Italian Illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli Displays 37 Works at Her First Exhibition in France

“We don’t embroider cushions here.” Those were the dismis­sive words Le Corbusier uttered to a young Charlotte Perriand when she came to his Paris studio one October afternoon in 1927 looking to work with him. Fortunately, she was not deterred: She was ultimately hired and became a significant collaborator on many of his projects, one being the Unité d’Habitation de Marseille, for which Perriand did the interiors. It’s that quote along with Perriand’s body of work that inspired Olimpia Zagnoli’s current exhibition—titled “Ici nous ne brodons pas de cousins,” Corbu’s above quote in French—at the iconic housing unit, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. The Italian illustrator’s first exhibition in France features 37 pieces, from a 2019 cover for The New Yorker to ones created specifically for the show, including her debut sculpture, which is in concrete echoing the rough-cast concrete facade of Corbu’s building. But Zagnoli’s lines and color combinations, along with the idea of making art a part of everyday life are winks to Perriand.

The Novogratz Make a Starry Home for Themselves in Hollywood

It’s ready for its close-up. Befitting their status as the celebrity interior designers known as the Novogratz, Robert and Cortney Novogratz selected a 1931 Spanish Modern villa in the Hollywood Hills famed Bird Streets enclave—once home to Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn, as the location for their home and its subsequent rebuild. 

“Originally the idea was to bring it back to its original charm, but unfortunately, we had to bring it down,” Cortney Novogratz says. “We rebuilt the house, doubling its size but kept the same spirit of the original house with the layout and of course made the original courtyard as the focal point of the entire home.”

Spanning over 7,200-square-feet, the white stucco house has a terra-cotta tile roof, steel-framed windows, and white oak floors. A central, open-air courtyard is tiled in red and white and leads to a great room with cathedral ceilings and a custom-made fireplace mantel. Each room of the home is designed with white oak floors and oak accents against cream-colored walls, creating an airy Italian villa–inspired look, all centered on that quaint courtyard. “We looked for a house with a courtyard,” Robert Novogratz explains. “A lot of people have pools but how many people have a courtyard?”