VIRTUAL Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe
May 5, 2019 through October 27, 2019Alexander Girard was one of the most influential interior and textile designers of the 20th century. Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe is the first major retrospective on Girard’s work, organized by the Vitra Design Museum in Germany. With this new VIRTUAL TOUR open a door to his creative universe and shows his close relationships with contemporaries such as Charles & Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Andy Warhol, Rudi Gernreich, and many others. Featured are Girard’s designs in textiles, furniture, and sculptures, as well as numerous sketches, drawings, and collages never shown before.
Girard was also a pivotal figure in the history of the Museum of International Folk Art, donating more than 100,000 objects from his and his wife Susan’s folk art collection, and in 1981 creating the museum’s long-term, beloved exhibition Multiple Visions. Girard’s playful designs attest to a passion for colors, ornamentation, and inspirations from folk art.
A Designer’s Universe was on view at the Museum of International Folk Art May 5, 2019 - October 27, 2019. Now you can experience this exhibition virtually by taking the tour below:
WATCH Installation Timelaspe Video
READ:
- Spoon to City by Laura Addison, El Palacio Magazine. Summer 2019... Alexander Girard’s genius: tasty, urbane, and infinitely scalable.
- When Georgia Met Sandro by Kate Nelson, El Palacio Magazine. Summer 2019...Embers of a fabled friendship shimmer on.
- A Dazzling Denizen by Jess Mullaly, El Palacio Magazine. Spring 2019...Alexander Girard made himself at home in the world, and made many worlds of his own.
Coinciding with the traveling retrospective, the Museum of International Folk Art enhanced the visitor experience of its Girard collection exhibition, Multiple Visions, through interpretive and interactive elements designed for the 21st century.
Photo: Design for matchboxes of the restaurant La Fonda del Sol, Alexander Girard, 1960 / Alexander Girard Estate, Vitra Design Museum.
Girard's Modern Folk
May 5, 2019 through January 26, 2020Girard’s Modern Folk examines the particular ways in which renowned mid-century American designer Alexander Girard looked to the motifs, patterns, palettes and compositions of traditional arts for his distinctive textiles.
Juxtapositions of his design work and objects from his folk art collection illustrate this marriage of “modern” and “folk.” Also on view are unique objects by Girard that are in the museum’s permanent collection.
Alexander Girard, Untitled (anniversary gift to Susan Girard), ca. 1970s, wood, cotton, brass. 54 15/16 x 47 5/8 x 5 1/8 in. Museum of International Folk Art, gift of the Girard Foundation Collection, A.2017.26.1