Partners in Design
Alfred H. Barr Jr. and Philip Johnson
- Hardcover
232 pages
- Release Date
27 October 2015
Summary
“In the 1920s and 1930s a new aesthetic emerged in the United States, based on the principles of the Bauhaus in Germany- rational, functional design devoid of ornament and without reference to historical styles. Alfred H. Barr Jr., founding director of the Museum of Modern Art, and Philip Johnson, director of its architecture department, were the leading proponents of the modern approach. Using as their laboratories both MoMA and their own apartments in New York, Barr and Johnson experiment…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781580934336 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1580934331 |
| Author: | David A. Hanks, Donald Albrecht, Barry Bergdoll, Juliet Kinchin |
| Publisher: | Monacelli Press |
| Imprint: | Monacelli Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 232 |
| Release Date: | 27 October 2015 |
| Weight: | 1.34kg |
| Dimensions: | 287mm x 196mm x 22mm |
What They're Saying
Critics Review
‘Twentieth-century modernism is personalized in Partners in Design, a spin-off from an exhibition concentrating on the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art and the architect Philip Johnson, who designed the AT&T (now Sony) Building and the Kennedy Memorial in Dallas. The essays cover architecture, the furniture commissioned to fill these iconic buildings, the graphic material that advertised them, and the museum shows and books that publicized them. A fascinating subject.’ - The Wall Street Journal
‘This sleek and accessible catalogue focuses on the historic relationship between Alfred Barr Jr., founding director of the Museum of Modern Art, and Philip Johnson, the well-to-do Harvard grad he selected in 1929 to lead the museum’s department of architecture and design. Barr and Johnson helped make the nondecorative functionalist aesthetics of Germany’s Bauhaus palatable to mainstream Americans. They developed novel, ambitious, yet popular exhibitions that advanced the art of the everyday object and encouraged the public to seek it out. The book is full of crisp, cool examples of relevant objects, some from the exhibitions or the personal collections of Barr or Johnson… . cake pans, lamps, tables, Josef Hartwig’s chess set of abstract geometric shapes, and wickedly handsome chairs designed by Mies van der Rohe. The slick design and layout of the book clearly take a cue from its subjects.’ - Publishers Weekly
About The Author
David A. Hanks
“David A. Hanks is a design historian and curator of the Liliane and David M. Stewart Program for Modern Design in Montreal. His previous books include American Streamlined Design and Louis Comfort Tiffany- Treasures from the Driehaus Collection. Donald Albrecht is curator of architecture and design at the Museum of the City of New York. Barry Bergdoll is the Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History at Columbia University and the Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art. Juliet Kinchin is a curator of architecture and design at MoMA.”
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