Mid Century Modernism And The American Body

Download or read book Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body written by Kristina Wilson and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first investigation of how race and gender shaped the presentation and marketing of Modernist decor in postwar America In the world of interior design, mid-century Modernism has left an indelible mark still seen and felt today in countless open-concept floor plans and spare, geometric furnishings. Yet despite our continued fascination, we rarely consider how this iconic design sensibility was marketed to the diverse audiences of its era. Examining advice manuals, advertisements in Life and Ebony, furniture, art, and more, Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body offers a powerful new look at how codes of race, gender, and identity influenced—and were influenced by—Modern design and shaped its presentation to consumers. Taking us to the booming suburban landscape of postwar America, Kristina Wilson demonstrates that the ideals defined by popular Modernist furnishings were far from neutral or race-blind. Advertisers offered this aesthetic to White audiences as a solution for keeping dirt and outsiders at bay, an approach that reinforced middle-class White privilege. By contrast, media arenas such as Ebony magazine presented African American readers with an image of Modernism as a style of comfort, security, and social confidence. Wilson shows how etiquette and home decorating manuals served to control women by associating them with the domestic sphere, and she considers how furniture by George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames, as well as smaller-scale decorative accessories, empowered some users, even while constraining others. A striking counter-narrative to conventional histories of design, Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body unveils fresh perspectives on one of the most distinctive movements in American visual culture.

Download or read book Classic Modern written by Deborah Dietsch and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2000 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no hotter style today than the cooler than cool work of modern designers and architects from the 1940s and 50s. Endlessly inventive and emminently livable, mid-century modernism has an optimism and confidence born of postwar abundance, and a spirited elegance that appeals powerfully fifty years later. In CLASSIC MODERN, design expert Deborah Dietsch introduces readers to the basic tenets of modern design and explains how the simple yet inspired forms typical of this style were so readily disseminated into mainstream American culture. Filled throughout with enticing examples of mid-century pieces from such timeless designers as Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Arne Jacobsen, and George Nelson, this beautiful book recaptures the excitement of the period's brilliant designs.

Download or read book Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body written by Kristina Wilson and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The first investigation of the role of how modernist objects were marketed by affirming buyers' racial and gender identities"--

Download or read book American Modernism written by R. Roger Remington and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents an account of a key period in American graphic design as it manifested itself in various media, covering major historical influences and significant works.

Download or read book Crystal and Arabesque written by Jonathan Massey and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2009 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first biography of Claude Bragdon, an early and unique, but often overlooked, advocate of architectural modernism.

Download or read book Modernist America written by Richard Pells and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2011-03-29 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America's global cultural impact is largely seen as one-sided, with critics claiming that it has undermined other countries' languages and traditions. But contrary to popular belief, the cultural relationship between the United States and the world has been reciprocal, says Richard Pells. The United States not only plays a large role in shaping international entertainment and tastes, it is also a consumer of foreign intellectual and artistic influences.Pells reveals how the American artists, novelists, composers, jazz musicians, and filmmakers who were part of the Modernist movement were greatly influenced by outside ideas and techniques. People across the globe found familiarities in American entertainment, resulting in a universal culture that has dominated the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and fulfilled the aim of the Modernist movement--to make the modern world seem more intelligible."Modernist America" brilliantly explains why George Gershwin's music, Cole Porter's lyrics, Jackson Pollock's paintings, Bob Fosse's choreography, Marlon Brando's acting, and Orson Welles's storytelling were so influential, and why these and other artists and entertainers simultaneously represent both an American and a modern global culture.

Download or read book Cape Cod Modern written by Peter McMahon and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the summer of 1937, Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, rented a house on Planting Island, near the base of Cape Cod. Thus began a chapter in the history of modern architecture that has never been told _until now. The area was a hotbed of intellectual currents from New York, Boston, Cambridge and the country's top schools of architecture and design. Avant-garde homes began to appear in the woods and on the dunes; by the 1970s, there were about 100 modern houses of interest here.