Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray (August 9, 1878 – October 31, 1976) was an Irish lacquer artist, furniture designer, and architect now well-known for incorporating luxurious lacquer work into the stark International Style aesthetic.

Related Topics:
August 9 - 1878 - October 31 - 1976 - Lacquer - Furniture - Design - Architect - International Style

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She first studied painting at London's Slade School of Art. She eventually left painting to study lacquer under the guidance of lacquer craftsman, Sugawara.

Related Topics:
London - Slade School of Art

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In 1913, she held her first exhibition, showing some decorative panels at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs. She combined lacquer and rare woods, geometric abstraction and Japanese-inspired motifs into her work. It attracted the attention of Jacques Doucet, an art connoisseur and collector. He commissioned a few pieces – her only signed and dated creations.

Related Topics:
1913 - Japan

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So far, her work went mostly unnoticed. In London after the start of World War I, Gray needed to rely on her family's financial support. Near the end of the war, Gray was commissioned to decorate an apartment on Rue de Lota in Paris. Her interior designs generated a great deal of praise in the press. She opened the Jean Desert Gallery in 1922.

Related Topics:
Paris - Gallery - 1922

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Shortly thereafter, persuaded by Le Corbusier and Jean Badovici among others, she turned her interests to architecture. In 1924 Gray and Badovici began work on the house E-1027 in Roquebrune, Cap Martin in southern France (near Monaco). L-shaped and flat-roofed with floor-to-ceiling windows and a spiral stairway to the guest room, E-1027 was both open and compact. Gray designed the furniture as well as collaborated with Badovici on its structure. Her circular glass E-1027 table and rotund Bibendum armchair were inspired by the recent tubular steel experiments of Marcel Breuer at the Bauhaus (who had been inspired, in turn, by Mart Stam). The house is now in poor repair.

Related Topics:
Le Corbusier - Jean Badovici - 1924 - E-1027 - Monaco - Roof - Marcel Breuer - Bauhaus - Mart Stam

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In 1968, a complimentary magazine article quickly grew into an unexpected hit, and the Bibendum chair and E-1027 table went back into production. Following the purchase of her archive in 2002, the Irish National Museum at Collins Barracks Dublin opened a permanent exhibition of her work.

Related Topics:
1968 - 2002

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