American Modern, 1925-1940: Design for a New Age

"In the period between the landmark 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Moderns in Paris, which launched the Art Deco movement, and the outbreak of World War II, a pioneer group of designers, architects, and artists forged a new American design aesthetic. Their work moved away from the decorative French mode toward the clean lines and geometric forms of German and Scandinavian functionalism, finally attaining its unmistakably American, undeniably modern style." "American Modern 1925-1940: Deign for a New Age presents more than 125 important works by some fifty designers who led this movement, among them Norman Bel Geddes, Donald Deskey, Henry Dreyfuss, Paul Frankl, William Lescaze, Raymond Loewy, Gilbert Rohde, Eliel Saarinen, Walter Dorwin Teague, Kem Weber, and Russel Wright. Featured are a wide array of objects - furniture, glassware, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, light fixtures, household appliances, and graphic arts - which are distinguished by the absence of traditional ornament, the use of new technologies and materials, and the application of techniques of mass production to create affordable objects for an expanding middle class."--Jacket.… (more)