Setting the stage: artist Anna Marie Tendler reimagines Temple of Wings

Working across mediums from photography and writing to handcrafted lampshades, the artist Anna Marie Tendler has built a significant following and wide acclaim. Her breakout photo series Rooms in the First House, shot mainly in her Connecticut home, captured the isolation of the pandemic era using introspective self-portraits with a gothic edge. 

In anticipation of the upcoming sale of The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection: Temple of Wings, Tendler collaborated with Christie’s to bring works of fine art and design from the Getty’s historic hilltop estate into her home for a series of photographs.

The open-air Greco-Roman building first served as the house and dance studio of the artist Florence Treadwell Boynton, who educated generations of children in the techniques of dancer Isadora Duncan. 

Selecting items from the interior designed by Mrs. Getty — from footstools and screens to paintings and rugs — Tendler produced enchanting and complex images, tapping into the aesthetic of Temple of Wings in a new context. 

‘The point in my own work is to create entire environments where it’s not as much about the subject as the setting that the subject is in,’ Tendler explains. Her own artistic process mirrors that of Mrs. Getty, who fashioned an all-encompassing ambience throughout Temple of Wings. Mrs. Getty even curated a loose, Grecian-inspired wardrobe to wear while spending time there.

The interior of Temple of Wings was inspired by the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements, whose central figures William Morris and Louis Comfort Tiffany likewise approached design as a holistic practice. ‘They were looking at the entire space, thinking How do we create an environment? That was the ethos of design during those movements,’ says Tendler. 

Of the more than 400 lots offered across a series of live and online sales from 31 May to 15 June, Tendler ultimately chose 26 to feature in her curated tableaus. ‘I was looking for items I could really build a scene with.’ She was particularly drawn to the Gettys’ works by Tiffany Studios. ‘To have access to these Tiffany pieces was such a delight, because these are things that most people only see in museums…I was not going to pass that up.’

Works by Tiffany featured heavily throughout the Temple of Wings interiors, and Tendler’s inclusions showcase the breadth of objects Mrs. Getty collected. The photographs incorporate a range of lamps, including a circa-1910 ‘Peony’ table lamp and an eight-light ‘Lily Tree’ table lamp from the same year, as well as a fourteen-piece desk set cast in the studio’s ‘Pine Needle’ pattern. 

Other items, including a folding screen attributed to Ethelene Eva Dell and a first edition of the Kenneth Grahame children’s novel The Wind in the Willows, helped compose a layered narrative. The resulting portfolio by Tendler is wide-ranging — from still lifes reminiscent of the Dutch Golden Age to whimsical recreations of 18th-century paintings from the Gettys’ collection. 

In one, Tendler stages a version of James Jacques Joseph Tissot’s Mélancolie. Painted circa 1868, Tissot’s canvas depicts a despondent subject sitting on a bench in the woods.

‘Although some of my work can be heavy, there's always an element of whimsy, which is very in line with my personality: finding the lightness and humour in something that's dark,’ says Tendler. ‘When I saw the Tissot, I thought, I want something a little funny in here.’ In Tendler’s composition, a stuffed pug stands sentry on the skirts of her long white dress. 

In addition to furniture, paintings and lighting, Tendler worked with a long Fortuny evening cape that was part of Mrs. Getty’s wardrobe at Temple of Wings. ‘Decorative arts cannot be separated from textile and dress, especially when you’re looking at certain periods of time and design movements,’ says Tendler, who holds a master’s degree in costume studies from New York University. ‘I love when a person is committed to a mood or an aesthetic. It’s one of my favourite things, and I really relate to it.’ 

Mrs. Getty was famed for her maximalist aesthetic, building layered interiors with gallery walls of Impressionist masterpieces and rooms awash in patterns and textures. At Temple of Wings, the eclectic, maximalist interior is united by the beauty ideals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s a design concept that resonates with Tendler, and one she has brought into her own home.

‘People often associate maximalism with having a lot of things. It can be, but there’s a way to approach maximalism that isn’t about how much stuff you have,’ she says. ‘Maximalism can be mixing a lot of different colours, patterns or textures, and having everything feel cohesive and go together so it’s not a chaotic mess.’ 

In staging her photographs, Tendler also looked back at the rich history of the house. As an homage to the property’s ties to dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan, she captured a scene in her own dance studio. She wears a leotard and pointe shoes and is surrounded by lush florals, an upholstered sofa and several paintings. Shot with the studio mirror at the far wall, the image is duplicated, further drawing us into the composition.

‘I’m always looking through my camera to build the scene within the frame because what you’re seeing in your eye is not what it’s going to look like in the photograph,’ says Tendler of her process composing images with works from the Getty collection. ‘I wanted the collaboration to feel very authentic to the work that I already do.’ 

Even the objects themselves seemed to fit. ‘There are so many amazing pieces,’ she says of the Gettys’ collection. ‘It’s truly a dream. I wanted to keep everything that was brought to my house. As they were taking it away, I was like, Goodbye, I'll miss you!’