A Modern World; American Design from the Yale University Art Gallery, 1920-1950

The Yale University Art Gallery is home to an amazing collection of American decorative arts. A Modern Worldprovides a comprehensive look at the Gallery's holdings of modernist design made in America or for the American market. The catalogue features a mix of high-style decorative arts, industrial design, and everyday objects, including furniture by Paul T. Frankl, handwrought sterling silver, Ruth Reeves textiles, mass-produced Revere housewares, and costume jewelry. The authors consider modernism broadly, establishing a context for the objects within larger international developments in painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and architecture. Entries are arranged in a series of chronological, thematic groups, offering new and compelling juxtapositions. Each group is introduced by an essay that presents the social, ideological, and aesthetic themes that unify the objects.

John Stuart Gordon is Benjamin Attmore Hewitt Assistant Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Yale University Art Gallery. Sandy Isenstadt is associate professor of the history of modern architecture, University of Delaware. Keeley Orgeman, Emily M. Orr, and Diane C. Wright are Marcia Brady Tucker Fellows at the Yale University Art Gallery. Pan Wendt is a Ph.D. candidate in the history of art, Yale University. Justin Woo is a graphic designer based in Chicago.