Modern Hits Home: Mid-Century American Decorative Arts

December 9, 2000–October 22, 2001

This selection of mid-twentieth century American decorative arts from the collection, ranging from kitchenwares to lounge chairs, focuses upon Post World War II design innovations. It explores the civilian adaptation of wartime technology and the solutions offered by designers, including Charles and Ray Eames, and manufacturers such as the Herman Miller Furniture Company and Knoll, showing that machines could be instrumental in producing attractive, affordable, utilitarian objects for the home. Highlights include cereal bowls and other containers by Earl Tupper, Eero Saarinan’s “Grasshopper“ and “Pedestal“ chairs, George Nelson and Associates’ “Marshmallow“ Sofa, and Marcel Breuer’s suite of maple plywood furniture for a Bryn Mawr College dormitory.