Eileen Gray was a pioneer in modern design and architecture and one of the few women to practice professionally in those fields before World War II. This exhibition is the first in the United States to examine the total oeuvre of Eileen Gray. In addition to affirming her accomplishments as an architect and a designer, it sheds light on the full sweep of Gray’s career, including her work as a painter and photographer. The exhibition is largely based on new research, including plans, drawings, sketchbooks, photographs, and letters, that reveal how Gray designed her most famous house, Villa E1027, and other architectural projects. The exhibition features never-before-seen furniture and lacquer works, as well as photography, rugs, and archival materials from her best-known projects.

Cloé Pitiot is a recently appointed curator of Art nouveau, Art déco, and modern and contemporary design at the Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris. Prior to that role she served as curator of design at the Centre Pompidou. In 2013, she curated Eileen Gray exhibitions at Centre Pompidou and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. In 2016, she directed the “Pierre Paulin” exhibition at Pompidou. In 2017, she opened “Éloge de la couleur” at La Piscine in Roubaix and “Eileen Gray, une architecture de l’intime” in Cap Moderne near the Villa E 1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Her 2018 exhibition “Modern Couples” at Pompidou Metz travels to London in October. She has taught at the Ensci and at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She holds a PhD in the History of Contemporary Architecture from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and is a government-certified (DPLG) architect.

Nina Stritzler-Levine is director of the Bard Graduate Center Gallery and gallery publications. She has published widely in journals and catalogues and has curated more than 50 exhibitions, including Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor, Josef Frank: An Alternate Vision of the Modern Home, Finnish Modern Design: Utopia Ideals and Everyday Realities, The Brilliance of Swedish Glass: An Alliance of Art and Industry, Marimekko: Fabrics, Fashion, Architecture, and Artek and the Aaltos: Design, Domesticity and the Public Sphere, which was funded by the Graham Foundation.

The mission of Bard Graduate Center is to be the leading institute for the advanced study of the decorative arts, design history, and material culture through three distinct but indivisible elements: graduate training, public exhibitions, and research.