Ronald Fleming (interior decorator)

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Ronald Fleming (1896 - 1968) was an English interior decorator.

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Biography

Ronald Fleming was born in Scotland, the son of a medical doctor from Kelso. [1]

He attended Epsom College and then, in the 1920s, studied interior design at the New York School in Paris. [1]

Between his study in England and France, he served during World War I with the Cold Stream Guards. [2]

In 1931 he worked in Paris with Keeble Ltd (Keeble Ltd had its office in London at Carlisle House). [3] He worked also for Kelso Ltd and Arundell Clarke. In 1932 he opened, and managed, the decoration department at Fortnum & Mason. In 1949 he became the director of Mann and Fleming Ltd. [1]

In 1931 he published Talk on Decoration. [2]

In 1932 he organized the exhibition "Modern Designs for Mural Decoration" at Carlisle House, opened by Osbert Sitwell and including works, among others, by Roger Fry, Duncan Grant and Edward Halliday. [4] He also gave lectures on ethos and technique. [2]

Fleming was friends with Roy De Maistre and in 1953 he bought Flower Piece, which passed to Adrian Brookholding-Jones, grand-son of the sculptor Adrian Jones, and then sold at Brookholding-Jones' death. [5]

His commissions included: the ballroom in the Royal Palace in Athens for King George II of Greece; the Penthouse Suite at the Dorchester Hotel, together with Oliver Messel; the interiors of Dalmeny House for Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery; stage sets and murals. [1]

Fleming lived at 20, Thurloe Square, London. In magazines of the time, he was often introduced as a bachelor interior designer, a subtle way to say that he was gay. The same applied to Oliver Frederick Ford, Carl Toms and Alan Tagg. [2] Fleming lived all his adult life, until death, with Geoffrey Houghton-Brown (1903-1993), an authority on 18th-century French furniture. [6]

Legacy

The Ronald Fleming interior decorator papers, 1915 - 1976 are held by the Archive of Art & Design of the Victoria & Albert Museum. [7] Many of Fleming’s books were bequeathed to the London Library.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lomas, Elizabeth (2001). Guide to the Archive of Art and Design, Victoria & Albert Museum. Taylor & Francis. p. 93. ISBN   9781579583156 . Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cook, M. (2014). Queer Domesticities: Homosexuality and Home Life in Twentieth-Century London. Springer. p. 46. ISBN   9781137316073 . Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  3. "Carlisle House, Carlisle Street, Soho, London / by Keeble Limited". State Library of Victoria. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  4. Compton, Ann (1997). Edward Halliday: Art for Life, 1925-1939. Liverpool University Press. p. 34. ISBN   9780853239727 . Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  5. Johnson, Heather (1995). Roy De Maistre: The English Years 1930-1968. Craftsman House, B V I. p. 52. ISBN   9789768097514 . Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. Lees-Milne, James; Bloch, Michael (2011). Diaries, 1984-1997. Hachette UK. p. 195. ISBN   9781848547117 . Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  7. "Archives held by the Archive of Art & Design". vam. Retrieved 10 January 2018.