Here on the cusp of the year 2020, it’s hard for us fans of all things midcentury not to get caught in a wave of retrospective nostalgia. As if the transition from 1999 to 2000 wasn’t forward-looking enough at the time, in my mind the year 2020 is a thing of great futuristic speculation. Novels, movies, even episodes of The Simpsons have all concocted fantastical plotlines revolving around this fateful year. And here we are: See how far we’ve come, and what shall we dream up next?
Wasn’t it with this same spirit that innovators and creators of the postwar era looked ahead to the latter half of their century? Asking themselves the same questions, bubbling with this same hopeful creativity and brazen curiosity? They must have. We have George Nelson’s Bubble lamp, Hans Wegner’s Halyard chair and Pierre Koenig’s case study houses as a few pieces of evidence.
We also have Florence Knoll, Lucienne Day, Greta Grossman and Eileen Gray. They are just some of the marvelous women of the midcentury contributing to the canon of iconic modern design. I’m particularly proud of the opportunity to shine a light on the oft forgotten female movers and shakers in this period, who’ve given us everything from furniture to architecture and graphic design that are emblematic of the era.