Paige Rense
Encyclopedia
Paige Rense, aka Paige Rense Noland (b. Des Moines, Iowa, May 4, 1929) is the editor emeritus of Architectural Digest
, where she served as editor in chief from 1975 until 2010.http://www.observer.com/2010/media/architectural-digests-paige-rense-noland-retire-search-new-editor-underway She is also the founder of the Arthur Rense Prize
poetry award. Rense founded the cookery magazine Bon Appétit
, was editor in chief of GEO
, and is the author of a mystery novel, Manor House (Doubleday, 1997).
She is presently working on a book about the career of her late husband Kenneth Noland
, the Color Field
artist.http://www.observer.com/2010/media/architectural-digests-paige-rense-noland-retire-search-new-editor-underway
, and worked in publicity and advertising.
In October 1970 Rense became associate editor of Architectural Digest
. Six months later she was named head of the magazine after the murder of its editor in chief, Bradley Little, and was appointed editor in chief in 1975. She held that position until 2010, having transformed the magazine, which was founded in 1920 as a trade journal, into "a bible for the design world and increasing its circulation to more than 850,000 from 50,000 during her tenure".
, to Los Angeles, California
, where, after running away from home at age 15, she worked as an usherette in movie theaters.
Rense has been married five times. Her first husband was Richard Gardner, a Los Angeles advertising executive. She met her second husband, David Thomas, while they were both working for the US Armed Forces Radio Service in Tokyo, Japan in the early 1950s. Her third and fourth husbands was Arthur F. Rense (1916–1990), a sports journalist for the Los Angeles Daily News
and the director of public relations for Howard R. Hughes
's Summa Corporation
. By this marriage she had three stepsons.http://arthurrense.com/obituary/ The couple were married twice, from 1957 until March 1974 and from 22 December 1987 until Arthur Rense's death. In 1998, Rense established the triennial Arthur Rense Prize
in poetry in the honor of her late husband, an amateur poet; it is given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_all.php
Her fifth husband was Color Field
painter Kenneth Noland
(1924–2010), whom she married in 1994. By this marriage she has four stepchildren.
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
, where she served as editor in chief from 1975 until 2010.http://www.observer.com/2010/media/architectural-digests-paige-rense-noland-retire-search-new-editor-underway She is also the founder of the Arthur Rense Prize
Arthur Rense Prize
The Arthur Rense Prize was established in 1998 when Paige Rense started the award of $20,000 in memory of her husband, the sportswriter and poet Arthur Rense. The prize is given triennially to an exceptional poet by the American Academy of Arts and Letters....
poetry award. Rense founded the cookery magazine Bon Appétit
Bon Appétit
Bon Appétit describes itself as "a food and entertaining magazine" and is published monthly. Named after the French phrase for "Enjoy your meal", it was started by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City in 1956...
, was editor in chief of GEO
GEO (magazine)
GEO is a family of educational monthly magazines similar to the National Geographic magazine. It is known for its profound reports, which are accompanied by opulent pictures.The first edition appeared in Germany in 1976...
, and is the author of a mystery novel, Manor House (Doubleday, 1997).
She is presently working on a book about the career of her late husband Kenneth Noland
Kenneth Noland
Kenneth Noland was an American abstract painter. He was one of the best-known American Color field painters, although in the 1950s he was thought of as an abstract expressionist and in the early 1960s he was thought of as a minimalist painter. Noland helped establish the Washington Color School...
, the Color Field
Color Field
Color Field painting is a style of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. It was inspired by European modernism and closely related to Abstract Expressionism, while many of its notable early proponents were among the pioneering Abstract Expressionists...
artist.http://www.observer.com/2010/media/architectural-digests-paige-rense-noland-retire-search-new-editor-underway
Career
A high-school dropout, Rense began her career in journalism in the mid 1950s, as a member of the editorial staff of the skin-diving magazine Water World, where her future husband Arthur F. Rense was the managing editor. After leaving Water World she wrote a how-to beauty book and a novel, in addition to articles for CosmopolitanCosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
, and worked in publicity and advertising.
In October 1970 Rense became associate editor of Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
. Six months later she was named head of the magazine after the murder of its editor in chief, Bradley Little, and was appointed editor in chief in 1975. She held that position until 2010, having transformed the magazine, which was founded in 1920 as a trade journal, into "a bible for the design world and increasing its circulation to more than 850,000 from 50,000 during her tenure".
Awards
Paige Rense has been the recipient of:- The Museum of Arts & Design Achievement Award (2006)http://www.observer.com/2010/media/architectural-digests-paige-rense-noland-retire-search-new-editor-underway
- The American Academy of Achievement Award (2000)http://www.observer.com/2010/media/architectural-digests-paige-rense-noland-retire-search-new-editor-underway
- The Pratt Institute Founder Awards (1997)http://www.observer.com/2010/media/architectural-digests-paige-rense-noland-retire-search-new-editor-underway
- The Interior Design Hall of Fame Award (1985)http://www.observer.com/2010/media/architectural-digests-paige-rense-noland-retire-search-new-editor-underway
Personal life
Adopted as an infant by Lloyd R. Pashong (1895–1988), a public-school custodian, and his wife, the former Margaret May Smith (1890–1983), she was originally known as Patty L. Pashong and took the name Paige as a teenager. In the early 1940s she and her parents moved from IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, where, after running away from home at age 15, she worked as an usherette in movie theaters.
Rense has been married five times. Her first husband was Richard Gardner, a Los Angeles advertising executive. She met her second husband, David Thomas, while they were both working for the US Armed Forces Radio Service in Tokyo, Japan in the early 1950s. Her third and fourth husbands was Arthur F. Rense (1916–1990), a sports journalist for the Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....
and the director of public relations for Howard R. Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
's Summa Corporation
Summa Corporation
Summa Corporation was the name adopted for the business interests of Howard Hughes after he sold the tool division of Hughes Tool Company in 1972. The tool division would merge with Baker International in 1987 to form Baker Hughes, the world's third-largest oil-services company...
. By this marriage she had three stepsons.http://arthurrense.com/obituary/ The couple were married twice, from 1957 until March 1974 and from 22 December 1987 until Arthur Rense's death. In 1998, Rense established the triennial Arthur Rense Prize
Arthur Rense Prize
The Arthur Rense Prize was established in 1998 when Paige Rense started the award of $20,000 in memory of her husband, the sportswriter and poet Arthur Rense. The prize is given triennially to an exceptional poet by the American Academy of Arts and Letters....
in poetry in the honor of her late husband, an amateur poet; it is given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_all.php
Her fifth husband was Color Field
Color Field
Color Field painting is a style of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. It was inspired by European modernism and closely related to Abstract Expressionism, while many of its notable early proponents were among the pioneering Abstract Expressionists...
painter Kenneth Noland
Kenneth Noland
Kenneth Noland was an American abstract painter. He was one of the best-known American Color field painters, although in the 1950s he was thought of as an abstract expressionist and in the early 1960s he was thought of as a minimalist painter. Noland helped establish the Washington Color School...
(1924–2010), whom she married in 1994. By this marriage she has four stepchildren.
External links
- http://www.architecturaldigest.com/Architectural DigestArchitectural DigestArchitectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
website] - Charlie Rose interviews Paige Rense
- http://books.google.com/books?id=LuQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=paige+rense+vaill&source=bl&ots=p-V9l2-znC&sig=7bSSzg5t7sNhtYiIMOXH3LqQKb8&hl=en&ei=tLG5TOGrC5S2sAOLtMn7Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=paige%20rense%20vaill&f=false"The Only Dame in Town: How Condé Nast Made Architectural Digest's Paige Rense the 2,000-Pound Gorilla of Interior Design", New York Magazine, 21 February 1994]