Philip Hooper is joint managing director of interior-design firm Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler
had me frozen to the spot when I saw her first at The Met. I was unprepared for the scale, the luminosity and the strength of the Paris, a hint of henna in the hair glowing against her chalky skin and a haughty expression hinting at boredom and mischief. As she looks out beyond the canvas, I can imagine her snapping her fan and demanding another glass of absinthe as she covets the jewelled Lalique combs in her lover’s hair–the air heavy with the scent of tuberose and scandal. Divine decadence, indeed
