ahead of her time
perspective SHOWCASE
AHEAD OF HER TIME
(Clockwise from top left) AN ARTISTIC MIND Architect and designer Eileen Gray. The lacquered ‘Brick Screen’ was one of Gray’s earliest creations. The ‘Bibendum’ chair was named for and modelled on Bibendum—better known as the Michelin Man. The ‘Blue Marine’ rug was part of a set of rug designs created by Gray, the license for which is now held by English furniture brand Aram.
PHOTO: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED/ PHOTOGRAPHER SHIRA KLASMER
ileen Gray, a familiar name for architecture enthusiasts and people in the industry, is often described as “a pioneer of the modern movement in architecture”. But this Irish architect never really got her due—as an architect and designer—among the general public. Until now. A renewed interest in her work has come about due to many reasons. In 2009, Christie’s auctioned her ‘Dragon’ chair at an estimated $28.3 million, bringing the attention back to Gray’s work as a designer well ahead of her time. One of the largest exhibitions of her work took place in 2013 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Published in 2014, the book titled Eileen Gray: Her work and her world by Jennifer Goff, the curator of Gray’s work at the National Museum of Ireland, explored her life and work. With the release of the film The Price of Desire by Mary McGuckian, based on Gray’s life and times, which, in turn, led to the documentary Gray Matters, by filmmaker >
PHOTOS: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED
E
PHOTO: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED
’s Bindu Nair speaks to Marco Orsini, a filmmaker who directed Gray Matters, a documentarythatdelvesintothe life of architect and furniture designer Eileen Gray
PHOTO: MOJO ENTERTAINMENT
PHOTO: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED/ PHOTOGRAPHER SHIRA KLASMER
perspective
000|
Architectural Digest: How did you research Eileen Gray’s life? Marco Orsini: I went to the Centre Pompidou, which was opening a major retrospective exhibition on Eileen Gray. Mary McGuckian and I flew to Paris and met the curator, Cloé Pitiot, who had gathered all the pieces for that groundbreaking exhibition. While in Paris, I was introduced to Jennifer Goff, who is the curator for the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. These two experts on Eileen Gray spent the afternoon discussing the dramatic life of [the designer] and exploring the significance of her contributions to how we live today. They’ve stayed on with me as consultants and I’ve conducted another 20 interviews while trying to keep up with the academic and journalistic literature that keeps piling up on the subject of Eileen Gray’s life and art. AD: How was the experience of shooting at the controversial villa E1027? MO: Though I sought to respect her wish to remain private, the relationship between Le Corbusier, Badovici and Eileen Gray >
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST|MAY-JUNE 2015
(Clockwise from top left) DESIGN REPERTOIRE Orsini at Gray’s villa E1027 during the shoot for Gray Matters, the documentary on her life and work. The ‘Transat’ chair was designed by Gray to be used on the terrace of E1027. The ‘Day Bed’ is among Gray’s best known designs. The ‘Dragon’ chair.
PHOTO: CHRISTIE’S
Gray’s contribution to the world of architecture and design. Central to the narrative on her life is the story of the famous villa E1027 in the south of France, completed in 1929, which was designed jointly by Gray and architecture critic Jean Badovici, her partner at the time. Le Corbusier, who was friends with Badovici, was rumoured to have had a lifelong fascination with the villa, even attempting unsuccessfully at one point, to purchase it. Le Corbusier went on to paint a series of nude murals on its walls, with what is believed to be Badovici’s tacit approval. Gray, who had parted ways with Badovici by then and moved out of the villa, is said to have been furious with the murals, which she considered an act of desecration. The murals remain on the walls. The villa has now become the property of Conservatoire du Littoral, a public organization that started a restoration process which itself has become a subject of controversy over the way in which the restoration was carried out, and the continued presence of Le Corbusier’s murals on its walls. Fans of Gray’s work have repeatedly asked for his murals to be removed—their argument being that that’s what Gray would have wanted. But with Le Corbusier being the more famous of the two architects, his murals have been deemed as works of art, and accordingly, authorities have sought to have them preserved. Villa E1027 is expected to open to the public in the summer of 2015. AD spoke to Orsini about how the documentary captured Gray’s life and times.
PHOTO: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED
< Marco Orsini, the attention is back on
(Clockwise from left) A DESIGN LEGACY The exterior of E1027. The ‘E1027’ height-adjustable table, considered a design classic. The ‘Roquebrune’ chair. A shot of the ‘Nonconformist’ chair at the National Museum of Ireland during an exhibition of Gray’s life and work.
PHOTOS: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED
PHOTO: FRIENDS OF E.1027
perspective
and design. Their triangular connection was as defined by talent, ambition and inspiration as much as by competition, resentment and jealousy. It’s all very complicated, but evocatively and beautifully explored in Mary’s film, The Price of Desire. Filming at E1027 took months of preparation, both because of the sensitivity of the site and the sensitivities of the parties who guard and grant access. Access is limited and we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to film there at all. I had only one day to do everything I needed to do. And I was sharing the ‘location’ with the director and crew of Mary’s film. We were competing for space to set up and shots to capture, not to mention the extraordinary light. It was stressful and tense, but we found a way to share the space and get our shots. For the benefit of her film—and ours too—Mary negotiated to have Le Corbusier’s brightly coloured murals temporarily covered, restoring the walls of E1027 to their original and undecorated white. I filmed the villa without the murals, as Gray herself would have wanted. No one has or will ever be able to do that again. AD: What was your understanding of Gray’s work and personality? MO: The challenge was vast. Gray lived to be 98 and was creatively active for more than 75 years. With such depth and range of work and a life spanning one of the most 000|
PHOTO: MOJO ENTERTAINMENT
< belongs to the history of art, architecture
exciting centuries in history, I decided it was best to understand and present her story in terms of her work. Prior to World War I, Gray was celebrated for her lacquer pieces and made a name creating exquisite works for rich patrons. But the devastation of Europe sharpened her political consciousness: she wanted to help rebuild Europe and its people through design. She was committed to producing modern, functional—though still exquisite—pieces that made living easier, more rational and beautiful. It was soon after that Jean Badovici came into her life and encouraged her to develop her interest in architecture. AD: Which people did you interview who knew Gray?
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST|MAY-JUNE 2015
MO: We were so incredibly fortunate to be able to interview and capture on film most of the few surviving persons who can claim to have known and worked with Gray: Joseph Rykwert, the architect and critic, who reintroduced her to the world in 1968; Zeev Aram, owner of Aram in London, who collaborated with her on the mass production of a number of her pieces; Philippe Garner, the Christie’s director who met her when he was 21, after her first major ‘success’ at auction; and Roberto Rebutato, the architect and protégé of Le Corbusier, who grew up on the property next to E1027, where Le Corbusier built his famous Cabanon. To me, speaking with them was like visiting another place and time.
AHEAD OF HER TIME
(Clockwise from top left) AN ARTISTIC MIND Architect and designer Eileen Gray. The lacquered ‘Brick Screen’ was one of Gray’s earliest creations. The ‘Bibendum’ chair was named for and modelled on Bibendum—better known as the Michelin Man. The ‘Blue Marine’ rug was part of a set of rug designs created by Gray, the license for which is now held by English furniture brand Aram.
PHOTO: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED/ PHOTOGRAPHER SHIRA KLASMER
ileen Gray, a familiar name for architecture enthusiasts and people in the industry, is often described as “a pioneer of the modern movement in architecture”. But this Irish architect never really got her due—as an architect and designer—among the general public. Until now. A renewed interest in her work has come about due to many reasons. In 2009, Christie’s auctioned her ‘Dragon’ chair at an estimated $28.3 million, bringing the attention back to Gray’s work as a designer well ahead of her time. One of the largest exhibitions of her work took place in 2013 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Published in 2014, the book titled Eileen Gray: Her work and her world by Jennifer Goff, the curator of Gray’s work at the National Museum of Ireland, explored her life and work. With the release of the film The Price of Desire by Mary McGuckian, based on Gray’s life and times, which, in turn, led to the documentary Gray Matters, by filmmaker >
PHOTOS: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED
E
PHOTO: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED
’s Bindu Nair speaks to Marco Orsini, a filmmaker who directed Gray Matters, a documentarythatdelvesintothe life of architect and furniture designer Eileen Gray
PHOTO: MOJO ENTERTAINMENT
PHOTO: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED/ PHOTOGRAPHER SHIRA KLASMER
perspective
000|
Architectural Digest: How did you research Eileen Gray’s life? Marco Orsini: I went to the Centre Pompidou, which was opening a major retrospective exhibition on Eileen Gray. Mary McGuckian and I flew to Paris and met the curator, Cloé Pitiot, who had gathered all the pieces for that groundbreaking exhibition. While in Paris, I was introduced to Jennifer Goff, who is the curator for the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. These two experts on Eileen Gray spent the afternoon discussing the dramatic life of [the designer] and exploring the significance of her contributions to how we live today. They’ve stayed on with me as consultants and I’ve conducted another 20 interviews while trying to keep up with the academic and journalistic literature that keeps piling up on the subject of Eileen Gray’s life and art. AD: How was the experience of shooting at the controversial villa E1027? MO: Though I sought to respect her wish to remain private, the relationship between Le Corbusier, Badovici and Eileen Gray >
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST|MAY-JUNE 2015
(Clockwise from top left) DESIGN REPERTOIRE Orsini at Gray’s villa E1027 during the shoot for Gray Matters, the documentary on her life and work. The ‘Transat’ chair was designed by Gray to be used on the terrace of E1027. The ‘Day Bed’ is among Gray’s best known designs. The ‘Dragon’ chair.
PHOTO: CHRISTIE’S
Gray’s contribution to the world of architecture and design. Central to the narrative on her life is the story of the famous villa E1027 in the south of France, completed in 1929, which was designed jointly by Gray and architecture critic Jean Badovici, her partner at the time. Le Corbusier, who was friends with Badovici, was rumoured to have had a lifelong fascination with the villa, even attempting unsuccessfully at one point, to purchase it. Le Corbusier went on to paint a series of nude murals on its walls, with what is believed to be Badovici’s tacit approval. Gray, who had parted ways with Badovici by then and moved out of the villa, is said to have been furious with the murals, which she considered an act of desecration. The murals remain on the walls. The villa has now become the property of Conservatoire du Littoral, a public organization that started a restoration process which itself has become a subject of controversy over the way in which the restoration was carried out, and the continued presence of Le Corbusier’s murals on its walls. Fans of Gray’s work have repeatedly asked for his murals to be removed—their argument being that that’s what Gray would have wanted. But with Le Corbusier being the more famous of the two architects, his murals have been deemed as works of art, and accordingly, authorities have sought to have them preserved. Villa E1027 is expected to open to the public in the summer of 2015. AD spoke to Orsini about how the documentary captured Gray’s life and times.
PHOTO: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED
< Marco Orsini, the attention is back on
(Clockwise from left) A DESIGN LEGACY The exterior of E1027. The ‘E1027’ height-adjustable table, considered a design classic. The ‘Roquebrune’ chair. A shot of the ‘Nonconformist’ chair at the National Museum of Ireland during an exhibition of Gray’s life and work.
PHOTOS: ARAM DESIGNS LIMITED
PHOTO: FRIENDS OF E.1027
perspective
and design. Their triangular connection was as defined by talent, ambition and inspiration as much as by competition, resentment and jealousy. It’s all very complicated, but evocatively and beautifully explored in Mary’s film, The Price of Desire. Filming at E1027 took months of preparation, both because of the sensitivity of the site and the sensitivities of the parties who guard and grant access. Access is limited and we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to film there at all. I had only one day to do everything I needed to do. And I was sharing the ‘location’ with the director and crew of Mary’s film. We were competing for space to set up and shots to capture, not to mention the extraordinary light. It was stressful and tense, but we found a way to share the space and get our shots. For the benefit of her film—and ours too—Mary negotiated to have Le Corbusier’s brightly coloured murals temporarily covered, restoring the walls of E1027 to their original and undecorated white. I filmed the villa without the murals, as Gray herself would have wanted. No one has or will ever be able to do that again. AD: What was your understanding of Gray’s work and personality? MO: The challenge was vast. Gray lived to be 98 and was creatively active for more than 75 years. With such depth and range of work and a life spanning one of the most 000|
PHOTO: MOJO ENTERTAINMENT
< belongs to the history of art, architecture
exciting centuries in history, I decided it was best to understand and present her story in terms of her work. Prior to World War I, Gray was celebrated for her lacquer pieces and made a name creating exquisite works for rich patrons. But the devastation of Europe sharpened her political consciousness: she wanted to help rebuild Europe and its people through design. She was committed to producing modern, functional—though still exquisite—pieces that made living easier, more rational and beautiful. It was soon after that Jean Badovici came into her life and encouraged her to develop her interest in architecture. AD: Which people did you interview who knew Gray?
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST|MAY-JUNE 2015
MO: We were so incredibly fortunate to be able to interview and capture on film most of the few surviving persons who can claim to have known and worked with Gray: Joseph Rykwert, the architect and critic, who reintroduced her to the world in 1968; Zeev Aram, owner of Aram in London, who collaborated with her on the mass production of a number of her pieces; Philippe Garner, the Christie’s director who met her when he was 21, after her first major ‘success’ at auction; and Roberto Rebutato, the architect and protégé of Le Corbusier, who grew up on the property next to E1027, where Le Corbusier built his famous Cabanon. To me, speaking with them was like visiting another place and time.
