Multifarious: Maya Romanoff's Grand Canvas

by Richard Cahan

Like the art of Maya Romanoff, this book is awash in colors, surprises, and new ideas that will open the readers' eyes to the possibilities of interior spaces. It charts the rise and showcases the work of the man once known as Multifarious Maya, who burst onto the American design scene as a wunderkind in the 1960s when he took his quirky obsession with hand-dyeing fabric and created a line of high-fashion clothes. Fast Company magazine dubbed him “the man who made tie-dye hip for non-hippies.” Then he switched to embellishing entire rooms to create spectacular spaces—walls, ceilings, and floors—never before imagined. Space is his grand canvas. Like British designer William Morris more than a century before, Romanoff believes in the value of handcrafted art. He works with artisans all over the world to create one-of-a-kind designs. Fittingly, each book is wrapped in handmade paper made in Romanoff's Chicago factory.

180 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2013

Reviews

[Elsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maya Romanoff had an artistic vision. He used textiles and wallcoverings to bring his vision to interior decoration. This book is a tribute to his vision, his life, and the company that he founded. It was published just before he passed away in 2014 from Parkinson's disease.

The text is extremely reverential. It narrates the story of Maya's life, from childhood through adulthood, through several marriages and along his journey to bring art to people's home. The photographs, and there are many toward the end of the book, are wonderful and give just a peek at what the products he developed look like in interiors. It's a gem.