It is therefore no surprise that the design of television sets, automobiles, and highways, too (as in the cloverleaf interchanges shown on the backdrop), was shaped by the new interest in vital forms, even though their technical requirements neither demanded nor suggested such treatment. Both broke down the boundaries of regionalism, unified diverse populations in the country-and also began the process of creating a more homogeneous American design aesthetic. Indeed, two principal factors in the acceleration of this mobile society were the automobile and the television set, both of which existed before the war but came fully into their own only afterward, with the interstate highway system and the affordable home TV set. The visual language of vital forms expressed the conflicts and complexities inherent in this remarkable period of America’s history.Īs suggested by the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette shown here, the increasing speed of transportation, as well as of communications, helped spread the vital forms vocabulary in the postwar years. In this era, the country witnessed many cataclysmic events, from World War II-with the Holocaust and the atomic bomb-to postwar McCarthyism and the Cold War, yet also saw a burst of optimism with the prosperity, and the growing consumerism, of the 1950s. The language of vital forms expressed the dualities of its times: the hopes and fears, the dreams and nightmares, of the middle years of the twentieth century were reflected in organic forms that were highly mutable, seemingly as changeable as life itself. The exhibition features paintings, sculpture, photography, architecture, ceramics, fashion, and graphic and industrial design.Įvery period has its own visual vocabulary, which it partly borrows from the past and partly invents to meet new needs. “Vital forms” are shapes inspired by nature innovative artists and designers used them in the 1940s and 1950s to evoke living entities, ranging from amoebas and plant life to the human figure. This automobile serves to introduce an exhibition on view on the fourth floor, Vital Forms: American Art and Design in the Atomic Age, 1940–1960. Vital Forms: American Art and Design in the Atomic Age, 1940–1960.© Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonĮarrings, designed by Wendy Ramshaw and David Watkins, 1966 – 7, England. Optik Art Jewellery, pair of earrings, designed by Wendy Ramshaw and David Watkins, 1963 – 5, England. Ornament for clothes or body, Wendy Ramshaw and David Watkins, 1966 – 7, Museum no. Target, ring, designed by Wendy Ramshaw and David Watkins, 1963, England. Married in 1962 after they met at Reading University, the pair collaborated on their first project the following year: 'Optik', a series of bold, Op Art-inspired pieces made from screen-printed Perspex. Combining backgrounds in industrial design and fine art, Ramshaw and Watkins were well placed to exploit this new landscape. Their idiosyncratic work suited the times: in the early 1960s, the often rather formal stone-set jewellery on offer in the first half of the century began to be superseded by a wide variety of styles, many made from plastic. Jewellery designers Wendy Ramshaw and David Watkins made their first technically innovative pieces in the 1960s. Jewellery by Wendy Ramshaw and David Watkins RIP, glasses, Oliver Goldsmith Eyewear, 1967, England. Koko, sunglasses, Oliver Goldsmith Eyewear, about 1960, England. Oliver Goldsmith courted publicity by creating deliberately more unusual frames, but the firm could also design for the mass market: its chunky RIP frame became one of the decade's bestselling looks.įuz, sunglasses, Oliver Goldsmith Eyewear, 1964, England. What changed in the following decade was how big and bold frames became – Oliver Goldsmith's 'TV set' and 'giant O' designs were a memorable expression of the 1960s' love affair with exaggerated Modernism. At the beginning of the 1960s, the popularity of stand-out eyewear was well established, having been influenced by the glamour of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and other Hollywood stars wearing 'shades'. They supplied eyewear to most of the decade's cultural icons, including Audrey Hepburn, Michael Caine, Jackie Onassis and Peter Sellars their sunglasses were also the first to appear in the pages of Vogue. Leading eyewear company Oliver Goldsmith was one of the first to recognise the fashion potential of glasses and sunglasses. Glasses and sunglasses by Oliver Goldsmith
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