The first major exhibition of the Eameses’ work opened last week in Washington, D.C. (and will move to New York, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Seattle). The exhibit includes one of three 1940 prototype chairs, designed with Eero Saarinen; another of them just sold at auction for a record-breaking $129,000. Though most famous for furniture, the Eameses “designed” in much broader ways, as the show illustrates. Exemplars of postwar American optimism, they worked for clients from IBM to the U.S. Information Agency, making films and creating multimedia exhibitions. They were fascinated with new technology and materials–even their chairs had evolved from the molded plywood splints they’d designed for the Army during World War II. Like most collaborations, the Eameses’ was complex. In their lifetimes (Charles died in 1978, his wife 10 years later) the charismatic Charles, trained as an architect, got most of the credit. Now Ray, who brought an artist’s eye to everything she touched, is getting equal billing.
The Work of Charles and Ray Eames.Library of Congress, Washington. Until Sept. 4.
