Carlo, papa and patriarch of the Bugatti design family, got around to design by accident. Trained from his youth in the fine arts -- as a sculptor and painter at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, as well as at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris -- he embarked on his furniture-designing ca

Art nouveau furniture, Collage, Decorative, Eclectic, Excessive, Saturated

William Morris saw the art world through the idealistic lens of socialism. He and the like-minded designers who clustered around him wanted nothing less than to redefine art by restoring "craft" to a place of value. True art for them was based in time-honored, populist traditions; the sometimes raw b

Arts & crafts furniture, Decorative, Egalitarian, Organic, Political, Subtle, Surface

Josephine Baker adored him. Cher would have loved him. Liberace would have hired him. He was George Barbier, the creator of flamboyant, glittering, over-the-top costumes for flamboyant, glittering, over-the-top people. Barbier's designs were visual glories, often adorned with paste jewelry, flowing t

Art nouveau fashion, Decorative, Excessive, Fantastic, Glamour, Overflowing

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott II has shaped the modern, urban British landscape -- even if many people don't know it. His work is as archetypically British as golden arches were, once upon a time, essentially American. Scott is responsible for those bright red telephone boxes gracing Great Britain since 1

Bright, Classical architecture, Decorative, Elegant, Pioneering, Religious