Ray Eames Letter to Alexander Girard

In 1948, Ray Eames sent this letter to her close friend and fellow designer Alexander Girard. On its face, it’s a personal note⁠—warm, informal, written between people who clearly knew one another well. But almost immediately, it becomes something more: a beautiful visual composition that Girard ultimately framed and displayed in his home.

Across the envelope and pages, Ray builds the piece with color, cut shapes, and layered materials. There’s a sense of play, but also control⁠—everything placed with care. It doesn’t feel decorated. It feels constructed. As if even here, in something as ordinary as a thank-you note, the instinct to make something considered and complete was unavoidable.

This isn’t formal correspondence. It’s affectionate, familiar, full of ease. The closeness between them is evident not only in what’s being said, but in the care and attention given to how it is expressed. It’s not typical that one frames a personal letter. In this case, however, Ray made something worth looking at again and again.

That Girard kept it on display for the rest of his life says as much about him as it does about Ray. It reflects a shared belief of the Eames idea that there shouldn’t be a boundary between art and life⁠—or between design and the everyday.

Gift of William Nathan.