A true Internationalist in talent and in life, Paul Mathieu, the multi-talented, multi-lingual artist and designer has ateliers in New York, Aix-en-Provence, Udaipur, and Murano as well as a roster of clients that span the globe.

A graduate of both the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, France, and the West Surrey College of Art & Design in the United Kingdom, Mathieu’s early partnership with Michael Ray led to the launch of Mathieu & Ray, the pair’s namesake interior design firm.

With offices in Paris and Aix-en-Provence, the duo of Mathieu & Ray quickly established themselves in the heady design milieu of France with their unique vocabulary - at once referential to traditional handicrafts and techniques that quickly manifested into a pure modern idiom.

In 1991, Mathieu & Ray gained an ardent admirer in France's style arbiter, Andree Putman, who commissioned them to design a collection of furniture for Putman's Ecart International.  While designing for Putman and working from her acclaimed Paris loft showroom, a licensing platform was born. The debut collection included such noteworthy pieces as the Charles Foster Kane Chair and the Leger Regel Coffee Table, iconic designs which remain available through Ralph Pucci in New York. In 2002, Mathieu introduced Bianca, his first solo furniture collection for Ralph Pucci. His sculptural aesthetic is deemed preeminent within the world's most coveted collections.

Never content to sit idle, Pucci recently introduced Mathieu's latest experiment of modernization from traditional forms and classic handicraft techniques with his Madeleine Chandelier — hand-blown in Murano and developed directly from the liturgical furniture that Mathieu created for La Madeleine, the Roman Catholic church in Aix-en-Provence that dates to the 17th century. His is a design language that venerates the authentic, the historical and the purely aesthetic.

His work for such interior design firms as Donghia and Odegard places Mathieu squarely at the center of a vogue for design that is highly aesthetic and personally driven.

Mathieu also has a  deep appreciation for the exotic. He has recently completed a masterful residence in India that honors traditional methods and materials melanged with his incomparable flair.

And on yet another project, Mathieu takes the helm wearing the three hats of architect, interior designer and product designer. Combining forces again with Pucci, Mathieu will create an entire floor devoted to his signature  modernism in their latest collaboration, the stunning LXR at the Hotel Ralph Pucci, slated to open in  Washington, D.C. in 2008.

With the indefatigable Pucci at the helm of the conversion of what was the classic Georgetown Inn into the height of chic hostelry, the Mathieu experience will restore and awaken the aesthetic senses of the weariest traveler.

WHAT DIRECTION IS YOUR STYLE COMPASS POINTED TO?
COLOR:
Red. It is the color of extremes, the one for ‘no’, red light, but it is also the color for hope, the Red Cross, revolutions, and most of all the color of passion and love.    

TRAVEL:
I have a wonderful “work routine” to review and develop the production of my collections: NY, Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Murano, India and back the other way. In each place I have dear friends or family waiting for me; they always make me feel at home.

JEWELRY:
24 karat Indian gold, the closest to the color and feeling of the sun on bare skin. I am designing my own pieces that I make with a friend in Udaipur, at his tiny atelier. I also love traditional and antique Indian jewelry, tribal or more conventional, it is always very inspiring and so full of energy.

GARDENING:
In lots of assorted pots on the terrace of my home in India we have planted many different kinds of flowering vines. As they grow madly with the monsoon we wrap them around bamboo structures, I then rotate them from outside to inside the house, according to what’s blooming or my guest of the moment. My favorite is the Night Queen which opens when darkness falls with the most wonderful and sensual fragrance.

FASHION:
A very red raw silk reinterpretation of a traditional Sherwani Indian coat by Rohit Bal that I wear over an old pair of jeans, bare foot. My 10 Year old pin stripe suit by Romeo Gigli with a T-shirt and a pair of boots. Impeccable suits by Tomer,Thomas Browne’s incredible attention to detail, Anne Demeulemeester’s wonderful shirts.

BOOKS:
I like to read, especially while flying. Often I will just pick something up at the airport that catches my attention. I always find unexpected books. I usually leave them wherever I am when I complete my reading. I enjoy the search, opening books, reading a few sentences, words. I usually start with the first page and will keep the one that holds my interest.
A very special book that came from my grandfather’s library is my favorite. It is the 17th century translation of Les Georgiques de Virgile, written during the last century before Christ, by Mecene, minister to the emperor Augustus.

ENTERTAINING:
On the floor sitting on a large red vegetable dye Khadi rug eating provencial Indian food from large hammered brass tali trays with our fingers while live Sufi music is being played. Prosecco is often the drink of choice.

RESTAURANT:
My current passion in New York is Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney’s Pure Food and Wine restaurant, it is the most delicious and closest experience to picking the youngest vegetables directly from the middle of the garden, washed by morning mist.

When I am in Aix-en-Provence, my favorite place to go is La Table de Ventabrun. Chef Dan Bessoudo and his wife Sophia are friends. It is located 20 minutes from Aix, and perched on top of the very old and charming town of Ventabrun (please arrive from the Aquaduc de Roquefavour; it is breathtaking!) The outdoor terrace has a magnificent view of the valley of the Etang de Berre. Chef Dan uses the most amazingly fresh produce from the market of the day.

Back home in New York, at the end of a busy day I enjoy a glass of Pouilly Fuissé or Cotière de Nîmes, while cooking for friends. I usually improvise, always vegetables, olive oil, sel de Guérande is a must, along with black pepper ground at last minute between two stones (extra marble samples are the best!), lots of fish, my favorite cheese, Charolais, and for dessert clafoutis aux cerises or poires depending on the season.

My favorite private chef is my friend Alfred Vrang of Local Faire (born in Stockholm, with culinary experience in Paris, Provence and New York). I believe that cooking food for small groups, in private homes, removed from the stress of big restaurants, gives me the time to do everything 100% and from scratch.