The first monograph on the work of renowned twentieth-century British decorator and antiques dealer Geoffrey Bennison. Geoffrey Bennison (1921–1984) ranks among England’s most influential designers, defying conventional notions of style to conjure up magnificent settings for discerning clients who loved his theatrical and romantic sensibility. The master of the layered look, he used antique textiles with his own fabrics to achieve a complex mix of scale, pattern, and color in inventive shades such as his evocative Red Riding Hood Red and Prussian Blue. His talent for combining eclectic objects, his unerring eye, and his deep knowledge of antiques earned him a reputation for sophisticated originality equaled by very few. This lavish volume opens with an illuminating text about Bennison’s fascinating history—from his early days at the Slade School of Art and his work as an antiques dealer in London during the swinging sixties to his later career as an interior designer. All of Bennison’s interiors are showcased, from magnificent country estates and retreats to elegantly appointed apartments and townhouses filled with priceless French and English furniture and curiosities.

From decade to decade, the influence of Geoffrey Bennison has gathered momentum. At first his name was known only to the cognoscenti of the decorating world, but as the 1980s progressed into the 1990s, a gradual undercurrent grew, at first barely discernible, its ripples widening at the watershed of the twenty-first century. Now, thirty years after his untimely death, Geoffrey Bennison is recognized as one of the greatest interior designers of the twentieth century. He ignored the accepted views on style and taste to evoke a particular ambience, combining antique textiles with his own hand-printed fabrics to create richly beautiful interiors for his sophisticated and discerning clients. His gifts as an interior designer were based on solid foundations – formal art school training, a deep knowledge of antiques, and an unerring eye. His flair and originality ensured that he was in constant demand as a decorator, with a legacy that lives on to this day.