When you think of mid-century American design, you think Charles & Ray Eames. And who can blame you, the husband and wife design duo are among the world’s most renowned designers. Lesser known, but no less influential, their contemporary Alexander Girard is the subject of a major retrospective that’s been running its course at the Vitra Design Museum this year, and continues until 22 January.
The Design Process at Herman Miller, 1975
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Michigan
Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
A fascinating character, Girard’s influence on the design world is evident the moment you study his folk art-inspired fabrics and interiors. Raised in a cosmopolitan family with European and American roots, the designer spent his formative years in Florence, before studying architecture in London; living in New York and Michigan before settling in Santa Fe. Working from the 1920s through the 1970s, Girard’s extensive collection of more than 100,000 folk art objects and artefacts — accumulated on travels through Mexico, India, Egypt and beyond — would be a key influence on his colourful career; shaping an often underestimated oeuvre that has enjoyed a welcome revival in recent years.
Best known for works that include the interior of Eero Saarinen’s Irwin Miller House in Columbus, Indiana, his own Santa Fe home, and legendary New York restaurants La Fonda Del Sol and L’Etoile, this major retrospective draws on the Vitra Design Museum’s holdings from his private estate (which the museum took possession of in 1996); showcasing furniture, textiles and sculptures along with countless never before seen sketches, drawings and collages. The exhibition design was put together by London-based studio Raw Edges; Shay Alkalay and Yael Mer’s work characterised, like Girard’s, by its rooting in intense colours and patterns.
Alexander Girard. A Designer’s Universe continues at Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, until 22 January, 2017.
View of Exhibition, Room 3
Photo © Vitra Design Museum, Mark Niedermann
Daisy Face, Environmental Enrichment Panel #3036
Alexander Girard for Herman Miller, 1971
Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
The Girard Group, Herman Miller, Zeeland, Michigan, 1957
Photo, Bryan Holme, collection Vitra Design Museum,
Alexander Girard Estate
Corporate Design for Braniff International Airways, 1965
Photo, Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
Miller Cottage, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada
Alexander Girard, 1950—1952. Photo, Balthazar Korab
Courtesy of The Library of Congress
Miller House, Columbus, Indiana, USA
Alexander Girard, 1953—1957. Photo, Balthazar Korab
Courtesy of The Library of Congress
View of Exhibition, Room 3
Photo © Vitra Design Museum, Mark Niedermann
Poncho, designed by Rudi Gernreich and Alexander Girard
for the restaurant La Fonda del Sol,
designed by Alexander Girard, New York, 1961
Photo, Charles Eames, Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
Love Heart, Environmental Enrichment Panel #3017
Alexander Girard for Herman Miller, 1971
Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
Alexander Girard designing his Environmental Enrichment Panels, ca. 1971
Photo, Charles Eames, Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
View of Exhibition, Room 2
Photo © Vitra Design Museum, Mark Niedermann
View of Exhibition, Drawing Wall
Photo © Vitra Design Museum, Mark Niedermann
Textiles & Objects Shop, New York City
Alexander Girard for Herman Miller, 1961
Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
View of Exhibition, Room 4
Photo © Vitra Design Museum, Mark Niedermann
Miller House, Columbus, Indiana, USA
Alexander Girard, 1953—1957. Photo, Balthazar Korab
Courtesy of The Library of Congress
La Fonda del Sol restaurant, New York City
Alexander Girard, 1960. Photo, Louis Reens
Poster for ‘The Nativity’ exhibition of folk art, Nelson Gallery of Art,
designed and curated by Alexander Girard, 1962
Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
Design drawing for textile panel, 63 x 110 cm
Alexander Girard, early 1970s
Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum
Photo, Andreas Sütterlin
