Eames Exhibit to be Held in New York

The exhibit will feature a full-scale �exploded� version of the Eames lounge, based upon an early diagram.

by Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 5/3/2006

When husband and wife team Charles and Ray Eames introduced the Eames lounge in 1956, they launched what is now one of the most recognized icons in seating. From May 18 through September 3, New York’s Museum of Arts & Design will focus on the design, production, social history, and cultural impact of the lounge in “The Eames Lounge Chair: An Icon of Modern Design.”

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of furniture manufacturer Herman Miller’s production of the chair, the exhibit will feature one of the earliest examples of the design, the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s 1956 production lounge and ottoman, formally owned by Herman Miller Founder D.J. DePree. Visitors will also be privy to a full-scale “exploded” version of the chair, based upon an early diagram of the components, and a film created by Eames Demetrios, grandson of Charles Eames and director of the Eames Foundation.

“The incomparable Eames Lounge Chair set a high standard for design innovation and elegance in affluent, postwar America,” says Holly Hotchner, director of the Museum of Arts & Design. “Half a century later, this iconic work continues to influence the international design world.”

The exhibit is organized by the Grand Rapids Art Museum. After its stint in New York, “The Eames Lounge Chair” will travel to the Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan (October 6 – December 31, 2006), followed by The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan (February 3 – April 29, 2007).

Top: Charles and Ray Eames, Lounge Chair and Ottoman (profile view), 1956. Courtesy of the Grand Rapids Art Museum and Herman Miller, gift of La Vern and Betty DePree Van Kley. Photo: Nick Merrick/Hedrich Blessing.

Center: Charles and Ray Eames, Exploded Lounge Chair and Ottoman . Designed by Vince Faust, 2005, steel frame, tension wire, current production Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman. Courtesy of Herman Miller. Photo: Nick Merrick/Hedrich Blessing.

Bottom: Ray Eames, Untitled , 1943, plywood sculpture. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.