitting-He was a very private man. What we have to remember him by are His sometimes beguiling, sometime monastic-
always impeccable- Artistry.
always impeccable- Artistry.
1963 Summer Collection -in the Grand Salon
photograph by Kublin
BALENCIAGA Lesley Ellis Miller , THE WORLD OF BALENCIAGA, The Met, BALENCIAGA PARIS Pamela Golbin, BALENCIAGA Marie-Andree Jouve, The Costume Institute Metropolitan Museum
other Little Augury posts about Balenciaga here
Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquiere's interiors here at Domicidal Maniac
Balenciaga bio here
Balenciaga this fall here
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