populuxe

Happy Valentine's Day from a couple who's love for each other changed the world of design as we know it. No, Charles and Ray Eames were not brothers or gay lovers, they were a husband and wife team who became heroes of mid century modern design.

Around 1940-1941, Charles Eames met Ray-Bernice Alexandra Kaiser at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI. Charles was an instructor and Ray was a student. Charles marriage was at an end. Charles and Ray worked together on a mobile of ceramic and metal for the MoMA exhibition "What is Design?". She also helped prepare the drawings for the Organic Furniture competition.

A love note from Charles to Ray, is this a marriage proposal?

More after the jump

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According to their grandson Eames Demetrios (in his book An Eames Primer), "I am sure that their mutual interests were the things that attracted them to each other. Despite the fact that they would live much of the rest of their lives surrounded by people, they were two of the most private people imaginable. The precise moment they met and fell in love were not recorded, but it did happen."

Their marriage led to an outstanding career in design, architecture, film and more. They created a charmed house of steel, a dozen museums, a hundred films, and a myriad of 20th century modern furniture designs.

Designer Philippe Starck said, "The Eames are handsome, they are a couple, they look sexy, smart and happy. It's almost enough to understand their miracle. They don't create beauty and intelligence, they just transmit what they are. It's easy, coherent. There is a serenity. When they drive a motorcycle, it's to experience balance and the minimum. Every picture gives a clue. They offer us the elegance of their happy rigorness."