Carlos de Beistegui e Yturbe (31 January 1895 – 17 January 1970),''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966, 1973–1995'' also known as Charlie de Beistegui, was an eccentric French-born Mexican multi-millionaire art collector and interior decorator who was one of the most flamboyant characters of mid-20th-century European life. His ball at the

Palazzo Labia Palazzo Labia is a baroque palace in Venice, Italy. Built in the 17th–18th century, it is one of the last great palazzi of Venice. Little known outside of Italy, it is most notable for the remarkable frescoed ballroom painted 1746–47 by Giov ...

in Venice in 1951 is still described as "the party of the century". Beistegui was often referred to as "

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with '' The Three Musketeers''. L ...

".The Big Party
''Time'', 17 September 1951 He is not to be confused with his namesake uncle (1863–1953), whose collection of notable 18th- and 19th-century paintings was donated to the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Early life

Family

Beistegui's origins are Spanish through his

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

parents. He was born the heir to a huge Mexican fortune, to parents of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous c ...

origin, and a mother (Dolores de Yturbe), both of whose ancestors had migrated from Spain to Mexico in the 18th century. The family made its fortune there in silver, agriculture, and real estate but left Mexico after the execution of Emperor Maximilian in 1867.NYT 28 May 1999, ANTIQUES; The Selling Of a Legend Of Decor
/ref> Beistegui was born in Paris and travelled under a Spanish diplomatic passport. He was brought up in France, Spain and England, and only ever visited Mexico twice, briefly. His family members held diplomatic posts representing Mexico in the U.K., France, Spain, and Russia.

Education

He was educated at Eton, where he wrote a volume of poetry he illustrated with his own drawings. Although he was expected to read

History of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic vis ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

frustrated his application. He then joined his parents in their mansion on the esplanade of

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...

in Paris.

Career

In the early 1930s, he had a penthouse built on the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is l ...

, designed by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

. It included an electronically operated hedge that parted to reveal a view of the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

, and a roof terrace designed by

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

. In 1939 he acquired the Château de Groussay, at

Montfort-l'Amaury Montfort-l'Amaury () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region, north central France. It is located north of Rambouillet. The name comes from Amaury I de Montfort, the first ''seigneur'' (lord) of Montfort. Geo ...

(

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth, one of the most beautiful extant theatres in Europe. He hired

Emilio Terry Emilio Rene Terry y Sánchez (1890–1969), known as Emilio Terry was a French architect, artist, interior decorator and landscape designer of Cuban-Irish ancestry. Creating furniture, tapestries and objets d'art, he was influenced by the château ...

to undertake the interior design. He had huge copies of the world's great paintings installed, but often claimed they were the originals (for example he claimed that Hans Holbein's portrait of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

owned by the British Royal Family was a fake, and his was the original.) He commissioned Spanish weavers to create tapestries in the style of

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

. He had giant Chinese jars which looked authentic but were actually made of tin or plaster. But he had an enormous number of genuine pieces, such as an ebony and bronze Louis XVI desk once owned by

Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versa ...

. The furnishings were described as the greatest private interiors concocted in the 20th century. The house was admired by decorators such as David Nightingale Hicks and Mark Hampton, who called it the most beautiful house in the world. One of the rooms so impressed

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Academy Awards, Oscar–winning stage design, stage and costume de ...

that he used it as the model for Henry Higgins' library in ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flowe ...

''. The Château de Groussay was the scene of some of the grandest weekend parties of the 20th century.Vanite Fair, August 1998
/ref> The gardens have been classified by the French government as one of the

Remarkable Gardens of France The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the more than three hundred gardens classified as ''"Jardins remarquables"'' by the Ministry of Culture and the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de Fr ...

. Beistegui was not troubled by the Germans during their occupation of France, because he had a Spanish diplomatic passport, and was treated as a citizen of a neutral country. He did occasionally undertake commissions for others – salons in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

, a suite of rooms at the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

in New York City, and the library at the British Embassy in Paris (with the designers Georges Geffroy and

) – but he used his artistic talents almost entirely for his own pleasure. Cecil Beaton wrote in his diary: ''"Beistegui is utterly ruthless. Such qualities as sympathy, pity or even gratitude are sadly lacking. He has become the most self-engrossed and pleasure-seeking person I have met."'' Palazzo Labia (Venice) in Campo San Geremia

Palazzo Labia (Venice) in Campo San Geremia

In 1948, Beistegui acquired the

, just off the Grand Canal in Venice, and began an intensive restoration. He purchased furnishings that had been acquired from the palazzo's less fortunate neighbours, including frescoes by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of t ...

, and

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religi ...

. These works of art, coupled with newly acquired tapestries and antiques, restored the palazzo to its former splendour. So avid a collector was Don Carlos that his taste became known as "le goût Beistegui" (the Beistegui style).

Le Bal oriental

On 3 September 1951 Beistegui held a masked costume ball, which he called ''Le Bal oriental'', at the Palazzo Labia. It was one of the last truly spectacular events in the famous ballroom, and it was one of the largest and most lavish social events of the 20th century. The guest list included the

Aga Khan III Sultan Muhammad Shah (2 November 187711 July 1957), commonly known by his religious title Aga Khan III, was the 48th Imam of the Nizariyya. He played an important role in British Indian politics. Born to Aga Khan II in Karachi, Aga Khan II ...

Barbara Hutton Barbara Woolworth Hutton (November 14, 1912 – May 11, 1979) was an American debutante, socialite, heiress, and philanthropist. She was dubbed the "Poor Little Rich Girl"—first when she was given a lavish and expensive debutante ball in 1930 a ...

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, Countess

Jacqueline de Ribes Jacqueline, comtesse de Ribes (born 14 July 1929) is a French aristocrat, designer, fashion icon, businesswoman, producer and philanthropist. She has been a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1962. Early life Jacqueline Bonni ...

Jacques Fath Jacques Fath (6 September 1912 in Maisons-Laffitte, France – 13 November 1954 in Paris, France) was a French fashion designer who was considered one of the three dominant influences on postwar haute couture, the others being Christian Dior and ...

, Count

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, Duff and

Lady Diana Cooper Diana, Viscountess Norwich (née Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners; 29 August 1892 – 16 June 1986) was an English actress and aristocrat who was a well-known social figure in London and Paris. As a young woman, she moved in a celebrat ...

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, Paul-Louis Weiller,

Gala Dalí Gala Dalí (born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, Елéна Ивáновна Дья́конова; – 10 June 1982), usually known simply as Gala, was the wife of poet Paul Éluard and later of artist Salvador Dalí, who were both prominent in ...

, Baron de Chabrol,

Desmond Guinness Desmond Walter Guinness (8 September 1931 – 20 August 2020) was an Irish author writing on Georgian art and architecture, a conservationist and the co-founder of the Irish Georgian Society. He was the second son of the author and brewer Br ...

Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Redé Oskar Dieter Alex von Rosenberg-Redé, 3rd Baron von Rosenberg-RedéFull name of ''Oskar Dieter Alex von Rosenberg-Redé'' cited on passenger manifest, in 1939; accessed on ancestry.com on 5 January 2012Full title of ''Baron von Rosenberg-Redé'' ...

, Prince and Princess

Chavchavadze The House of Chavchavadze ( ka, ჭავჭავაძე) is a Georgian noble family, formerly a princely one (tavadi), later incorporated into the Russian nobility, also with the title of Prince. History The family is first attested in the ...

Arturo Lopez-Willshaw Arturo is a Spanish and Italian variant of the name Arthur. People * Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985), American-born Salvadoran footballer *Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1959), Mexican footballer *Arthuro Henrique Bernhardt (b. 1982), Br ...

, Patricia Lopez-Willshaw, Dimitri Hayek, Fulco di Verdura,

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, Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley, Nelson Seabra, Aimée de Heeren, Princess

Ghislaine de Polignac Princess Ghislaine de Polignac (5 September 1918 – January 2011) was a prominent member of Paris society, bon vivant, fashion stylist and promoter, and author. Early life and title Born on 5 September 1918 as Ghislaine Charlotte Claire Brinquan ...

, Princess

del Drago Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denote ...

, Princess Gabrielle

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, Hélène Rochas, Princess

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, Princess

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, Prince

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, the painters Fabrizio Clerici and

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, and many others.

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and

designed each other's costumes. Winston Churchill and the

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and

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were invited but did not attend. The host wore scarlet robes and a long curling wig, and his normal height (5 ft. 6 in.) was raised a full 16 inches by platform soles.

's photographs of the ball are considered notable for capturing an almost surreal society, reminiscent of the Venetian life immediately before the fall of the republic at the end of the 18th century. The "party of the century" launched the career of

Pierre Cardin Pierre Cardin (, , ), born Pietro Costante Cardino (2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020), was an Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric sh ...

, who designed about 30 of the costumes. Nina Ricci was another designer who was involved.

Later life

Despite this colossal extravagance and the enormously high-profile guest list he was able to attract, Beistegui did not generally warm to people, nor they to him. He remained personally aloof and shadowy, and was often accused of treating his friends and mistresses very poorly. He never married, and although he was said to have had many mistresses, his sexuality was often the subject of speculation. Château de Groussay (Montfort-l'Amaury)

After surviving a series of strokes around 1960, he sold the Palazzo Labia to RAI. Beistegui died in 1970 at 38 Avenue Maréchal Joffre in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Sp ...

, France, with a limited will. His estate went to his brother, who did not want the Château de Groussay and gave it to his son Juan (Johnny) de Beistegui. When the collection, which included many of the Palazzo Labia's former contents, was auctioned by

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

(its first auction on French soil) in 1999, it proved to be France's largest and most highly priced auction sale, realising $26.5 million.NYT, 24 June 1999, House Proud: Personal Visions; Parting Glances at a Pleasure Dome
/ref> The sale was described as "a major event in the history and sociology of the decorative arts". A documentary ''Don Carlos de Beistegui'' was made in 1989.

Bibliography

, ''The Glass of Fashion'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1954, et 2e ed. Cassell, London, 1954. Translated in French by Denise Bourdet under the title : ''Cinquante ans d'élégances et d'art de vivre'', preface by Christian Dior, Amiot-Dumont, Paris, 1954 * Nicholas Foulkes, ''BALS: Legendary Costume Balls of the Twentieth Century'', Assouline, New York, 2011 () * Jean-Louis de Faucigny-Lucinge, ''Fêtes mémorables, bals costumés'',1922–1972, Herscher, Paris, 1986 () * Patrick Mauriès, ''Alexandre Serebriakoff, portraitiste d'intérieurs'', Franco Maria Ricci (FMR), 1990 () *

Paul Morand Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was mu ...

, ''Venises'', Gallimard, 1971 * Jean-Louis Remilleux, ''Groussay. Château, fabriques et familiers de Charles de Beistegui'', Albin Michel, 2007 ( et ) *

Maurice Rheims Maurice Rheims (4 January 1910 – 6 March 2003) was a French art auctioneer, art historian and novelist, born in Versailles. He administered the estate of the painter Pablo Picasso. He is the father of the photographer Bettina Rheims Bettina ...

, ''Haute Curiosité'', Robert Laffont, Paris, 1975 () * José Luis de Vilallonga, ''Gold Gotha'', Seuil, Paris, 1972 ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beistegui, Carlos De 1895 births 1970 deaths Art collectors from Paris French interior designers Socialites from Paris French people of Basque descent French people of Spanish descent People educated at Eton College French expatriates in the United Kingdom