Modernism

Magazine Antiques, April, 2006 by Miriam Kramer

Modernism had its origins in the Bauhaus, which was founded in Weimar, Germany, by Walter Gropius in 1919. There designers and architects worked separately and together to unite the creative arts and to apply the technology of mass production. The school was forced to shut in 1933, and its principals spread the doctrine to other parts of Europe as well as to the United States.

Gropius and his colleagues rejected historical styles and applied ornament. Abstraction became as important to their work as classicism and realism had been in previous centuries. Function and utility were paramount, as was a utopian desire for a healthier, more rational, and more efficient life. At this time, for example, the first fitted kitchen was created. Chairs took on great importance, and the designs of some, such as Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona chair, made in the quarter-century of modernism's heyday, remain classics.

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Continuing a series of exhibitions devoted to design movements, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has devised Modernism: Designing a New World, 1914-1939. On view until July 23, its curator is Christopher Wilk and its sponsor is the furniture and furnishings store Habitat. The accompanying catalogue, edited by Wilk, is distributed in North America by Harry N. Abrams. After its London showing, the exhibition will be seen at MARTa Herford in Germany from September 16 until January 7, 2007.