Alexander Girard
Reflecting his love of international folk art and unhampered by contemporary dictums of style and taste, Alexander Girard explored wildly different approaches to color, form, pattern, and construction. The resulting body of work is staggering not only in sheer volume and creativity, but due to its fundamental qualities of beauty and usefulness, remains completely relevant today.
“I have no favorite material; anything can be used to create beauty if handled well.”
- Alexander Girard
At Herman Miller, Girard had the freedom to express himself. With primary colors, concise geometric patterns, and a touch of humor, he injected joy and spontaneity into his designs. During his tenure, he created over 300 textile designs in multitudes of colorways, wallpapers, prints, furniture, and objects. Girard’s work with Herman Miller continued until 1973 and included spicing up the Action Office system with a series of decorative panel fabrics.
Girard’s risky, sometimes iconoclastic fabrics were inspired not by a vision of the future but by a love of international folk art. His passion for what he called “toys” led him around the globe, amassing a collection of roughly 106,000 pieces. These colorful, whimsical objects inspired him, as his designs continue to inspire us.
Girard Color Wheel Ottoman. Playful, colorful, and graphic, the Color Wheel Ottoman is unmistakably the work of Alexander Girard. Available in an array of bold colors, or two distinctive stripes, this low upholstered piece serves equally well as a footrest, coffee table, extra seat, or conversation starter.
Girard Environmental Enrichment Panels. These decorative silkscreen designs known as the Girard Environmental Enrichment Panels were originally released in 1972 to personalize and add an element of “aesthetic functionalism” to the installation of Action Office environments. Unlike Girard’s printed textiles, the panels consist of single stand-alone images that range from abstract patterns to figurative pictograms. Playful and bold, the Girard Environmental Enrichment Panels serve as the exclamation point at the end of Girard’s long tenure with Herman Miller.
Textiles and Objects Poster. The Textiles & Objects Poster is evidence that, in Girard’s hands, advertising can rise to the level of art. Among the many invitations, signs, product tags, and other graphical elements Alexander Girard designed to promote the midtown Manhattan Textiles & Objects shop he launched with Herman Miller in 1961, this faithful, screen-printed re-edition of the 26-by-20-inch poster is available framed or unframed.
Girard Flower Table by Alexander Girard. Thanks to clever use of materials, the table—a modern take on a blooming flower—can sit inside or outside, in a variety of settings.
Girard Stool by Alexander Girard. The Girard Stool is a quintessential representation of Alexander Girard’s design sense, weaving a joyful sense of expression alongside its functional nature.