Alexander Girard Wooden Doll No 4

One of the most influential interior and textile designers of the 20th century, Alexander Girard’s talent was multivalent, ranging from brilliant textiles, to furniture, to toys.  Together with Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson, he was one of the leading figures of postwar American design. Alexander Girard was educated in Europe as an architect. Returning to the United States in 1932, his designs defined a new kind of "opulent modernism," a look that became synonymous with 1960's America. His pioneering work in fabric design, as well as his innovative commercial and residential interiors, captivated the public with their theatricality. Girard described himself as "a reasonable and sane functionalist, tempered by irrational frivolity." Born out of a strong affinity for folk art and a deep love of the whimsical, the dolls by Alexander Girard are a large family of wooden figures representing human and animal characters. Girard designed them in 1953 for his own use as decorative obje