Charles & Ray Eames for Vitra

CHARLES EAMES (USA, 1907 – 1978) AND RAY EAMES (USA, 1912 – 1988) for VITRA.
A high-back office armchair, model EA-119.
Height adjustable and with tilt function. Original black leather upholstery, backside with black hopsak, armrests and five-star base in clome-plated aluminium, with castors. Designed in 1958.
Slight traces of wear.
Measurements: 102/115 x 58 x 58 cm; 43/56 cm. (seat height).

Charles and Ray Eames, a married couple and artistic couple, worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film, and are responsible for numerous designs that have become classics of the 20th century. Charles Eames studied architecture for two years at the University of Washington, then began his career working in a studio on residential housing projects. In 1938 he moved to Cranbrook, Michigan, to continue studying architecture and design at the city's Academy of Art. He would eventually teach there, heading the industrial design department. Together with Eero Saarinen, the son of his teacher Eliel Saarinen, he designed the trophy for the Organic Design Award, given by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1941, after divorcing his first wife, he married his colleague at Cranbrook, Ray Kaiser. Together they settled in Los Angeles, where they would remain for the rest of their lives. In the late 1940s, Ray and Charles designed their home together, known as the "Eames House," now considered a masterpiece of modern architecture. In the 1950s the couple continued to work in architecture and furniture design, pioneering the use of new techniques and materials such as fiberglass and plastic resin in the manufacture of chairs. They are currently represented in the Design Museum in London and the MoMA in New York, among many others.