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for sale the "Prince of Chintz" Mario Buatta Hand Signed Manhattan Inc Magazine Cover.
decorator. Born in West Brighton, Staten Island, New York,
he was the son of Felice Buatta, who worked as a violinist and bandleader under
the name Phil Burton. He was educated at Curtis High School, studied architecture
at Wagner College and Cooper Union,
then worked in department stores and took classes in design at Pratt
Institute, Columbia University, and in summer 1961 at the Parsons School of Design in Europe. He
later received guidance from English designer John Fowler, who greatly influenced him. Buatta
worked for Elisabeth C. Draper and then for Keith Irvine,
and started his own business in 1963. He designed interiors for clients
including Mariah Carey, Henry Ford II, Malcolm
Forbes, Barbara Irving
Newhouse, Sr., Charlotte Ford, and Billy Joel.
In 1988 with Mark Hampton he oversaw the interior
redecoration of Blair House in Washington, D.C. His most
extensive work was Carolands, a 92-room chateau located in Hillsborough, California. In addition
to his work for clients, he licensed a wide range of products, including a telephone.
Known as the "Prince of Chintz" for his use of lush floral prints, and also
as the "King of Clutter", Buatta was greatly influenced by
English interior design, especially the Regency
period, and known for rooms that evoked the English country house. Buatta
was unusual in the interior design profession in working almost alone, and
described himself as "married to [his] business".He was a mainstay of
the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse and from 1977 to 1991 chaired The Winter
Show, greatly increasing its prominence as an antiques and design
venue.