Bernard-Albin Gras

Bernard-Albin Gras was a French engineer, born on 5 December 1886 in Saint-Raphaël and died on 26 February 1943 in Montreal. According to French Wikipedia, his father was a draughtsman, and as an engineer Gras filed several patents, none…

Biography

Background

Bernard-Albin Gras was a French engineer, born on 5 December 1886 in Saint-Raphaël and died on 26 February 1943 in Montreal. According to French Wikipedia, his father was a draughtsman, and as an engineer Gras filed several patents, none of which matched the success of his lamp.

Signature Style

In 1921 Gras created a range of lamps for industry and design offices, driven — Wikipedia notes — by the wish to improve working conditions with precise, mobile lighting free of electrocution risk. The Gras lamp is remarkable for its ergonomics and the simplicity of its mechanics — no screws, no welding — which give it exceptional robustness. DCW éditions calls him one of the first designers of the 20th century: he added an original functional aesthetic, particularly in the design of the bases and connecting rods.

Notable Works

Lampe Gras range (1921): desk models such as the N°205 and N°201, wall, floor and ceiling versions
Gras lamps with clamp, sliding and pivoting mounts
The lamp won a gold medal at the Concours Lépine (French Wikipedia)

Legacy

Le Corbusier adopted the Gras lamps in his agency and in numerous projects; Robert Mallet-Stevens, Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, Eileen Gray, Sonia Delaunay and Georges Braque followed. From 1927 the Ravel company produced the lamps under Gras's patent until 1968. Today they are collected worldwide — particularly in France, the United States and Japan — several models are in the collections of the Centre Pompidou and the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, and DCW éditions holds exclusive rights to re-edit the range.