Richard Weston: MODERNISM. London: Phaidon, 1996. First PB edition, 2001. Quarto. Plain card wrappers. Photo illustrated dust jacket. 240 pp. Fully illustrated in color and black and white. Interior unmarked and very clean. Out-of-print. Glossy jacket lightly rubbed and two price stickers to rear panel, otherwise a very good or better copy.
10 x 11.5 softcover book, with 240 pages fully illustrated with color and black and white photos, illustrations, diagrams, etc. A great book -easily one the best produced on the subject.
Contents are divided into these handy headings:
From the book: "Modernism developed out of a bewildering array of movements and theories ranging from Cubism to Constructivism, abstraction to atonality. Starting out more as an attitude of mind than a conscious style, Modernism was a response to the need for the new and different which was felt in the early 20th century by intellectuals and artists throughout Europe. It became a phenomenon which was familiar to many but remained the preserve of the few, with such giants as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius standing out as prime movers, and much activity centered around the Bauhaus as a focus of ideas in the 1920s. "
"The turning point came in 1932 when it was christened "The International Style" at an exhibition held at MOMA in NYC. Organized by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, this show changed the view of Modernist design and architecture forever, leading after WW II to its adoption as an almost universal style. Favoured initially by large corporations, it spread to speculative office and apartment blocks and appeared throughout the world from Tokyo to Rio de Janerio. In the 1970s, however, the mood changed. Modernism's claims to authority came to b seen as suspect and by the '80s the ideas of deconstruction and Postmodernism occupied centre stage and dominated new design. "
"Today, however, Modernism is once again being reassessed and a neo-modernist trend is well underway. Until now, no book has examined the story of Modernism from its roots in 19th century to the close of the 20th century. This brilliantly written book shows for the first time how Modernist ideas were expressed in visual arts, design, interiors, architecture and the decorative arts. It not only presents the outstanding movement in architecture and design of our century but also offers a genuine insight into how it came about. "
The following modernists are well-repesented in this lavish volume: Alvar Aalto, Herbert Bayer, Peter Behrens, Alexey Brodovitch, Marcel Breuer, Serge Chermayeff, Le Corbusier, Charles Eames, Maxwell Fry, Walter Gropius, Josef Hoffman, Arne Jacobsen, Pierre Jeanneret, Philip Johnson, Gustav Klutsis, El Lissitzky, Herbert Matter, Eric Mendelsohn, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Mies Van Der Rohe, Richard Neutra, JJP Oud, Gerritt Rietveld, Eero and Eliel Saarinen, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc.
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