NEW YORK — James Truman’s dream of an art magazine may never have been realized, but the final title developed under his auspices as editorial director of Condé Nast does contain a hint of what Truman’s pet project might have looked like.
Domino, Condé Nast’s new shelter shopping magazine, on sale April 26, will have a regular guide to buying art. WWD and Condé Nast are units of Advance Publications Inc. In the first issue, 10 pieces (around $3,000 or less) from the AAF Contemporary Art Fair are shown, along with information about how to find other work by the artists.
“The art world tries to maintain a mystique about pictures that I think makes buying art scary to a lot of people,” said editor in chief Deborah Needleman, who came up with the idea for an art section and worked closely with Truman during Domino’s development. “It’s similar to our treatment of decorating: We want to explain, demystify, edit what’s out there and excite people about it.”
Domino will debut with 106 ad pages and a rate base of 400,000. Needleman’s rethinking of the shelter genre also includes a story called “Am I Turning Into My Mother?” about mothers and daughters with similar homes. Instead of showing the duos in posed portraits — which Needleman said might have seemed “treacly” — they appear in candid photo booth strips paper clipped to the layouts.
Marian McEvoy, the former House Beautiful editor, DIY maven and author of a new book about glue guns, will have a regular column on entertaining, hostessing and etiquette. “When I was admiring the sleek black edging on her white fireplace, and she told me she drew it onto the mantle with a Sharpie pen, it all sort of fell into place for me,” said Needleman. “[McEvoy] embodies the Domino idea that great style isn’t about money.”
Indeed. Domino approaches home styling with the same high-low philosophy many women use today while shopping for their wardrobes. There’s even a section called “Scouting,” which shows how a patterned lamp or decorative plate influences fashion design. “I think fashion and home design are two ways that people express themselves,” said Needleman. “For a while, home designers were lifting ideas from the fashion world, but now it’s a two-way street.”