Alexander Girard's Imagined Worlds - by Monica Obniski & Laura Addison (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The folk art and toy collections of midcentury interior architect and designer Alexander Girard and their display in interiors and exhibitions, including unpublished photographs of his final designed collection environment.

Alexander Girard's Imagined Worlds examines a modern design luminary whose collection of global folk art and vernacular forms informed his expansive design practice. The book centers the Museum of International Folk Art, its displays and archival collections, and Girard's Santa Fe years as a locus for the designer-collector's wide-ranging practices.

From his home and studio in Santa Fe, Alexander Girard's work had international reach and profoundly impacted modern design. Lavishly illustrated and featuring thoughtful essays, this book explores new facets of Girard's design production and folk art collection, underscoring the inseparability of the two, and culminating in his exhibition Multiple Visions: A Common Bond at the Museum of International Folk Art. By reflecting on selected displays, providing cultural context, and foregrounding artists and traditions, this publication offers new ways of approaching Girard's legacy.

About the Author

Monica Obniski is a curator and writer whose work engages social issues and is rooted in architecture and design history. She wrote a dissertation about Girard as a designer at the University of Illinois Chicago. Laura Addison is curator of North American & European collections at the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, where she works extensively with the Girard exhibition Multiple Visions.