by Janet Ramin with The Sheffield School of Interior Design
 

Eileen Gray, one of the most prolific designers of the early 20th-century, epitomized a unique emerging group of young women who were radically different from the Victorian young ladies of the century before: independent, educated, non-conformist, and determined to blaze new paths. Eileen Gray would become one of the favorite designers among the literati, and a vibrant part of a diverse cultured community of women in Paris that included American writer Gertrude Stein. Born on 1878 in County Wexford, Ireland, Eileen Gray was the youngest of five children of an aristocratic family. As part of her education, she was taken by her mother to Paris to visit the 1900 Universal Exhibition. Inspired by the creativity and the city, she resolved to return there.

Beginning her education in art, Eileen Gray studied at the London Slade School of Design and two years later she returned to Paris to study at the painting schools Ecole Colarossi and Academie Julian. An illness in the family forced her back to London and during a break in the visit, she serendipitously wandered into an artist's studio and discovered the lacquer work of D. Charles. Fascinated by its artistry, she convinced the hesitant director to apprentice her and initiate her in the art of lacquer work.

With more confidence in her skills, she returned to Paris and completed her training under the Japanese lacquer master, Suguwara. Their friendship would spawn a close and productive collaboration that would last over forty years.

As she honed her craft, Eileen Gray began experimenting by mixing lacquer with other precious materials such as mother-of-pearl, gold and silver inlay. Trips to Tunisia and Morocco also influenced her style – inspiring her to create simpler, geometric lines and to choose exotic materials like macassar ebony and zebra wood. In 1913, she exhibited for the first time at the Societe des Artistes Decorateurs with a lacquered dark red screen and portentously named, "le Destin". Displaying abstract decoration on one side and figurative on the other of youths carrying an old man in a shroud, the lacquered screen created a sensation at the exhibit.

Le Destin captured the attention of Jacques Doucet, an art patron and collector. Mssr. Doucet bought the screen and soon commissioned Eileen Gray to design more furniture pieces. One of Doucet's famous contributions to the world of art and design was his creation of his studio at Neuilly, sadly dismantled years ago. Doucet's studio displayed many works of artists who became influential to many generations – Rousseau's The Snake Charmer, Picasso's abstract work, Les Demoiselles D'Avignon, a Modigliani portrait, a Lalique sculpted crystal door, a Brancusi sculpture and of course, Eileen Gray's Lotus table. Lacquered in deep green, the table is decorated with gold amber rings and silk tassels at its corners.

From this project, Eileen Gray received other commissions for interior design, eventually establishing her career as designer. In 1920, Madame Levy commissioned Eileen Gray to redesign her apartment on Rue de Lota. Gray designed the entire environment, including furniture, the rugs, and wall treatment. Three of her most famous furniture pieces came from this project: the Pirogue daybed, a boat shaped fantasy bed, the Blocs screen with panels that swiveled to increase or decrease privacy, and the Bibendum, a leather armchair with a tubular steel frame.

By 1922, demand for her work had risen and Gray responded by opening her own gallery store, the Jean Desert Gallery, on the famous Rue de Faubourg-St. Honore. Again going against the practices of her time, Gray hired all female workers to operate the store. Unfortunately, most of her work were time-consuming one-off works and did not yield the profit the store needed to survive. Many of her designs came from this period, the chrome circular end table, the lacquered square end table and several light fixtures.

At the 1923 XIV Salon des Artistes Decorateurs, Eileen Gray displayed a bedroom-boudoir for Monte Carlo. Her designs attracted the attention of the De Stijl group, an avant-garde art movement from the Netherlands. De Stijl (Dutch for "the Style") proponents like designer Gerrit Rietveld and painter Piet Mondrian stressed design based on functionalism and rectilinear planes. Surface decoration should be eliminated and only color remain. Their philosophy influenced Gray greatly as she started to shift away from lacquer decoration to more abstract and modern forms.

During this time, she encountered an admirer, Jean Badovici, editor of the journal, L'Architecture Vivant. After seeing her drawings, he encouraged her to pursue architecture. Again flying in the face of convention, Eileen Gray proceeded to design some modern houses---without any previous training. Badovici provided Gray with the opportunity to design his home on the Cote d'Azur, the French Riviera. The home became known as House E.1027, a modern, rectilinear building overlooking the water.

Gray also designed the furniture and the accessories in the house, integrating architecture and interior design into one beautiful setting. From this project, some of her most famous furniture pieces were created: the round chrome end table that adjusts to different heights and the Transat chair, a chrome-tubular, leather seating. These pieces along with the Bibendum chair and Blocs screen are still being reproduced by furniture manufacturers today.

By 1930, due to low profits and the Depression, Gray had to close down her gallery, Jean Desert. For the rest of her years until her death in 1976, she devoted her time to designing architectural or furniture prototypes, most of which were never built. Her strong independent streak and shy nature may have isolated her from forming strong bonds with the design community. Lack of sponsorship in a predominantly male design establishment may have also stifled the dissemination of her work and gradually her designs faded into obscurity.

Fortunately for the design world, after her death, collector Robert Walker began buying up Eileen Gray's designs. Soon interest in her work began to build up again – culminating in major retrospectives at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1979 and the New York MOMA in 1980. The Design Museum in London will also be launching a retrospective of Eileen Gray's work later this year from September 17, 2005 until January 8, 2006.

Once again, we have the chance to view the scope of her life's work. Starting from the more figurative Art Deco lacquer pieces to the more abstract screens and furnishings and ending with her modernist designs of homes and furniture, Eileen Gray has provided an enduring artistic legacy for generations to come

For more information about the Eileen Gray exhibit at London's Design Museum, please visit their Web site at Eileen Gray / Eileen Gray - Design Museum Exhibition: Architect + Furniture Designer (1878-1976) - Design/Designer Information.


–Janet Ramin Sheffield School of Interior Design, 211 East 43rd St. New York, NY 10017 Tel: 212-661-7270 Fax: 212-867-8122
Email: info@sheffield.edu Website: www.sheffield.edu