Eileen Gray was an Anglo-Irish architect and furniture designer. She is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the modernist movement in architecture. Eileen was born on 9 August 1878 as Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith in Ireland (Goff). Her father was also an artist and used to paint Scottish landscapes, and he was the one who encouraged Eileen’s interest in paintings and drawing. She studied fine arts at Slade College, London, and also attended Academie Colarossi and Academie Julian.
Eileen was taught by some notable artists and teachers of that era, including Frederick Brown, Henry Tonks, and Philip Wilson Steer. At the beginning of her career, she worked in interior design, and after meeting Jean Badovici, her lover, she started learning architecture and made a big name for herself. Her most notable work is the house in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France that is known as E-1027. This house is described as a masterpiece by many contemporary artists. The name of the house is quite enigmatic and catches the attention of people. The house’s name is the codename for the lover’s name as she was in a romantic relationship with Romanian writer and architect, Jean Budovici.
Apart from her house E-1027, she has also created some prominent designs such as the Tempe a Pailla House, dragon armchair, E-1027 chair, to name a few (Moore). In her career as a designer and architect, she was connected to many notable artists such as Le Corbusier, Jean Badovici, Kathleen Scott, and Adrienne Gorska (Goff). Although she was very successful in her work as a furniture designer and architect, she was not recognized well compared to the white male counterparts. One reason for this is that she did not believe in doing self-promotion and the other reason is the patriarchal society where man has a dominating hand in most of the work. When her work E1027 was being considered a masterpiece, Le Corbusier despoiled its walls with murals of naked women (Constant 278). This incident clearly shows how men at that time dominated women and how their works were vandalized due to sheer jealousy. This is the primary reason that women were not quite recognized as their male counterparts in the 20th century.
Works Cited
Constant, Caroline. “E. 1027: The Nonheroic Modernism of Eileen Gray.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 53.3 (1994): 265-79. Print.
Goff, Jennifer. Eileen Gray: Her Work and Her World. United States: Irish Academic, 2014. Print. ISBN 9780716533122.
Moore, Rowan. “Eileen Gray’s E1027: A Lost Legend of 20th-century Architecture Is Resurrected.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 02 May, 2015. Web. 08 Oct. 2020.
