Interior designer Jan des Bouvrie revolutionized the Dutch living room with sleek shapes, light and art. His flamboyant personality, meanwhile, added to his fame and net worth. Des Bouvrie died on Sunday at the age of 78.
Jan Antoon des Bouvrie’s very first design was his own teenage bedroom. He painted the walls and ceiling white. Above his bed he hung a replica of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica; the rest of the furniture was removed. With this handwriting Des Bouvrie would grow into the most successful Dutch interior designer. He took the broom – almost literally – through brown, damp wooden panel interiors with heavy oak furniture from Brabant. In its place, he introduced sleek shapes, light and art. A progressive style revolution with which he brought the Dutch living room into modern times, a merit for which he was appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2009.
Naturally, he acquired a love for design as the only child of the owners of an interior design store in Bussum, where responsible furniture was sold according to the regulations of the Goed Wonen foundation. After studying interior architecture at the Amsterdamse Kunstnijverheidsschool (the former Rietveld Academy), he opened his own studio in 1969, also in Bussum. His first design was an instant bestseller: the famous Cube Sofa. In the following half century he designed besides countless furniture and interiors also ashtrays, lighters and cigarette boxes, travel trunks, a square telephone, cutlery, a dinghy (white, of course). In short, a complete Wehkamp catalog full, the mail order company for which he was indeed the house designer for several years.
Even the cell was given a new interior
Des Bouvrie was essentially a modernist with a preference for sleek, geometric shapes and minimal use of color, mainly white. It is not without reason that he cited Mondrian, Rietveld and Le Corbusier as his great sources of inspiration. “White gives people, flowers and art the opportunity to shine,” he explained his monochrome style. He was also at the basis of the open kitchen and the veranda, with which people could live in harmony inside and outside. His marriage in 1990 to his second wife Monique boosted his career. In 1993 the duo opened Het Arsenaal, a monumental army barracks in Naarden that was converted into a huge showroom and adjoining studio. Under the influence of Monique, more gold, color and glamor slipped into his work.
Despite the opulence with which he liked to surround himself, only a handful of things were indispensable: his characteristic round glasses, his box of cigars and the pencil sketchbook. When he was jailed one night in 2010 after a tax evasion charge – a receipt affair that would eventually be settled but which affected him deeply – he asked only for pen and paper. The next morning Des Bouvrie had designed a new interior for his cell.
In this sense, he has always remained the hard-working middle class son, besides suffering from dyslexia. Already during his studies at the Rietveld Academy he carried out lucrative renovations and shop furnishings. He was probably the only student who ever came to the Amsterdam art academy with a Porsche. A desire for recognition and attention will certainly have played a role in this. Des Bouvrie often and successfully sought publicity. He had his own TV Woonmagazine in which he updated viewers about the ideal living room: “You have to let the interior grow with the development of your personality,” was a popular statement. Or: “The cosiness is in yourself, not in the stuffing of your house.” He also appeared in advertisements for McDonalds and Gamma, among others. But he would ultimately owe his greatest television fame to his recurring appearances on Gertjan Dröge’s popular program Glamorland, which the designer invariably introduced with “Hello, here we are again”.
The Jan des Bouvrie brand
Jan des Bouvrie was the first designer to turn his name into a brand. There are even Jan des Bouvrie Colleges for styling and interior in Amsterdam and Deventer. Het Gooi has always remained his natural working area, aided by his flamboyant personality. There he decorated the houses of celebrities or those selected from the Quote 500. It would also make himself a wealthy man; The value of his art collection alone is estimated at several millions.
These commercial side activities have – unjustly – diverted attention from its significance for Dutch interior design. Although his progressive minimalism has been losing influence in recent years, his mix of high and low culture is of lasting significance. Des Bouvrie made style and standing accessible to everyone – rich and poor. In addition to villas in Saint-Tropez, he also designed paint tins for Gamma and fondue sets for prize fighter Princess. In doing so, he consistently adhered to his radical vision. In his own words: “The less you show, the nicer you live, in a sober interior with allure.”
Des Bouvrie had been ill for some time and suffered from prostate cancer, among other things. He died in his hometown of Naarden in the presence of his wife and children.
