List No. 080

A LOVE LIST

Eero Saarinen

1954

Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen was a man most notably responsible for designing, amongst other stunning buildings and structures, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri – a seemingly gravity-defying steel archway which is the largest of its kind on earth. In 1954, Saarinen married art critic Aline Bernstein Louchheim; soon after the wedding, he wrote her a list.

I — FIRST I RECOGNIZED THAT YOU WERE VERY CLEVER

II — THAT YOU WERE VERY HANSOME

III — THAT YOU WERE PERCEPTIVE

IV — THAT YOU WERE ENTHUSIASIC.

V — THAT YOU WERE GENEROUS.

VI — THAT YOU WERE BEAUTIFUL

VII — THAT YOU WERE TERRIBLY WELL ORGANIZED

VIII — THAT YOU WERE FANTASTICALLY EFFICIENT

IX — THAT YOU DRESS VERY VERY WELL

IIIA — THAT YOU HAVE A MARVELOUS SENSE OF HUMOR

X — THAT YOU HAVE A VERY VERY BEATIFUL BODY.

XI — THAT YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLY GENEROUS TO ME.

XII — THAT THE MORE ONE DIGS THE FOUNDATIONS THE MORE AND MORE ONE FINDS THE SOLIDEST OF GRANIT FOR YOU AND I TO BUILD A LIFE TOGETHER UPON (I KNOW THIS IS NOT A GOOD SENTENCE)