EILEEN GRAY at Bard Graduate Center Gallery: Review by Polly Guerin

The designer and architect  Eileen Gray, whose highly original and daring designs anticipated many of today's modern design, receives due homage at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery, located at 18 West 86th Street on view through July 12, 2020.
      This is the first in-depth exhibition in the United States to examine her total oeuvre with
200 works, including never before exhibited furniture, lacquer works, architectural drawings and archival material. Gray's long and distinguished career began in the early 1900s and continued until her death in 1976.  On view are rarely seen architectural drawings and photographs of Gray's most famous house, E 1027, and other architectural projects. EILEEN GRAY was a pioneer in modern design and architecture, and one of the few women to practice professionally in those fields before WWII.  Although she was born into a distinguished household in Ireland Gray remained steadfast to her creativity at first in London and later in Paris. By 1910 Gray and fellow schoolmate Evelyn Wyld, established a workshop to produce carpets and wall hangings. Gray's interest in Japanese lacquer forged an alliance with Japanese craftsman Seizo Sugawara with whom she formed a successful partnership, and Gray's lacquer screens attest to her achievement as a superb lacquer artist.  
    

Eileen Gray Dresser 

In 1922 she opened in Paris, Galerie Jean Desert, at 217, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore, where she sold furniture and rugs. Distinguished luminaries of the day including James Joyce, Ezra Pound and Elsa Schiaparelli were among her customers. The Galerie also served as an exhibition space for modern art, making Gray, albeit under a male pseudonym, one of the first female gallerists. Image: Eileen Gray Dresser, 1926-1929. Painted wood, aluminum, glass, cork, aluminum leaf. Centre Pompidou, Musee national d 'art modern, Paris. Purchase, 1922, AM 1922 -1-6, (c) Centre Pompidou, Mnam-CCI, Dist. RMN-GP, Jean Claude Planchet,
        From the 1920s Gray produced architectural projects for private the public commissions. In  1926 she started work on a new holiday home near Monaco on the French Riviera where she
planned to live with her lover the Romanian architect, Jean Badovici.  Together, they experimented with ideas about modern, vernacular architecture, and worked on Architecture Vivante, one of the first French magazines devoted exclusively to architecture.  The construction of thei house took three years was named E 1027, a code for the lovers' names.  
      

E 1027 Above the Bay of Monaco

The multiple facets of E 1027---an iconic work of modern architecture---are presented though drawing, photographs, and furniture. Located above a dramatic site above the Bay of Monaco, Gray created furniture for the house that elucidates her unique approach to modern design. Eleven pieces of furniture Gray designed specifically for E 1027 include the Transat Chair, an adjustable side table and a dressing table with pivoting drawers. Image: View of the South façade of E 1027 taken from the sea, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, n.d. Centre Pompidou, Bibliotheque Kandinsky, Paris. Fond Eileen Gray. A replica of E 1027 is on display. 
      The exhibition reveals Gray's versatility as a designer of many types of furniture including the Bibendum chair which resembled the Michelin man with tube-like shapes sitting on a chromed steel frame. GALLERY PROGRAMS and EXHIBITION TOURS and for information about hours and admission visit: bgc.bard.edu/gallery.
     Ta Ta Darlings!!!  Eileen Gray is as modern today as she was in the Art Deco era. Her designs
resonate with collectors and new buyers discovering her today will find her furniture a perfect fit in modern interiors.  Fan mail weleome: pollytalknhc@gmail.com