1980s Black Leather Eileen Gray LOTA Sofa by ALIVAR Made In Italy
About the Item
- Creator:Eileen Gray (Designer),Alivar (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 34.5 in (87.63 cm)Width: 94.5 in (240.03 cm)Depth: 35.5 in (90.17 cm)Seat Height: 21 in (53.34 cm)
- Style:Art Deco (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1980s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor fading. Overall Excellent Vintage Condition No Rips Tears Marring In Leather Seating Area Can Use Fluffing But Still Comfortable Cushions In Excellent Full Condition Lacquered Sides Great Shape 1980s by ALIVAR.
- Seller Location:Monrovia, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU7531238665972
Eileen Gray
Designer, artist and architect Eileen Gray was one of the most fascinating creative figures of the 20th century. Her body of work includes lustrous lacquered pieces — her Dragons chair set an auction record for modern furniture ($28 million) at the 2009 sale of the Yves Saint Laurent estate — and sleek chrome furnishings that rival the work of Le Corbusier and the members of the Bauhaus as exemplars of pure, modernist design.
The independent and unconventional daughter of Irish landed gentry, Gray studied painting at London’s Slade School of Fine Art in her early twenties before moving to Paris in 1906 to pursue her artistic dreams. Gray had become captivated by lacquerware after seeing an exhibit in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and in Paris persuaded an expatriate Japanese master of the painstaking process, Seizo Sugawara, to teach her. Within a few years, Gray had become known among the cognoscenti for her sculptural lacquered furnishings, which she incorporated into the homes of interior design clients.
Gray was ever evolving as a designer. By the early 1920s she was creating geometric works that embodied the essence of Art Deco and the nascent modernist design movement. Some pieces — such as her Bricks screen, an assemblage of pivoting rectangular panels — employ the planar forms favored by Gerrit Rietveld and other De Stijl architects of the Netherlands. Others feature the tubular chrome framing used by Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. These include the Bibendum chair — named for the resemblance of its semicircular back and armrest to the character known in English as the Michelin Man — and the adjustable E 1027 side table, conceived in 1927 for the interiors of a stark white villa she designed for herself in the South of France.
Never a self-promoter, Gray drifted out of the limelight in the 1930s. Interest in her work was revived in the early ’70s, however, when the estates of her early clients came to auction. Her original lacquer pieces are the most coveted, but, as the sale of the Dragons chair shows, are rare and extremely expensive.
None of Gray’s designs were made in large numbers until, a few years before her death, she granted a production license. These pieces range in price from $1,000 to $2,500, depending on furniture type and condition. Gray’s work has become iconic of practical and elegant modernist design. Yet, as you will see on 1stDibs, many of her creations have a simplicity that makes them welcome even in a traditional setting.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Upland, CA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
More From This Seller
View AllLate 20th Century Italian Art Deco Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Living Room Sets
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Leather
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Steel
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Sofas
Upholstery, Cane, Wood, Teak
You May Also Like
Vintage 1980s French Modern Sofas
Metal
1990s Italian Modern Sofas
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Sofas
Fabric
Vintage 1980s Italian Sofas
Steel
Mid-20th Century Sofas
Chrome
Early 2000s German Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Steel
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Eileen Gray’s Famed Cliffside Villa in the South of France Is Returned to Its Modernist Glory
After years of diligent restoration, E-1027, the designer-cum-architect’s marriage of romance and modernism, is finally complete.
Eileen Gray’s Deco Designs Launched Modernism. That Was Just the Beginning
Decades after her death, appreciation for the legendary designer and architect's work continues to flourish.