Correspondence spans the years 1922 until 1995 and includes extensive letters between Eyre and her husband Pierre, her lover Paolo Casagrande, and her daughter Anne Strong (Bikou). Other notable correspondents include Louis Aragon, Natalie Barney, Betsy Fahlman, Consuelo Ford, Alexander Lenard, and Evelyn Wyld. Much of the correspondence is personal in nature, however a folder of correspondence between Eyre and her literary editors is found at the end of the series.
Eyre de Lanux's outgoing correspondence spans 1918 to 1955 and consists mainly of her letters to husband Pierre and lover Paolo Casagrande (probably letters she did not mail.) The most complete is the correspondence between Eyre and Pierre which dates from the beginning of their courtship in New York in 1918 and ends with Pierre s death. Often separated, they were in frequent contact. During the years Pierre worked in Geneva as Director of the Paris Office for the League of Nations, from 1923 to 1933, he wrote to her regularly. Eyre's letters to Pierre include those written during her stay in the United States in 1927-28. These letters offer some of the clearest expressions of her desire to make a living in the field of the decorative arts. Pierre and Eyre's correspondence is written in both French and English.
Scattered letters are from friends and lovers, including poet James Merrill, Mr. and Mrs. Archibald MacLeish, lover and design collaborator Evelyn Wyld, lover Natalie Barney, writer and lover Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, and poet and lover Louis Aragon.
Arrangement note:
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Collection Restrictions:
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Collection Rights:
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Collection Citation:
Eyre de Lanux papers, 1865-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
