Gwendoline Maud Syrie Maugham ( Barnardo, formerly Wellcome; 10 July 1879 – 25 July 1955) was a leading British

interior decorator Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a creative flair, an interior ...

of the 1920s and 1930s who popularised rooms decorated entirely in white.

Early life

Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo was born in England on 10 July 1879. She was the daughter of

Thomas John Barnardo Thomas John Barnardo (4 July 184519 September 1905) was an Irish, Christian philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor and deprived children. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 1867 to the date of Barnardo's dea ...

, the founder of the

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a global charity headquartered in Barkingside in the London Borough of Redbridge. It was founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each ye ...

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

for

destitute Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, ...

children, and his wife, Sarah Louise "Syrie" Elmslie. Gwendoline was the eldest girl in a family of six. As an adult, she preferred to be known by her last christian name (Syrie). Syrie's Irish-born

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

had converted at age 16 to Protestant evangelicalism, joining the

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where it originated from Anglica ...

, and believed in daily Bible reading, obedience, strict punctuality and the forgoing of worldly pleasures including drinking (alcohol), smoking and visiting the theatre. A columnist later claimed that this strict upbringing was ‘a good example that one’s strongest motives in life are reactions from youth’ when discussing Syrie Maugham. By the age of 16, she was engaged, encouraged by her mother to find a suitable marriage. Syrie broke it off when she discovered her fiancé had a mistress, and in 1901 travelled to Egypt instead.

Career

Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo Wellcome L0017299

In the 1910s, Maugham began her interior design career as an apprentice under Ernest Thornton-Smith for a London decorating firm, learning there about the intricacies of furniture restoration,

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

, curtain design, and the mechanics of traditional upholstery. In 1922 at the age of 42, Maugham borrowed £400 and opened her own interior decorating business at 85 Baker Street, London. As the shop flourished, Maugham began decorating, taking on projects in Palm Beach and California. By 1930, she had shops in London, Chicago, and New York. Maugham is best-remembered for the all-white music room at her house at 213 King's Road in London. For the grand unveiling of her all-white room, Maugham went to the extreme of dipping her white canvas draperies in cement. The room was filled with massive white floral arrangements and the overall effect was stunning. Although she was known for white rooms, her own drawing room was the only all-white room she ever did. Also well-known was Maugham's salon in her villa at

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (, Picard language, Picard: ''Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache''), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a Communes of France, commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, northern France. ...

, a society resort in northern France. The salon was decorated entirely in shades of beige, relieved only by pale pink satin curtains. Although she made her fortune and fame with her white décors, by the mid-1930s she had largely given up the white décors to create interiors with baroque accessories and colour schemes punctuated by bright green, shocking pink, and bold reds.

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 costume designer and set designer for stage and screen. His accolades ...

remembered leaf-emerald wallpaper, magenta cushions, and Schiaparelli pink. In this period Maugham worked with

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inheri ...

and

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

on the decoration of James'

Monkton House Monkton House in Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire, England is a Grade II* listed 16th-century house. History In the 12th century Cluniac monks of the Order of Saint Benedict founded a monastery at Monkton Farleigh, acquiring land in the neighbou ...

in Sussex, creating what has been described as "the only complete

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

house ever created in Britain." Maugham charged high prices and could be very dictatorial with her clients and employees. She once told a hesitant client, "If you don't have ten thousand dollars to spend, I don't want to waste my time." Maugham popularised mirrored screens, indirect lighting, and plump furniture upholstered in white. She preferred wood furniture to be pickled or stripped, painted, or finished with a secret

craquelure Craquelure (; ) is a fine pattern of dense cracking formed on the surface of materials. It can be a result of drying, shock, aging, intentional patterning, or a combination of all four. The term is most often used to refer to tempera or oil pain ...

technique. Maugham's glamorous rooms influenced almost every designer, particularly

Elsie de Wolfe Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl ( Ella Anderson de Wolfe; December 20, c. 1859 – July 12, 1950) was an American actress who became a prominent interior designer and author. Born in New York City, de Wolfe was acutely sensitive to her surroundings ...

Jean-Michel Frank Jean-Michel Frank (28 February 1895 – 8 March 1941) was a French interior designer known for minimalist interiors decorated with plain-lined but sumptuous furniture made of luxury materials, such as shagreen, mica, and intricate straw marquet ...

, and Frances Elkins. After Maugham closed her New York shop in 1932, someone suggested that Rose Cumming fill the gap and design white furniture of her own. "No," Cumming said, "white was always Syrie's." Maugham's daughter Liza married in 1936, and the London house Maugham decorated for her was among her best work. After finishing it, she sold her own house and travelled to India with

"to paint the Black Hole of Calcutta white". Maugham continued decorating, but had already completed her most famous and successful work. Her clients included

Wallis Simpson Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer and then Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986) was an American socialite and the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII). Their intentio ...

Marie Tempest Dame Mary Susan Etherington (15 July 1864 – 15 October 1942), known professionally as Marie Tempest, was an English singer and actress. Tempest became a famous soprano in late Victorian era, Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedie ...

Oveta Culp Hobby Oveta Culp Hobby (January 19, 1905 – August 16, 1995) was an American government official and businesswoman who served as the first United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1953 to 1955. A member of the Republican Party, ...

DeWitt Wallace William Roy DeWitt Wallace ( ; November 12, 1889 – March 30, 1981), publishing as DeWitt Wallace, was an American magazine publisher. Wallace co-founded ''Reader's Digest'' with his wife Lila Bell Wallace, publishing the first issue in 1922. ...

Elsa Schiaparelli Elsa Schiaparelli ( , , ; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian fashion designer from an Italian nobility, aristocratic background. She created the Schiaparelli (fashion house), house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she ...

, Capt.

Edward Molyneux Edward Henry Molyneux () (5 September 1891 – 23 March 1974) was a leading British fashion designer whose salon in Paris was in operation from 1919 until 1950. He was characterised as a modernist designer who played with the refinements of co ...

, Mona Williams,

Babe Paley Barbara Cushing Mortimer Paley (July 5, 1915 – July 6, 1978) was an American magazine editor and socialite. Affectionately known as Babe throughout her life, Paley made notable contributions to the field of magazine editing. In recognition of ...

, Bunny Mellon,

Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce (; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, diplomat, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which had an all-female cast. He ...

Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway and West End thea ...

Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...

, Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and the Hon. Stephen Tennant. She redecorated The Glen, Scottish home of Christopher Tennant, 2nd

Baron Glenconner Baron Glenconner, of The Glen in the County of Peebles, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1911 for Sir Edward Tennant, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Salisbury in the House of Commons as a Liberal and ...

, who hated the existing

Scottish Baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th-century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

style of the house.

Marriage to Henry Wellcome

In 1901, on a visit to

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

with her father, she met

Henry Wellcome Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (21 August 1853 – 25 July 1936) was an American and British pharmaceutical entrepreneur. He founded the pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Company with his colleague Silas Mainville Burroughs, Jr., Silas Bur ...

, an American-born British industrialist who had made his fortune in

pharmaceuticals Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

(his firm became

Burroughs Wellcome GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

). She was 22 and he was 48, and they married soon after. In 1903 they had a son, Henry Mounteney Wellcome. The Wellcomes' marriage was not happy, and Syrie reportedly had numerous affairs, including with the department store magnate

Harry Gordon Selfridge Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr. (11 January 1858 – 8 May 1947) was an American retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges. The early years of his leadership led to his becoming one of the most respected and wealthy re ...

, Brig. Gen. Percy Desmond Fitzgerald, and the bisexual novelist

William Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

. Eventually, after some years of separation, she became pregnant with Maugham's only child, Mary Elizabeth, who was known as Liza. When the child was born in

Rome, Italy Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, in 1915, she was given Wellcome's surname. Wellcome then publicly sued for divorce, naming Maugham as

co-respondent In English law, a co-respondent is, in general, a respondent to a petition, or other legal proceeding, along with another or others, or a person called upon to answer in some other way. 7.4.19 Divorce More particularly, since the Matrimonial Cau ...

Marriage to W. Somerset Maugham

Syrie Wellcome and

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

married in 1917 in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, although he was predominantly homosexual and would spend much of his marriage apart from his wife. They divorced in 1929. Her divorce settlement from Maugham was their house at 213

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

, Chelsea, fully furnished, a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

, and 2,400 pounds a year for her and 600 pounds a year for Liza. Syrie Maugham died in 1955. In his 1962 memoir ''Looking Back'', Maugham virulently criticised his former wife, which caused a public outcry. After Maugham's death in 1965,

Beverley Nichols John Beverley Nichols (9 September 1898 – 15 September 1983) was an English writer, playwright and public speaker. He wrote more than 60 books and plays. Career Between his first book, the novel ''Prelude'' (1920), and his last, a book of po ...

wrote in rebuttal a defence of her called ''A Case of Human Bondage'' (1966).

Notes

References

* Banham, Joanna (1997). ''Encyclopedia of Interior Design''. London and Chicago, pp. 793–796. * Lambert, Elizabeth (2000). "Syrie Maugham. Famously White Rooms for An English Innovator". ''Architectural Digest'', January 2000. * Petkanas, Christopher. "High Gloss", New York Times, April 2010. * Plunket, Robert. "Syrie's Turn: Once, everyone read W. Somerset Maugham. But now his late ex-wife is the one selling books", ''Sarasota Magazine'', 2006, v. 10.