Title: The Draper Touch
Author: Carleton Varney
Publisher: Prentice Hall Press, 1988
Text by Carleton Varney; 282 pages, 20 pages of black and white illustrations
In the history of interior decorating there is a select group of personalities whose biographies are as compelling as their designs. Dorothy Draper ranks at the top of this group. Her flamboyant personality was sharply reflected in her unforgettable designs, and her exuberance and creativity forever changed the course of her profession. The Draper Touch is an account of her life and style, written in the engaging and expert style of her protégé, Carleton Varney. He writes of her bold departure from traditional gender and class roles from her privileged early 20th century upbringing. Her choice to become an interior decorator and build her career to mythic proportions was quite unheard of at the time, though her celebrated status would come to overshadow any condemnable act of rebellion in the public eye. This volume is replete with telling anecdotes, character sketches, and fascinating insights into Draper’s decorative process and evolution into one of the most legendary figures of her time. Of particular interest to any Draper-aficionado are the specific treatments of unforgettable spaces are in depth accounts of her work at the Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, and the extraordinary spaces in The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virigina. Varney’s charming text is supplemented by two sections of black and white photographs of Draper and her iconic work.
