Eileen Gray, photo courtesy of Wikipedia  

As promised in the  Eileen Gray Made a Chair to Love post, here are five interesting things I learned about Eileen Gray. Please let me know if you found some other interesting points about her OR if you think the order of interest should be rearranged.

  1.  Eileen Gray lived to be almost 100 years old (98 to be exact)! I am amazed at how intensely she took to furniture design, especially when it came to lacquering. As I read about her, one thing that stands out is that this woman had to have had a sense of humor. After all, one of her well-known designs – the Bibendum Chair – was inspired by the Michelin Man. Wait… what? This is the 1920s. The Michelin Man has been around since then?! Even more mind-blowing, the Michelin Man was a muse?! Whoa.
  2.  In 1922, Gray opened up her own furniture shop and named it Jean Désert after an imaginary male owner “Jean” and her love of the desert. At least, this is what is claimed; however, reading through her history, wouldn’t it have been just as plausible that the name was a nod to her love interest at the time, Jean Badovici? They were in a relationship starting in 1921, AND she included him in the naming of the house she designed and built-in 1926 – Villa E.1027. Let’s break this down: E = Eileen, the number “10” is for the letter “J” for Jean, the number “2” is for the letter “B” for Badovici, and the number “7” is for the letter”G” for Gray. She’s got a pattern.
  3.  Eileen Gray taught herself architecture! I am not kidding. She literally created her own apprenticeship program that included studying theoretical and technical books, drafting lessons, and shadowed another woman, Adrienne Górska, who did have formal architectural training, out to building site visits.
  4.  Le Corbusier stayed many times at E.1027. Sometime in 1938/1939, he decided to vandalize the walls with Cubist murals of naked women, despite Eileen’s clearly making it known that she wanted this building to be free of any decoration. I guess this starchitect thought he knew better what to do with her building, and I am saying this with a lot of sarcasm, just in case there is any question.
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  6.  Eileen Gray is connected to royalty! She was born Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith. Her name was changed to “Gray” because her mother was the granddaughter of Francis Stuart, 10th Earl of Moray. After the death of her uncle, Eileen’s mom became the 19th Baroness Gray in 1895 and all her children were known as Gray from then on.

If you want to know more about Eileen Gray, the website ARAM | Eileen Gray is an excellent resource.
The book, Eileen Gray: Her Work and Her World, is also a great resource. Select the affiliate image link below to check it out.