Alexander Girard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alexander Girard (May 24, 1907 – 1993) was one of the foremost designers of American textiles in the 20th century. Girard's work is characterized by lively, bold, and colorful geometric patterns. He created fabrics for Herman Miller that were used on the designs of Charles and Ray Eames.

In addition to designing textiles, Girard was a serious collector of folk art. He and his wife amassed a remarkable collection of artifacts comprising folk art, popular art, toys, and textiles from around the world.

[edit] Folk Art Collection

Girard contributed his immense collection to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The museum opened to the public in 1953 and has gained national and international recognition as home to the world’s largest collection of folk art. The collection of more than 135,000 artifacts forms the basis for exhibitions in four distinct wings: Bartlett, Girard, Hispanic Heritage, and Neutrogena.

The Girard Wing houses the popular permanent exhibition, Multiple Visions: A Common Bond, which showcases folk art, popular art, toys and textiles from more than 100 nations. Girard designed this unorthodox and delightful exhibition of his collection, which opened at the museum in 1982 and remains open to the public to this day.

[edit] Books About The Girard Folk Art Collection

The Museum of International Folk Art offers two books that provide an in-depth description of folk art and the Girard Folk Art collection.

"The Spirit of Folk Art: The Girard Collection at the Museum of International Folk Art" is a 276-page set of essays by Henry Glassie, which describe the content and importance of the Girard collection. The essays are complemented by black and white as well as color plates of collection objects on display at the Museum. For a full description of this book, see the MoIFA Publications page.

"Folk Art from the Global Village: The Girard Collection at the Museum of International Folk Art" is a 96-page set of essays by Jack Lenor Larsen and others, which describe the Girard collection and its origins. The book, which contains over 100 color plates of objects described in the essays, is currently out of print. For a full description of this book, see the Museum of New Mexico Foundation's publications page.

Books are available at the Museum Gift Shop and online at http://www.worldfolkart.org.

For more information and biographical data about Alexander Girard, see the Museum's listing of website resources.