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26-485: Beistegui is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Carlos de Beistegui (1895–1970), eccentric Spanish-French multi-millionaire Miguel de Beistegui (born 1966), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick See also [ edit ] Beistegui Hermanos , a Spanish bicycle manufacturer [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with

52-613: A 150-seat theatre, inspired by the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth , one of the most beautiful extant theatres in Europe. He hired Emilio Terry to undertake the interior design. He had huge copies of the world's great paintings installed, but often claimed they were the originals (for example he claimed that Hans Holbein 's portrait of Henry VIII owned by the British royal family was

78-402: A fake, and his was the original.) He commissioned Spanish weavers to create tapestries in the style of Goya . He had giant Chinese jars which looked authentic but were actually made of tin or plaster. But he had an enormous number of genuine pieces, such as an ebony and bronze Louis XVI desk once owned by Paderewski . The furnishings were described as the greatest private interiors concocted in

104-565: A front-row seat. The Bayreuth Opera House was inaugurated on the occasion of the marriage of their daughter Elisabeth Fredericka Sophie with Duke Charles Eugene of Württemberg . Princess Wilhelmine, older sister of the Prussian king Frederick the Great , had established the margravial theatre company in 1737. In the new opera house she participated as a composer of opera works and Singspiele , as well as an actor and director. Today she features in

130-511: A limited will. His estate went to his brother, who did not want the Château de Groussay and gave it to his son Juan (Johnny) de Beistegui. When the collection, which included many of the Palazzo Labia's former contents, was auctioned by Sotheby's (its first auction on French soil) in 1999, it proved to be France's largest and most highly priced auction sale, realising $ 26.5 million. The sale

156-588: A mother (Dolores de Yturbe), both of whose ancestors had migrated from Spain to Mexico in the 18th century. The family made its fortune there in silver, agriculture, and real estate but left Mexico after the execution of Emperor Maximilian in 1867. Beistegui was born in Paris and travelled under a Spanish diplomatic passport. He was brought up in France, Spain and England, and only ever visited Mexico twice, briefly. His family members held diplomatic posts representing Mexico in

182-483: A sound-and-light presentation for tourists. After her death in 1758, performances ceased and the building went into disuse, one reason for its good conservation status. More than one hundred years later, the stage's great depth of 27 metres (89 ft) attracted the composer Richard Wagner , who in 1872 chose Bayreuth as festival centre and had the Festspielhaus built north of the town. The foundation stone ceremony

208-526: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Carlos de Beistegui Carlos de Beistegui e Yturbe (31 January 1895 – 17 January 1970), also known as Charlie de Beistegui , was an eccentric French-born Mexican multi-millionaire art collector and interior decorator who was one of the most flamboyant characters of mid-20th-century European life. His ball at the Palazzo Labia in Venice in 1951

234-469: Is still described as "the party of the century". Beistegui was often referred to as " The Count of Monte Cristo ". He is not to be confused with his namesake uncle (1863–1953), whose collection of notable 18th- and 19th-century paintings was donated to the Louvre . Beistegui's origins are Spanish through his Mexican parents. He was born the heir to a huge Mexican fortune, to parents of Basque origin, and

260-567: The Champs-Élysées , designed by Le Corbusier . It included an electronically operated hedge that parted to reveal a view of the Arc de Triomphe , and a roof terrace designed by Salvador Dalí . In 1939 he acquired the Château de Groussay , at Montfort-l'Amaury ( Yvelines ), and spent the next 30 years improving its interiors and grounds and expanding the structure by adding extra wings. These included

286-515: The Hohenzollern margrave Frederick of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and his wife Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia . The sandstone façade was designed to blend with the surrounding buildings and to reference the Place Vendôme in Paris, with large Corinthian columns. A balustrade stretched across the entire façade, with sculptures of Minerva , Apollo , and 6 Muses placed atop. The wooden interior

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312-498: The Margrave is located opposite the stage, taking up all three box stories. It is highly ornamented with symbols of the House of Brandenburg and is completely preserved in its original condition, except for the curtain which was taken by Napoleon 's troops on their march to the 1812 Russian campaign . However, The Court Loge was seldom used by the art-minded margravial couple, who preferred

338-504: The Palazzo Labia , just off the Grand Canal in Venice, and began an intensive restoration. He purchased furnishings that had been acquired from the palazzo's less fortunate neighbours, and from the Duke of Northumberland bought eighteenth-century copies of frescoes by Raphael , Annibale Carracci , and Guido Reni . These works of art, coupled with newly acquired tapestries and antiques, restored

364-414: The surname Beistegui . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beistegui&oldid=997871869 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description

390-473: The 20th century. The house was admired by decorators such as David Nightingale Hicks and Mark Hampton , who called it the most beautiful house in the world. One of the rooms so impressed Cecil Beaton that he used it as the model for Henry Higgins' library in My Fair Lady . The Château de Groussay was the scene of some of the grandest weekend parties of the 20th century. The gardens have been classified by

416-838: The 20th century. The guest list included the Aga Khan III , Barbara Hutton , Gene Tierney , Countess Jacqueline de Ribes , Jacques Fath , Count Armand de La Rochefoucauld , Duff and Lady Diana Cooper , Orson Welles , Daisy Fellowes , Paul-Louis Weiller , Cecil Beaton , Gala Dalí , Baron de Chabrol, Desmond Guinness , Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Redé , Prince and Princess Chavchavadze , Arturo Lopez-Willshaw , Patricia Lopez-Willshaw, Dimitri Hayek, Fulco di Verdura , Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire , Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley , Nelson Seabra , Aimée de Heeren , Princess Ghislaine de Polignac , Princess del Drago , Princess Gabrielle Arenberg , Hélène Rochas , Princess Caetani , Princess Colonna , Prince Mathieu de Brancovan ,

442-802: The French government as one of the Remarkable Gardens of France . Beistegui was not troubled by the Germans during their occupation of France, because he had a Spanish diplomatic passport, and was treated as a citizen of a neutral country. He did occasionally undertake commissions for others – salons in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid , a suite of rooms at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, and

468-402: The U.K., France, Spain, and Russia. He was educated at Eton , where he wrote a volume of poetry he illustrated with his own drawings. Although he was expected to read History of art at Cambridge , the outbreak of World War I frustrated his application. He then joined his parents in their mansion on the esplanade of Les Invalides in Paris. In the early 1930s, he had a penthouse built on

494-474: The ball are considered notable for capturing an almost surreal society, reminiscent of the Venetian life immediately before the fall of the republic at the end of the 18th century. The "party of the century" launched the career of Pierre Cardin , who designed about 30 of the costumes. Nina Ricci was another designer who was involved. Despite this colossal extravagance and the enormously high-profile guest list he

520-481: The library at the British Embassy in Paris (with the designers Georges Geffroy and Emilio Terry ) – but he used his artistic talents almost entirely for his own pleasure. Cecil Beaton wrote in his diary: "Beistegui is utterly ruthless. Such qualities as sympathy, pity or even gratitude are sadly lacking. He has become the most self-engrossed and pleasure-seeking person I have met." In 1948, Beistegui acquired

546-465: The painters Fabrizio Clerici and Leonor Fini , and many others. Christian Dior and Salvador Dalí designed each other's costumes. Winston Churchill and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were invited but did not attend. The host wore scarlet robes and a long curling wig, and his normal height (5 ft. 6 in.) was raised a full 16 inches by platform soles. Cecil Beaton 's photographs of

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572-452: The palazzo to its former splendour. So avid a collector was Don Carlos that his taste became known as "le goût Beistegui" (the Beistegui style). On 3 September 1951 Beistegui held a masked costume ball , which he called Le Bal oriental , at the Palazzo Labia. It was one of the last truly spectacular events in the famous ballroom, and it was one of the largest and most lavish social events of

598-543: Was able to attract, Beistegui did not generally warm to people, nor they to him. He remained personally aloof and shadowy, and was often accused of treating his friends and mistresses very poorly. He never married, and although he was said to have had many mistresses, his sexuality was often the subject of speculation. After surviving a series of strokes around 1960, he sold the Palazzo Labia to RAI . Beistegui died in 1970 at 38 Avenue Maréchal Joffre in Biarritz , France, with

624-548: Was described as "a major event in the history and sociology of the decorative arts". A documentary Don Carlos de Beistegui was made in 1989. Margravial Opera House Located in a widened part of the street so that carriages could pull up in front, the opera house is 71.5 meters long, 31 meters wide, and 26 meters tall. The building was constructed according to plans designed by the French architect Joseph Saint-Pierre  [ de ] (ca. 1709 – 1754), court builder of

650-481: Was designed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (1696–1757) and his son Carlo from Bologna in an Italian Late Baroque style. The auditorium was built in a bell shape and can seat roughly 500 people. Intricately covered in gold accents, with a trompe-l'œil ceiling, the interior may have attempted to imitate precious stones like lapis lazuli. Some areas of the interior are covered with painted canvas in order to avoid cracks and improve acoustics. The Court Loge built for

676-633: Was held on 22 May, Wagner's birthday, and included a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 , directed by the maestro. Parts of the 1994 biopic Farinelli were filmed in the Opera House. The theatre was the site of the annual Bayreuther Osterfestival until 2009. Each September from the year 2000 to 2009, the theatre also hosted the Bayreuth Baroque festival, with performances of early operatic rarities. The 2009 festival included performances of Andrea Bernasconi 's festa teatrale , L'Huomo , to

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