Eileen Gray. Jennifer Goff

In the years that followed in the role of architect Gray wrote a series of notes on urbanism, and emphasised the necessity of creating a town with special sections for artists, musicians and writers and for all those ‘who want to live with pure spiritual matters’.¹³⁶ Whether architect, designer or artist the fruition of their efforts was what was important, as for her, they were only the means through which paintings, buildings or furniture were created.

Towards the end of her life she described painting as a whole time job and a constant preoccupation.¹³⁷ In 1962 she was actively producing monotypes, collages, bas-reliefs and gouaches. Art played an important role throughout Eileen Gray’s life. Her letters reveal that she continued to paint until the year of her death. Painting made her feel alive and she wrote ‘It still seems wonderful to be alive, to open one’s eyes and be able to work at all, even if it comes to nothing’.¹³⁸

      ENDNOTES

1NMIEG 2000.115, drawing of a nude study.

2Pitiot, Cloe, ‘Eileen Gray, la poésie de l’énigme’, Eileen Gray, Editions de Centre Pompidou Paris, 2013, p.16.

3NMIEG 2003.509, NMIEG 2003.510, notes on Eileen Gray’s work.

4Pater, Walter, The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry, London and New York, MacMillan and Co., 1888.

5McNeill Whistler, James, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, New York, Frederick Stokes and Brother, 1890.

6McNeill Whistler, James, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1875, oil on panel, 60.2 x 46.7 cm, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts.

7NMIEG 2003.126, black, cream and grey gouache with vertical motifs.

8Pennell, Joseph and Elizabeth, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, London, William Heinemann, 1911.

9McNeill Whistler, James, Harmony in Blue and gold: The Peacock Room, 1876-1877, oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather and wood, Washington, Freer Sackler: The Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art.

10NMIEG 2003.94, green Japanese-style carpet gouache.

11NMIEG 2003.365, letter from Eileen Gray to Prunella Clough, 2 January 1971.

12Lane, John, The Early Work of Aubrey Beardsley, London, The Bodley Head, 1899.

13Adam, Marcelle, Les Caricatures de Puvis de Chavannes, Paris, Librairie Charles Delagrave, 1906. Verhaeren, Emile, James Ensor, Brussels, Librairie Nationale d’Art et d’Histoire, G. Van Oest& Cie, 1908.

14V&A Prints and Drawings Archive, ref nos: E119-1983, E1132-1983.

15Constant, Caroline, Eileen Gray, London, Phaidon, 2000, p.18

16Ibid, Constant, p.19. Constant puts forward the theory that Gray’s architecture was inspired by the Ballet Russes; the way in which Bakst’s costumes liberated the movement of the body in motion inspired Gray’s interest in liberating the body in its occupation of space. She also states that Baskt’s concentration on the expressive potential of the entire group of dancers caused Gray to eliminate the distinction between architecture and furnishings, merging them into an organic whole. Finally she states that Nijinsky’s performances, merging masculine and feminine traits, were reflected in the way in which Gray fused furniture and architecture together. Constant suggests that the concept for the Ballet could have been instigated by Jacques Rouche’s Carnaval des Animaux at the Théâtre des Arts 1911.

17Born 1892, one of eight children, she changed her name to Marisa Damia after being discovered by Jacques Doherty. By 1912 she was famous and her records sold in thousands.

18Adam, Peter, Eileen Gray:Architect/Designer: A Biography, London, Thames and Hudson, 2000, pp. 108-9. Adam states that Rolf de Mare for the Ballet Suédois commissioned artists such as Francis Picabia, Fernand Léger and Pierre Bonnard to design for him; the Comte de Beaumont rented the Théâtre de Pigalle and commissioned a series of ballets designed by George Braque, Picasso and André Derain.

19Cocteau, Jean, Dessins, Paris, Delamain, Boutelleau et Cie, 1923.

20NMIEG 2003.337, letter from Eileen Gray to Prunella Clough, 1970s.

21NMIEG 2003.80, Méral, Paul, Le Dit des Jeux du Monde, Paris, Presse de l’Imprimerie Studium, 1918.

22NMIEG 2000.120 – NMIEG 2000.131, NMIEG 2003.530, drawings for Ballet des Animaux

23Ibid.

24Ibid, Adam, p.109.

25Georges-Michel, Michel and George, Waldemar, Les Ballets Russes de Serge de Diaghilew, Décors et costumes, Paris, Galerie Billiet, 1930.

26V&A Archives, AAD/1980/9, un-numbered ground floor plan.

27NMIEG 2000.132, drawing for a mural for a nursery.

28V&A Archives, AAD/1980/9, un-numbered drawing for a fresco for a child’s bedroom.

29Adam, Peter, Eileen Gray: Architect/Designer: A Biography, London, Thames & Hudson, 1987, p.330, see illustration.

30NMIEG 2000.133 - 2000.136, drawings for a mural in a daycare centre.

31Rare