Stylish second acts Oct 25, 2009
It had its origin in design with Eileen Gray; it s based on her Bibendum chair, which she based on the Michelin man. Adds Linda, You could probably throw it in the pool and float on it -- although we haven t tried that. (Boston Globe)
He made despair glamorous, but was Francis Bacon truly great? May 24, 2009
He began his creative career as a designer of modernist rugs and furniture in the vein of Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, and Eileen Gray, and it's hard not to see the carefully plotted designs of his later canvases, especially the great triptychs, as vestiges of this period. The fund of remarkable anecdotes relating to Bacon's life is almost inexhaustible, and not entirely incidental to the impact of his paintings. (Boston Globe)
Under the hammer, the whiff of celebrity Mar 14, 2009
" It feels a bit like showing up at a yard sale at 5 p.m. when everyone else arrived at dawn. A particularly macabre yard sale, I should say. The contents of Versace's Miami house where the fashion designer was murdered by a stranger, Andrew Cunanan, in 1997 have already been auctioned off. The Basquiats and Picassos are long gone, as is the Versace portrait by Warhol. What is left is an awful lot of undistinguished portraits of military gentlemen and a giant mural of a massacre by the Amazons... (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Art.view: Bull for a night Mar 1, 2009
The next two days continued with record prices in almost all categories, but none was more startling than the 22m commanded by an early 20th century chair designed by Eileen Gray. The consensus was that this and other decorative works benefited greatly from association with a great taste-maker like Saint Laurent. (The Economist)
Saint Laurent auction rakes in nearly $500 million Feb 26, 2009
The auction house said an armchair embellished with snakes and designed by Eileen Gray set a record for a piece of 20th century furniture, selling at euro21. 9 million. (Sioux City Journal)
Yves Saint Laurent's Chair Sells for Record as Sale Extends Winning Streak Feb 25, 2009
From the front rows of the saleroom, Cheska Vallois offered bids of 500,000 euros each for the so-called dragons armchair made by French designer Eileen Gray around 1917 to 1919, wresting it from a rival phone bidder and prompting applause from the crowd of 1,000 ... An hour before the armchair, with wooden arms shaped like dragons, became the most-expensive piece of 20th-century design sold at auction, a sideboard dating from 1915 to 1917, also by Eileen Gray, held that title after New... (Bloomberg -- Europe)
China haunts YSL art 'sale of the century' Feb 25, 2009
Day two saw a new frenzy of bids for Art Deco pieces, sending prices soaring through the ceiling and clinching the sale of the 20th century's most expensive piece of furniture ever -- a leather armchair by Irish designer Eileen Gray. Total sales Tuesday hit 101 million euros (130. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
YSL art sale breaks new records Feb 25, 2009
Then a chest by Irish designer and architect Eileen Gray went for four million euros ($A7. 92 million), also a record, while a pair of palmwood leopard-skinned benches designed by Hungarian Gustave Miklos set a record at 1. (Ninemsn)
Saint Laurent art auction -'sale of the century' Feb 22, 2009
Snakes fascinated Saint Laurent and they adorn all sorts or items, slithering up a brass lamp, curled around a vase or embellishing the armrests on a chair by furniture designer Eileen Gray. Controversy continued to swirl around the two Chinese bronzes _ the heads of a rabbit and a rat - which Chinese officials want returned. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
