AMERICA GOES MODERN

Transcription

1 AMERICA GOES MODERN

2 Burlington Zephyr electric train model, Western Coil & Electric Company, about Cast aluminum, plastic, electrical components x 10.2 x 99.7 cm. Gift of Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf. America Goes Modern: Curator Nonie Gadsden Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Art of the Americas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Number of objects Approximately 40 Contact Traveling Exhibitions Phone: travelingexhibitions@mfa.org Web:

3 Design attributed to Paul Ferher and George F. Adomaitis for Lawson Time Inc., Zephyr clock, Brass, copper, plastic (probably celluloid), glass; clock movement. 9.5 x 21.6 x 7.9 cm. The John Axelrod Collection. During the first half of the 20th century, and especially after the conclusion of the First World War, every industrialized society grappled with what it meant to be modern. In the United States, the speed of modern life, accelerated by the invention of cars, airplanes, electric lighting, telephones, mass-media marketing, and more, led to a fundamental shift in how people lived their lives and what many chose to live with. Modern art and design celebrated elements of this new American lifestyle, including skyscraper living, cocktail parties, speedy transportation, and technological innovation, becoming part of American everyday life in the process. The modern look came to represent American hopes, dreams, and fantasies. Modern design retained these optimistic connotations, and even increased in popularity, after the 1929 stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The creative use of technology; novel, less-expensive materials; innovation and adaptation all hallmarks of American modern design were heralded as the way to a better, stronger future. The exhibition explores this new American lifestyle and how it inspired an American style of modern design. American skyscraper architecture, advances in transportation, the spread of electricity, and other influential elements of modern life are explored through the iconic objects they inspired. Examined together, these objects offer further insight into the social, cultural, technological, political, and economic world in which they were made and used. Drawing heavily, but not exclusively, upon the John Axelrod Collection, America Goes Modern features a range of household furnishings, including furniture, ceramics, metalware, textiles, and glass, as well as car models, cameras, and other works from the leading designers of the era, including Paul Frankl, Donald Deskey, Kem Weber, and Gilbert Rohde, to name just a few. Key objects include Frankl s Skyscraper desk and bookcase, Harley Earl s design model for the General Motors 1934 LaSalle, and Walter Dorwin Teague s Sparton Bluebird radio. A publication will accompany the exhibition. (2020) Final object checklist pending approval.

4 Designed by Erik Magnussen for Gorham Manufacturing Company, The Modern American cocktail service, Silver. 13 x 8.6 cm. The John Axelrod Collection.

5 Designed by Ruth and William Gerth for Chase Brass & Copper Company, Four Tube Bud Holder, about Chromium-plated metal x 8.9 cm. Gift of Flavia Perugini in honor of Eleni Dunbar.

6 Designed by Paul Theodore Frankl, Skyscraper desk and bookcase, about Walnut, paint, brass handles, electrical wiring, and light bulb x x 54 cm. The John Axelrod Collection.

7 Designed by Walter Dorwin Teague for Sparton Corporation, Sparton Bluebird radio, Mirrored glass, metal, wood, electrical components x 10.8 cm. The John Axelrod Collection.

8 Designed by Peter Müller-Munk for Revere Copper and Brass Co., Normandie pitcher, Chromium-plated brass x 8.26 x 25.4 cm. The John Axelrod Collection.

9 Manning Bowman Company, Mantel clock K906, about Aranium-plated metal and plastic x 20.3 x 10.2 cm. Gift of J. Parker Prindle Jr.

10 Designed by Harley J. Earl for General Motors, 1934 LaSalle design model, about Mahogany, painted black, chrome-plated metal, glass x 45.7 x cm. Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection.

11 Designed by Kem (Karl Emanuel Martin) Weber for Air Line Furniture Company, Air Line chair, Birch, ash, metal, Naugahyde (imitation leather) x x 63.5 cm. The John Axelrod Collection.

12 Designed by Donald Deskey for Deskey-Vollmer Inc., Desk lamp, Chrome-plated metal, painted wood, green felt, electrical components x 26 x 22.2 cm. The John Axelrod Collection.

13 Traveling Exhibitions Contact us Phone: Web: All images copyright Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, unless otherwise noted Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Final object checklist pending approval.