Ray Eames

Ray Eames was an American designer and artist. While she is best known for her role in the legendary Eames design partnership with husband Charles, Ray was also a respected and visionary designer in her own right. Born in 1912 in Sacramento, Ray displayed an early interest in the arts. In the 1930's she moved to New York, where she studied painting at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts and exhibited as a member of the radical American Abstract Artists. Ray's abstract works displayed a distinctive look and many of the colours, shapes and textures she explored, would go on to inform her iconic designs many years later.

In 1940, she enrolled at the Cranbrook Academy of Art near Detroit, where she met Charles, who at the time was the head of the department of industrial design. They went on to marry and make groundbreaking contributions to the fields of architecture, furniture design, industrial design and manufacturing.