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Eileen Gray: A designer of decorative furniture

15/07/2024

Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith was born in the south-east of Ireland at the end of the 19th century and was one of the most important designers of her generation.

An Irish architect and designer, Eileen Gray (1878-1976) was a pioneer of modern architecture. Throughout her career, she was associated with many notable European artists of her time, including the master Le Corbusier. Her work is today equated with the output of Mies Van der Rohe or Marcel Breuer.

He began studying painting in London, where he worked with wood, decorative panels and lacquer. In 1902 he moved to Paris, continuing to develop his work and taking part in various exhibitions. She founded a gallery and an outlet store where she offered her pieces.

Gray was one of the founders of the modernist movement in architecture, advocating opening up architecture to the outside and redefining domestic spaces in interiors.

Eileen Gray has two architectural projects for two houses on the south coast of France, one of the most recognizable of which, E-1027, was recently restored and opened to the public.

Her career in design has not only been in furniture. In his studio, carpets were created that reproduced his designs. Some of them were recently published by the German brand Classicon, in a collection made of 100% virgin wool, hand-woven and dyed with natural vegetable dyes.

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