Exhibitions

AMERICAN ART DECO: DESIGNING FOR THE PEOPLE, 1918–1939

Frist Art Museum / 919 Broadway October 8, 2021 - January 22, 2022

Appropriately presented within the Frist’s own art deco interior during the museum’s 20th-anniversary year, this exhibition offers an overview of an international style that manifested stateside in decorative arts, fine arts, architecture, and design during the 1920s and 1930s. Featuring approximately 140 objects, American Art Deco explores the movement between 1918 and 1939 and highlights not only the glamour and optimism of the 1920s but also the impact of the Great Depression in the 1930s. An array of works, from a stunning 1925 René Lalique glass vase to a 1930 Ford Model A, will immerse guests in this period of much social, political, and cultural change.

Organized by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, and Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska

Image Credits:
Walter Dorwin Teague, designer (American, 1883–1960); Sparks-Withington Company, manufacturer (Jackson, Michigan, founded 1900). Sparton Bluebird Radio (Model 566), 1934. Wood, glass, and metal, 14 3/4 x 14 5/8 x 6 in. Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver, 2004.1850. Image courtesy of Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver. Photo: Wes Magyar

Manufactured by Ford Motor Company (Detroit, Michigan, founded 1903).
Model A Automobile (detail), 1930. The Dishner Family Collection. Photo: Jerry
Atnip

John Henry Bradley Storrs (American, 1885–1956). Ceres, ca. 1928. Cast terracotta, nickel-plated, 20 1/4 x 4 3/4 x 3 7/8 in. Wichita Art Museum, Museum purchase, Friends of the Wichita Art Museum, 1987.7. © Estate of John Storrs