Giancarlo Valle Plots a Sumptuous Lounge Around a Salman Toor Painting
A whimsical canvas prompts the designer to imagine a room anchored in both past and present
Giancarlo Valle. Photo: CLEMENT PASCAL
There’s a quality that is playful yet studious, historic yet fresh, about the interiors of Giancarlo Valle. A respect for those kinds of tensions is why he gravitates to the work of Salman Toor, a master at achieving the same delicate balance in his evocative, glowing green canvases.
Plotting a sumptuous lounge around one such painting, Valle carefully layers pieces from a fascinating timeline of eras, juxtaposing vintage designs with examples by contemporary artisans, including those stocked by his own Tribeca, New York, gallery, and finding important connections along the way.
“Building a body of work today cannot simply be about bouncing from reference to reference as algorithms encourage us to do,” he says. “Instead, it must build on itself and do so slowly over time.”
“Salman Toor’s works have incredible energy and depth but also possess an ease that is reminiscent of an Old Masters painting”
Giancarlo Valle
Art Room (2020) by Salman Toor. Photo: FARZAD OWRANG, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND LUHRING AUGUSTINE, NEW YORK
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A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Late Fall Issue under the headline, “History Lesson.” Subscribe to the magazine.
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