Humphrey opened up the living space when he bought the apartment
(Picture: Knight Frank)A “part-home, part-exhibition” flat in Battersea with design inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s paintings and sketchbooks is up for sale.
With a price tag of £1.35 million, the one-bedroom gallery home is the work of award-winning artist Mark Humphrey, who bought the flat in the Montevetro building in 2000.
“I don’t see why artwork has to only be in a gallery or in a public space. I don’t see why an interior can’t be a work of art as an installation – except that it’s in a property rather than a gallery,” says Humphrey. “Every little part of this apartment has been designed and crafted, right down to the taps, door handles, flooring, objets, dishes, floor lamps – everything.”
In an 18-month transformation, Humphrey drew on his design experience to open up the 645-square foot space, maximise storage and bring in light.
“I like to pioneer and I like to experiment,” says Humphrey of his choice of materials. The floor, for example, is patinaed buffalo leather in briquette tiles; the brass and marble floor of the entrance hall is decorated with semi-precious stone agate floret tiles, while the kitchen and dining room is finished with marble, onyx and walnut. Elsewhere, there is macassar ebony, rock crystal, nappa leather and gold leaf kiln glass.
Humphrey’s design is influenced by his travels, he says, drawing on historical art, the ancient city of Babylon, Roman design and 1960s Helmut Newton Vogue shots.
Surrounding the living space, there are a set of panelled cabinet doors, hand-painted with 17 verre églomisé “dancing portraits”.
In the bathroom, partitioned from the main living space, there is a freestanding golden Cleopatra bathtub, looking out over the river. Humphrey says: “I imagined how Cleopatra would have bathed. I had the bath crafted by hand in the way that it would have been done at the time to evoke that emotion, sensation and atmosphere within the space.”
Humphrey painted Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks on one side of the rock crystal shower door handles, installing a micro-mosaic of her eye on the other side. “It is quite an undertaking, to push and excel in every finite detail, and to be ruthless in that brief,” says Humphrey. “Even the toilet roll holder and soap dish – all these things are integral to the design and the concept of the overall place.”
“It’s breathtaking,” says Knight Frank agent Sian-Louise Tangney. “It’s a living, breathing piece of art.”
There is a balcony spanning the width of the apartment, and a 24-hour concierge, gym and private tennis courts onsite.
Humphrey has lived in the flat since it was completed in 2003, enjoying the fruits of his labour. “The way it illuminates at night-time is different to the daytime light. The sun comes over the river and sets, so the sunlight comes in in the evening, and then you have the moonlight coming in,” he says. “With the all-glass front, it really does come alive and become quite emotional when you experience it in the different light forms.”
The success of the apartment, however, has given him a thirst to take on another, even bigger project, turning another home into art.
After 20 years, therefore, Humphrey has put his apartment on the market. “In way, I don’t want to let it go, because it’s still very pleasurable. I love it. It’s just that I want to do another one. There’s so much fun in designing it, building it and living in it – I want to do it again.
“I want someone else to enjoy it too – someone who cherishes and loves it as much as I do.”
