A blend of international and cross-cultural forces helped shape modern design. As the world became more interconnected and technologically advanced, designers responded in turn—devising new ideas, trends, techniques and products that quickly spread across the Atlantic. In establishing these new visual languages, they took inspiration from avant-garde movements in art and design as well as from the machine aesthetic, creating objects with qualities that express the energy of the new era: efficient, functional, innovative and sleek.
Modern Design Across Bordersat the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami (Silvia Barisione, curator), on view through July 19, explores how design evolved in the years between the two world wars through five spotlight subjects featuring objects (transportation, the 1925 Paris Expo, tea and coffee, plywood, and cocktail culture) drawn mainly from the Wolfsonian collection.
(Images and captions courtesy The Wolfsonian–FIU, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection.)
Exposition Internationale Arts Décoratifs Et Industriels Modernes [International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts], 1925. Charles Loupot (French, 1892–1962), designer. Les Editions de l’Image de France, Paris.Paris 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. Robert Roquin (French, 1900–1980), designer.
Martini Elixir China, 1935 Giuseppe Riccobaldi Del Bava (Italian, 1887–1976), designer.
Tuscan artist and illustrator Virginio Bianchi created this advertising proposal for the Fratelli Branca distillery using exaggerated aerial-perspective principles inspired by contemporary Aeropittura, a group of Futurists artists who aimed to paint the experience of flight from above.Design drawing, Borhegyi Kave Tea Italok [Borhegyi Coffee Tea Beverages], c. 1925. József Amberg (Hungarian, 1890–1972).Poster, Fap’Anis, c. 1927. Henri Delval (French, 1901–1959), designer. Publicité Wall, Paris. This poster promotes Fap’Anis—an anise-based apéritif—as a drink “for connoisseurs.” Poster, Gorizia Raduno Nazionale Motociclistico al Campi di Battaglia [Gorizia National Motorcycle Rally to the Battlefield], 1939. Bapi (Italian), designer Grafiche Chiesa, Udine, Italy. Poster, Magneti Marelli, Licenza Bosch, 1938. Filippo Romoli (Italian, 1901–1969), designer SAIGA, formerly Barabino & Graeve, Genoa. This promotional poster shows three automobiles and a motorcycle racing around an electrified spiral track generated by a Magneti Marelli sparkplug. Catalogue, L’art decoratif et industriel de l’U.R.S.S,[Decorative and Industrial Art of the USSR], 1925 Aleksandr Rodchenko (Russian, 1891–1956), cover designer.
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