{{Short description|American interior decorator (1935–2018)}} '''Mario Buatta''' (October 20, 1935 – October 15, 2018) was an American interior decorator.
==Early life and education== Buatta was born in West Brighton, Staten Island, New York, the son of Felice Buatta, a violinist and bandleader whose stage name was Phil Burton.<ref name=AD>{{Cite magazine |author=Mitchell Owens |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/mario-buatta-prince-of-chintz-obituary|title=Remembering Mario Buatta, the Prince of Chintz |magazine=Architectural Digest |date=2018-10-16 |access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref> He was educated at Curtis High School,<ref name=Arcadia>{{cite book |author1=Jum Harkins |author2=Cecelia N. Brunner |title=West Brighton |series=Images of America |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Selntwx4IGgC&dq=West+Brighton+Buatta&pg=PT123 |location=Charleston, South Carolina |publisher=Arcadia |isbn=9780738573847 |page=90 }}</ref> briefly studied architecture at Wagner College and Cooper Union, after which he worked as an interior decorator for department stores while taking classes in design at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, and, in the summer of 1961, at the Parsons School of Design in Europe.<ref name=AD/><ref name=NYT/> He later received guidance from English designer John Fowler, who greatly influenced him.<ref name=NYT/>
==Career== Buatta worked for Elisabeth C. Draper and then for Keith Irvine, and started his own business in 1963.<ref name=AD/> He designed interiors for clients including Mariah Carey, Henry Ford II, Malcolm Forbes, Barbara Walters, Nelson Doubleday, Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr., Charlotte Ford, and Billy Joel.<ref name=AD/><ref name=Arcadia/> In 1988, he and Mark Hampton oversaw the interior redecoration of Blair House in Washington, D.C.<ref name=AD/><ref name=Arcadia/><ref name=NYT/> His most extensive work was Carolands, a 92-room chateau located in Hillsborough, California.<ref>{{cite book |author=Michael Middleton Dwyer |author-link=Michael Middleton Dwyer |title=Carolands |location=San Mateo, California |publisher=San Mateo County Historical Association |edition=2nd |orig-year=2006 |year=2008 |isbn=9780978525903 }}</ref> In addition to his work for clients, he licensed a wide range of products, including a telephone.<ref name=AD/><ref name=NYT/>
Known as the "Prince of Chintz" for his use of lush floral prints,<ref name=Arcadia/><ref name=NYT>{{Cite news |author=Enid Nemy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/obituaries/mario-buatta-dead.html |title=Mario Buatta, Interior Designer and 'Prince of Chintz,' Dies at 82 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2018-10-16 |access-date=2020-04-23 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Grant McCracken |title=Transformations: Identity Construction in Contemporary Culture |year=2008 |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Indiana University |isbn=9780253350725 |page=207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJzy2HmHLBcC&q=Buatta }}</ref> and also as the "King of Clutter",<ref name=AD/><ref>{{cite book |title=Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism |author=James B. Twitchell |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University |year=2000 |isbn=9780231115193 |page=210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyBZhb0Wf5kC&dq=Buatta+has+become+a+kind+of+patina+on+internal+living+space&pg=PA210 }}</ref> Buatta was greatly influenced by English interior design, especially the Regency period, and known for rooms that evoked the English country house.<ref name=AD/><ref name=NYT/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theglampad.com/2018/08/the-magic-of-mario-the-life-and-legend-of-mario-buatta.html |author=Luzanne Otte |title=The Magic of Mario |website=The Glam Pad |date=2018-08-17 |accessdate=2020-04-23 }}</ref>
Buatta was unusual in the interior design profession in working almost alone, and described himself as "married to [his] business".<ref name=NYT/> 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.<ref name=AD/><ref name=NYT/>
==Personal life and death== Buatta lived in a townhouse in Manhattan,<ref name=NYT/> and also owned the 1845 William H. Mason house in Thompson Hill, Connecticut. The house, listed as part of a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places, fell into disrepair, leading to protests of "demolition by neglect".<ref>{{cite news |author=Alison Leigh Cowan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/nyregion/mario-buatta-draws-towns-ire-for-connecticut-landmark-in-decline.html |title=With Connecticut Project Stalled, Renowned Decorator Falls Out of Favor |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2014-03-21 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401110638/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/nyregion/mario-buatta-draws-towns-ire-for-connecticut-landmark-in-decline.html |archivedate=2014-04-01 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=Tim Nelson |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/mario-buattas-long-abandoned-connecticut-home-is-on-the-market |title=Mario Buatta's Long-Abandoned Connecticut Home Is On the Market |magazine=Architectural Digest |date=2019-12-18 |accessdate=2020-04-23 }}</ref>
He died in New York City on October 15, 2018, at the age of 82.<ref name=AD/><ref name=NYT/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |author1=Mario Buatta |author2=Emily Eerdmans |title=Mario Buatta: Fifty Years of American Interior Decoration |location=New York |publisher=Rizzoli |year=2013 |isbn=9780847840724 }} * {{cite book |author=Emily Evans Eerdmans |title=Mario Buatta: Anatomy of a Decorator |date=2023 |location= New York|publisher= Rizzoli |isbn= 9780847873579}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buatta, Mario}} Category:1935 births Category:2018 deaths Category:People from West New Brighton, Staten Island Category:American interior designers Category:Cooper Union alumni Category:Curtis High School alumni Category:Parsons School of Design alumni