Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter GropiusOne of the most widely read books on modern design, Nikolaus Pevsner’s landmark work today remains as stimulating as it was when first published in 1936. This expanded edition of Pioneers of Modern Design provides Pevsner’s original text along with significant new and updated information, enhancing Pevsner’s illuminating account of the roots of Modernism. The book now offers many beautiful color illustrations; biographies and bibliographies of all major figures; illustrated short essays on key themes, movements, and individuals; a critique of Pevsner’s analysis from today’s perspective; examples of works after 1914 (where the original study ended); a biography detailing Pevsner’s life and achievements; and much more. Pevsner saw Modernism as a synthesis of three main sources: William Morris and his followers, the work of nineteenth-century engineers, and Art Nouveau. The author considers the role of these sources in the work of early Modernists and looks at such masters of the movement as C.F.A. Voysey and Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Britain, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright in America, and Adolf Loos and Otto Wagner in Vienna. The account concludes with a discussion of the radical break with the past represented by the design work of Walter Gropius and his future Bauhaus colleagues. |
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Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius Nikolaus Pevsner Limited preview - 1991 |
Common terms and phrases
aesthetic architects Architectural Review Art Nouveau artists Arts and Crafts Ashbee Bauhaus Beardsley Behrens Berlage Berlin Bridge Brussels building built cast-iron Cézanne Charles Rennie Mackintosh Chicago churches colour concrete Corbusier Crane curves Dekorative Kunst Deutscher Werkbund early Eiffel engineer England English Exhibition Expressionism façade factory flat forms France Frank Lloyd Wright furniture Gallé Garnier Gaudí Gauguin German Glasgow glass Gogh Gothic Gropius Guild handicraft Horta Ibid illustrated Impressionist industrial influence inspiration interior iron Josef Hoffmann Jugendstil l'art later Le Corbusier London Loos Louis Sullivan machine Mackintosh Mackmurdo's Madsen Matthew Digby Wyatt medieval Modern Movement Morris's motifs Museum Muthesius nineteenth century opposite ornament painter painting Palace Paris Pevsner pioneers posters Pugin Renaissance revival roofs Ruskin Sant'Elia School Sezession skyscraper Studio style Sullivan Tiffany Toorop twentieth century Velde Velde's Victorian Vienna Voysey Voysey's wallpapers walls Walter Gropius Werkbund Whistler William Morris