CLASSIC CUTS
The decorous découpage of John Derian
A new volume celebrates the antique prints that adorn John Derian’s delightful pieces
The New York-based découpage artist John Derian has a magpie’s eye for beautiful images. He has amassed a cult following, and if you leaf through his new picture book, you can instantly see why. Every page is a celebration of the found prints, mostly from the early 19th century, that feature heavily in Derian’s work. Once he is captivated by an image, he turns it into a plate, a tray or a paperweight.
His is a historic craft and each era has deployed it in a different manner: in 18th-century Florence, craftsmen used paper cut-outs to embellish furniture; the Victorians created ornate screens from scrapbook fragments. Derian’s contemporary treasures allow a single illustration to take centre stage.
Although he exports his pieces around the world (in the UK, his stockists are Liberty and Pentreath & Hall), all of Derian’s products are made by hand at his East Village studio. Inspirations for his current collection range from tea-stained botanical drawings to blown-up details of the inky whorls on marbled paper. These change from season to season, so the artist’s archive (much like his book) is an enchanting miscellany of marvels. ‘John Derian Picture Book’ (£60, Artisan) is out now.