Arts & Entertainment

Blast to the past at MFAH

By Uruj Perwaiz
The Daily Cougar

Whether itis Ikea or Roche Bobois, contemporary furniture is a popular hit with the economically challenged as well as high society. Not to mention classic-contemporary furniture, which is classic enough to last for generations to come but still has a contemporary feel. 

Photo courtesy of MFAH

A Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exhibition titled American Modern: 1920s and i30s Design features about two dozen works depicting American classic-contemporary designs of the 1920s and i30s. It includes architecture, home furnishings, utilitarian products and transportation and will be on view through July 20 in the Caroline Wiess Law Building.

In the early i20s, American designers thought it was trendy to use the elegant and refined art deco style and the visual impact of the modern city and skyscrapers. Everyone wanted a unique look in their residences, and this meant escaping the traditional style of old-English furniture.

A couple of the exhibitionis most impressive pieces are a chair, a vanity and a cocktail set. 

The chair was designed for the Airline Chair Co. by Karl Emanuel Martin "Kem" Weber in 1934. The "Airline" chair was one of 300 produced for the Walt Disney Companyis movie projection room. Critics praised the chair, but it was never put into production.

The Herman Miller Furniture Company hired designer Gilbert Rhode to create a vanity. He took a trip to France in 1927 and used the images from his trip to create "Vanity, Model 3920," which features three floating mirrors playfully added above the vanity. The designer used East India rosewood, sequoia burl, chromed metal, leather, Plexiglas, brass and glass to make the piece.

Designer Norman Bel Geddes incorporated the modern skyscrapers of New York into "Manhattan Cocktail Set." He created this piece in 1937; it was manufactured by Revere Copper and Brass Company. The set has a tower-like shaker with matching glasses and a streamlined tray in chrome-plated brass.

Another particularly delightful treasure in the exhibit is a cigar humidor from Tiffany & Co. The sterling silver "Cigar Humidor" was commissioned in 1925 as a 50th birthday present for Carl M. Loeb, the president of the American Metal Company. 

Other bits and pieces in the show include sterling silver hollowware and flatware, coffee tables, a clock, books, pottery, glass and other industrially made objects for the home.

American Modern: 1920s and i30s Design

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Caroline Wiess Law Building

1001 Bissonnet St. 

The verdict: The objectsi clean lines and shapes make this exhibit a must-see.

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