Shaping Modernity 1880–1980
Ongoing
Architecture and Design Galleries, third floor
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.
Architecture and Design Collection Exhibitions are made possible by Hyundai Card Company.
Image: Charles Rennie Mackintosh (British, 1868–1928) and Margaret Macdonald (British, 1865–1933). Design for a Fireplace Wall, interior elevation of drawing room at 3 Lilybank Terrace, Glasgow. 1901. Pencil and watercolor on paper. 11 1/2 x 10 3/4" (29.2 x 27.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Joseph H. Heil, by exchange, 2009.