The papers of Eyre de Lanux document the life of artist, writer, and furniture designer Eyre de Lanux (1894-1996), who was active in Paris from 1918 to 1961 and thereafter in New York. The papers span the dates 1914 to 1992, but the bulk of the collection concerns the period 1918 to 1988. Included are diaries; correspondence; writings; research materials; personal papers; art works; and the library of Eyre and Pierre de Lanux.
Series I contains 64 volumes of diaries spanning the years 1923 to 1988. There are no diaries for the period 1927 to 1947, with the exception of two small notebooks (1938, 1945). The diaries resume in 1948, with Eyre’s arrival in Rome, and continue, with multiple volumes for most years, until the late 1980s when her eyes failed ... The diaries for her early years in Paris, from 1923 to 1926, are immensely detailed, containing verbatim transcriptions of recent conversations. The diaries can also be explicit in describing her encounters with her lovers of the period: Consuelo Urisarri, Natalie Barney, Louis Aragon, and Pierre Drieu La Rochelle.
Eyre’s correspondence with her lover and collaborator Evelyn Wyld dates from 1938, five years after the closing of their gallery in Cannes. Wyld, writing from her home at La Bastide in southern France, occasionally refers to one of her guests as Betty. This is likely to be Betty Parsons, who frequently vacationed in France. Only three letters survive from Natalie Barney (1923, 1946, 1965), indicating the longevity of her friendship with Eyre. The 1923 letter was written during their love affair.
Contact Information:
Reference Dept.
Archives of American Art
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C. 20560
email aaaemref@aaa.si.edu
http://www.si.edu/artarchives
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