Decades in Glass: The ‘50s
Curated by Tina Oldknow
Curator of Modern Glass

The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning NY
www.cmog.org
September 22, 2003 - February 15, 2004

Also traveled to:
The Steuben Gallery, New York, NY
June 19 to October 3, 2004

Excerpt from exhibition text:

Spurred by the booming economy generated after the close of the Second World War, the decade of the 1950s was an intensely creative one for design. The Modernist style gained increasing acceptance in Europe and America , emphasizing form, function, modern materials, and the rejection of ornament. Prior to 1939, Modernism and the avant-garde were the domain of the upper class elite, but post war modernism was democratized, industrialized and humanized – and art for the people. Ideas that had once been startling and revolutionary now became the foundation of an internationally accepted design philosophy.

Design in the 1950s emphasized flexibility, efficiency, practicality and affordability. Designers in the United States , Italy , and Scandinavia promoted a new, organic form of Modernism. Household objects that reflected this organic approach rejected hard-edged, machine-inspired forms in favor of curving abstract forms inspired by the human body and the natural world. A more austere, neo-functionalist style was favored by British and German designers.

Italian, Scandinavian, and Czech designers, in particular, revitalized and redefined the shape, look, and the feel of glass. Color and expressiveness were the hallmarks of American and Italian glass designs. Scandinavian and Czech design, although colorful, presented a more restrained, intellectual aesthetic.

United States

American design in the 1950s, like Italian and Scandinavian design, was characterized by an organic, modernist approach. However, unlike Italy and Scandinavia whose craft traditions had remained strong, the United States did not experience much merging of craft and industry. Individual designer-craftsmen such as Maurice Heaton, explored innovative uses for glass, ceramics, wood, metal, and enamels in their studios, producing works on a small scale.

Glass by Heaton, Wayne Dale Husted for Blenko, George Sakier for Fostoria , and Russel Wright for Imperial and Old Morgantown Glass will be shown in the exhibition.