27 Facts About Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray's father, James McLaren Smith, was a Scottish landscape painter.

Eileen Gray became the 19th Baroness Gray in 1895 after the death of her uncle.

Eileen Gray was presented as a debutante at Buckingham Palace in 1898.

Eileen Gray briefly attended a school in Dresden, Germany but was mainly educated by governesses.

Eileen Gray was a registered fine arts student at the Slade from 1900 to 1902.

Eileen Gray was one of 168 female students in a class of 228.

Eileen Gray had many influential teachers at the Slade, including Philip Wilson Steer, a Romantic landscape painter, Henry Tonks, a surgeon and figure painter, and Frederick Brown.

In 1902, Eileen Gray moved to Paris with Kathleen Bruce and Jessie Gavin.

In 1905, Eileen Gray returned to London to be with her ill mother.

When she returned to Paris, Eileen Gray purchased a flat in the rue Bonaparte, and began training with Seizo Sugawara.

Eileen Gray was so dedicated to learning the trade that she suffered the so-called lacquer disease, a painful rash on her hands, but that did not stop her from working.

Eileen Gray served as an ambulance driver at the beginning of World War I before returning to England to wait out the war with Sugawara.

In 1917, Eileen Gray was hired to redesign the Rue de Lota apartment of society hostess Juliette Levy.

Early on Eileen Gray used luxurious materials like exotic woods, ivory and furs.

Eileen Gray studied theoretical and technical books, took drafting lessons, and arranged to have Adrienne Gorska take her along to building sites.

Eileen Gray traveled with Badovici to study key buildings and learned by reworking architectural designs.

Construction of the house took three years and Eileen Gray remained on site while Badovici visited occasionally.

Eileen Gray created a tea trolley with a cork surface, to reduce the rattling of cups, and positioned mirrors so a visitor could see the back of their head.

At the entrance of E-1027 Eileen Gray created a celluloid niche for hats with net shelves to allow a clear view without the risk of dust settling.

Eileen Gray's design maximized airflow and natural light with features such as shuttered windows and skylights.

Eileen Gray's drawing Three Women depicted Eileen and Jean together.

Eileen Gray participated in the exhibition, however her works were not recorded.

At the Dublin exhibit, the 95 year-old Eileen Gray was given an honorary fellowship by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.

In 1973 Eileen Gray signed a contract to reproduce the Bibendum chair and many of her pieces for the first time, with Aram Designs Ltd, London.

Eileen Gray is buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, but because her family omitted to pay the licence fee her grave is not identifiable.

Eileen Gray had for some time an intermittent relationship with Jean Badovici, the Romanian architect and writer.

Eileen Gray had written about her design work in 1924 and encouraged her interest in architecture.