National Museum buys Eileen Gray

This is great, finally something that people will go to see at the National Museum in Collins Barracks.

great news indeed. does anyone know what exactly has been bought?

Yes, full marks for this acquisition. Apparently the items are from her own private collection, pieces from her Paris apartment, which were purchased from a dealer who inherited them. It should be well worth a visit. It will probably be over a year before the exhibition will be ready. Looking forward to it.

It includes Gray’s own copy of the famous chrome-and-glass
side table designed for E1027, her iconic house at
Rocquebrune on the Cote d’Azur which was so much admired
by the modernist architect, Le Corbusier.

It also includes a monogrammed dressing gown, all of her
lacquering tools, the Poiret dress she wore and even her
make-up.

Carpets, chairs, tables, lacquered screens, frosted glass
lanterns, prototypes, photographs, contemporary magazines
which reviewed her work are in the collection bought by the
National Museum for £900,000.

“We didn’t have a stick of her furniture, so I took the view that
we just had to acquire all these things that were designed, used
and cherished by her, the museum’s director, Dr Pat Wallace,
told The Irish Times.

“We were very lucky to get it, too, because we gazumped, if
you like, the Pompidou Centre,” he said, adding that the
Minister for Arts and Heritage, Ms de Valera, played a major
role in securing the money. He also paid tribute to the art critic,
Ms Dorothy Walker, for her support.