Eileen Gray Furnitures

Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray was one of the first women to become successful in interior design and then in architecture; she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art.
She began working with D. Charles, an expert in the use of lacquers.
In 1902 she moved to Paris to continue her studies. There she met the Japanese artist Sugiwara with whom she advanced her knowledge of the use of lacquer and specifically Oriental lacquers.
Her first interior design project was commissioned by the art collector Jacques Doucet. She created two tables and a screen which are the only pieces she ever signed and dated.
After World War I Suzanne Talbot commissioned her to furnish her home, which she did using the exotic colors and materials that were fashionable at the time.
In 1922 she opened the “Jean Désert” art gallery in the elegant rue Faubourg St. Honoré featuring decorations, furnishings and rugs.
The “bedroom boudoir for Montecarlo” that she showed in 1923 created a scandal, and yet its modern look was praised by the Dutch members of De Stijl. She also met with praise from Gropius, Mallet Stevens and Le Corbusier who encouraged her to take the next step into the world of architecture.
In 1927, with advice from Jean Badovici she built her home “E 1027” at Roquebrune.
Some parts were amusing, but not irrational, and she defined the house as a living organism.
This and her assistant’s houses were the only two of her projects that were ever built.
Eileen Gray died in Paris at the age of 97.