The Washington Post website published an article titled "The President Comes and Goes, But These Curtains Are Always There" on February 1, which describes the story of the curtains in the Oval Office of the President of the United States. The full text is excerpted below:
Do those golden curtains in President Biden's Oval Office look familiar?
It should look familiar. These are the same curtains that Little Rock decorator Keykey Hawke Smith designed for Bill Clinton's Oval Office in 1993. During four of the past five presidents, they have been adorning the windows through which America's most prominent position is ever served.
President Biden( center) and Vice President Harris meet with officials in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 25, where gold curtains and blue carpets look "bright and fresh."
Eternal gold, a symbol of power
Hawke Smith said: "The curtains in the Oval Office are very important. The gold-tone brocade design has a certain timeless meaning. The most photogenic scene in this room is the president sitting at his desk. People saw the scene as a symbol of the throne of power. ”
The White House is a historic place that also reflects every presidential family that has ever lived here. It is constantly undergoing repairs and redecorations. Arguably, the Oval Office is the most important and iconic conference room, where presidents speak on the phone with world leaders or give national speeches in the wake of a terrorist attack. Every president has made his voice heard through design.
The late historian William Searle once said, "Right now, every president wants to personalize it." They usually don't change a lot right away. But then, they might change the curtains, and eventually everyone got a new carpet. ”
Michael Smith, the Obamas' decorator, said: "The importance of curtains is that they are synonymous with the president and can be quickly recognized. He chose traditional brick red wool for the windows of Oba President Ma Oval Office, a color that appeared in portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Smith said Hawke Smith's curtains "felt sunny and well lit." He added: "I would like to see President Biden like the warm sun coming in through the window." ”
Over the past 28 years, these floor-to-ceiling curtains with blue stripes and six curved royal draperies installed on Clinton's inauguration day have won bipartisan support. Hawke Smith noticed that her curtains remained in place during President George Bush's first year in office until the Bush family's decorator, Ken Brasinger, replaced them with bronze-colored curtains, as Bush and Laura thought the bronze curtains matched the new light-colored carpets of the Oval Office. During Obama's eight years in office, golden curtains were stored in warehouses.
Bill Clinton in the Oval Office of the White House in 1993.
In 2017, Hawke Smith watched reports of Donald Trump arriving in the Oval Office. She didn't expect to see the curtains she had designed, but when she counted the pendants and pored over the custom-made stripes, she knew it was her curtains. They've been hanging there ever since.
Hawke Smith's curtains have also become pop culture props associated with the president: in NBC's TV series The White House, Martin Sheen plays President Jed Bartlett has a replica of it in his office.
The TV series "White House Storm" replicates the golden curtains.
Traditionally, presidents-elect appoint decorators of their choice to set up the Oval Office of the White House for the inauguration, typically using what's in the warehouse. Then, if they do, they can install new curtains, carpets, and upholstery as quickly as they can customise items, usually paid for by private donors or the White House Historical Society. (President Biden and first lady Jill Biden have yet to formally appoint decorators.) White House staff assisted them in selecting the curtains that Clinton had used and the blue carpet of the Clinton period with the presidential seal. ）
Ashley Williams, deputy director of Oval Office operations, told The Washington Post during a tour on inauguration day: "It's important for President Biden to walk into an Oval office that looks American and can show presidential style from the start. ”
Vintage brocade, the color of the flag
Hawke Smith is the first decorator in recent years to be able to install new custom curtains on the day of the new president's inauguration. This is due to the convenience given by George and Barbara Bush after Clinton's election, allowing her to measure in advance.
Hawke Smith recalls her first visit to the White House shortly after the 1992 election. "I was invited to go to the White House with Hillary," she said. We were escorted and referred to (Barbara Bush) and I remember the Bush family's dog running around at my feet. ”
George W. W. Bush in the Oval Office of the White House in 2001.
After the visit, Hawke Smith was invited to return when designs and measurements were needed. She said: "I've been here two or three times throughout the transition period. We have a lot of conveniences that biden couples can't enjoy. They don't get a chance to think about these things. ”
She remembers spreading out cloth samples and paint color cards in the large, Middle Island kitchen at Arkansas Governor's Mansion to consider the Oval Office option.
Bill Clinton loved her curtain selection: "SkalaMandrae House" Company's Newport brocade, a historic fabric design chosen by Hawke Smith after his research. She found red brocade fragments of the same pattern found in a Philadelphia house where George Washington had lived during his presidency. This fabric is perfectly matched to her red, blue and gold colour schemes.
She recalled: "He wanted to change the look of the office to reflect his personality. He likes the colors used on the flag. ”
Hawke Smith quickly began work, so she wanted to install the curtains in time for the inauguration day, immediately reflecting the change of power. Her curtains replaced the neoclassical light blue curtains designed by Mark Hampton for George and Barbara Bush.
The late Washington interior decorator Nelson Wiltz — whose company made curtains for Hawke Smith — waited outside the White House for Clinton to be sworn in. He then rushed to the Oval Office, because there were only a few hours left before the work was completed.
In an interview with The Washington Post in 2001, Wiltz recalled the tensions of the time. "People can barely move around the room. There were 28 people crowded there. There were people in charge of the telephone, the Secret Service, the people who wiped the windows, the people who hung the pictures, and the people who moved the pictures. "The curtains were installed just before the Clintons arrived. All that's left is history.
Gold with blue, bright and fresh
Brasingham called Biden's choice of gold curtains and blue carpets "bright and fresh." He was always happy when he saw his designs appear in another administration. Brasingem said: "You know this work isn't going to last forever. Therefore, when a person sees that what he has designed is used again, it is a very happy thing. ”
The two beige linen brocade sofas he designed for George Bush's office later served Obama for nearly two years and For Trump for four years. Now they're in Biden's Oval Office.
"We tested the sofa with different seat cushions to make sure the chair was as comfortable as it was in the office, not at home, and that guests or staff didn't get up with a soft seat cushion that was not straining," Brasingham said. ”
Meanwhile, Hawke Smith had the opportunity to recreate the golden curtains for the second time: a one-to-one replica of the oval office curtain hanging from the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock.
Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in 2019. (Washington Post website)
Source: Reference News Network