Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body - by Kristina Wilson (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The first investigation of the role of how modernist objects were marketed by affirming buyers' racial and gender identities"--

Book Synopsis

The first investigation of how race and gender shaped the presentation and marketing of Modernist decor in postwar America

In the world of interior design, mid-century Modernism has left an indelible mark still seen and felt today in countless open-concept floor plans and spare, geometric furnishings. Yet despite our continued fascination, we rarely consider how this iconic design sensibility was marketed to the diverse audiences of its era. Examining advice manuals, advertisements in Life and Ebony, furniture, art, and more, Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body offers a powerful new look at how codes of race, gender, and identity influenced--and were influenced by--Modern design and shaped its presentation to consumers.

Taking us to the booming suburban landscape of postwar America, Kristina Wilson demonstrates that the ideals defined by popular Modernist furnishings were far from neutral or race-blind. Advertisers offered this aesthetic to White audiences as a solution for keeping dirt and outsiders at bay, an approach that reinforced middle-class White privilege. By contrast, media arenas such as Ebony magazine presented African American readers with an image of Modernism as a style of comfort, security, and social confidence. Wilson shows how etiquette and home decorating manuals served to control women by associating them with the domestic sphere, and she considers how furniture by George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames, as well as smaller-scale decorative accessories, empowered some users, even while constraining others.

A striking counter-narrative to conventional histories of design, Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body unveils fresh perspectives on one of the most distinctive movements in American visual culture.

Review Quotes

"Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body by Kristina Wilson critiques the Fifties through: books/magazines, home/furniture designs, manufactured Kitsch, which consumers purchased or at least lusted after...[The book] is a worthwhile read"---Jean Bundy, Anchorage Press

"[A] nuanced and exciting book. . . . Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body contributes a vital counternarrative to the canon and should be essential reading for historians, educators, designers, and students of design. . . . [I]t will encourage readers to look more closely within and around the frames to see where race, gender, and power inform design, both in history and in our contemporary world."---Jennifer Rittner, Panorama: Journal of the Association of the Historians of American Art

"[Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body] stands apart from many recent books and exhibitions. . . . The book presents readers who are likely familiar with the basics of 'mid-century Modern' with new points of analysis. Wilson shows how much design historians have missed in focusing primarily, if not exclusively, on white designers and white consumers in histories of Modernism."---Bess Williamson, Journal of Design History

"

Wilson's deep knowledge of and scholarship in modern design are evident in this book's precisely articulated argument. . . . Wilson's archival research and careful interrogation of relevant texts and images compels readers to see the powerful messages embedded in marketing materials in a fresh way. . . . Essential reading for students of sociology as well as design.

"-- "Library Journal"

"[An] insightful new book . . . [Mid-Century Modernism and the America Body] points out how many midcentury furnishings and magazine advertisements used demeaning images of women and people of color. The book highlights undeservedly obscure Black designers as well."---Eve M. Kahn, New York Times

"[A] timely and meticulously researched foray into the politics of postwar modernist design. . . . Wilson's provocative study makes resolutely evident the invaluable insights that the objects, processes, and social relations of design offer critical historians of even the most recent past."---Alison J. Clarke, Winterthur Portfolio

"A provocative analysis of race and gender during the Modernist movement in postwar America. Written in accessible language, yet supported by notable scholarly sources, Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body is a compelling read for the design student, mid-century enthusiast, and those interested in historical revisionism...A fascinating and important read for a popular audience."---Erika Balcombe, Spacing Vancouver

"Midcentury modernism isn't merely a style characterized by clean lines, open floor plans, graphic use of color, and overt minimalism. Overtones of the movement are both radical and racial, argues author Kristina Wilson, making heretofore largely unexplored connections between race, gender, and modernist decor. Wilson [is] uniquely qualified to chart the journey."---Katherine Burns Olson, ArchitecturalDigest.com

"Tantalizingly illustrated with over 150 images taken from diverse design sources, Wilson's book offers a beautiful and destabilizing "counter-history" of modernism that forces us to reconsider the sources and motivations behind the decorative revivalisms we hold dear."---Kate Burnett Budzyn, Decorative Arts Trust Bulletin

About the Author

Kristina Wilson is professor of art history at Clark University. She is the author of The Modern Eye and Livable Modernism. Instagram @kristinawilsonartdesign