“To create, one must first question everything”
Tribute to Eileen Gray : 1878 – 1976 – architect and furniture designer extraordinaire!
Katherine Eileen Smith was born in Ireland in 1878 and spent her childhood in London. She later changed her name to Eileen Gray as her mother was Baroness Gray. Inspired by her father who was a landscape painter, she was one of the first women to be admitted to the Slade Art School. There she took up painting before undergoing an apprenticeship in a London lacquer workshop. After further training in lacquer work and cabinet making, she moved to Paris in 1902 and quickly established herself as one of the leading designers of the lacquered screens and decorative panels as part of the art movement of the time (later termed Art Deco). She even gained some notoriety by showing a stark white lacquered boudoir at the 14th Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in 1923.
Below are examples of her furniture which shows how versatile and innovative she was. A metal swivel table and a classy lacquered table, leather armchair and screen. Her work is on display at Pompidou Centre, Paris, MOMA NY, and Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
After designing chic interiors such as the Rue de Lotta apartments in Paris, commissioned by Madame Mathieu-Lévy, she transitioned to architecture in her 40s. During this time she made a name for herself with E-1027, the name of a seaside villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in France which she completed with her lover of the time in 1929. Gray designed the villa with a focus on architecture, adaptable furnishings and their dual role in creating spaces that address the individual’s changing needs. This made her a pioneer of Modernist architecture. Unlike other Modernist homes, E-1027 mixed moving screens with fixed walls and introduced furniture that could be adjusted and tilted.
Living in a man’s world had its challenges. Gray designed two more houses but her archives shows 45 architectural projects that were never realised. She didn’t gain international recognition until she was 94 years old! Her work, especially her furniture was praised for its “inventiveness” and “visionary intuition.”