Recent acquisitions are featured in a reinstallation of highlights from the design collection covering a century of dramatic aesthetic and technological innovation—from the late 19th to late 20th centuries. Diverse types of modern design representing various geographic origins and styles are organized around period-specific themes: The International New Art 1880–1918; Metal and Glass 1920s–1950s; and Out of the Box: Italy 1960s–1980s. The installation reveals new acquisitions, including an interior design for a fireplace wall (1901) by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald; a fragment of an exterior relief frieze from the Susan Lawrence Dana House in Springfield, Illinois (1902–04), by Frank Lloyd Wright; a modernist Czechoslovak table lamp (c. 1930) by Miroslav Prokop; a Silver Streak Iron (c. 1946) manufactured by Saunders Corporation; and a Shiva vase (1973) by Ettore Sottsass. Another eye-catching highlight is the large purple Tuttuno all-in-one living environment (1971) by Internotredici Associati, displayed for the first time at the Museum since the landmark exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape (1972).
Organized by Juliet Kinchin, Curator, and Aidan O’Connor, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design.
