An American Style: Global Sources for New York Textile and Fashion Design, 1915-1928 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780300199437)

In 1915 the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) embarked upon a mission to energize the American textile industry. Curators sought to innovate a distinctly "American" design idiom drawing on a more universal "primitive" language. Ethnographic objects were included in study rooms; designers gained access to storage rooms; and museum artifacts were loaned to design houses and department stores. In order to attract designers and reluctant manufacturers, who quickly responded, collections were supplemented with specimens including fur garments from Siberia, Persian costumes, and Javanese textiles. This book positions the project at the AMNH in the broader narrative of early 20th-century design education in New York, which includes the roles of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Newark Museum.

Distributed for the Bard Graduate Center, New York

Exhibition Schedule:

Bard Graduate Center
(09/27/13-02/19/14)

Author: Ann Marguerite Tartsinis
ISBN-10: 0300199430
ISBN-13: 9780300199437
Publisher: Bard Graduate Center
Language: English
Published: 10/15/2013
Pages: 144
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.82lbs
Size: 8.84h x 7.00w x 0.54d