Art / Museum Exhibits
Museum of the City of New York
The American Style: Colonial Revival in the Modern Metropolis
June 14 through November 6, 2011
http://www.mcny.org/exhibitions/future/The-American-Style.html
New York City—the ultimate modern metropolis, filled with new arrivals, endlessly changing and rebuilding itself in a heedless rush to the future—would seem unlikely ground for anything evoking the past. Yet, surprisingly, this most up-to-date city has long been home to some of the world’s great revivalist styles of architecture and design. None has been more resonant than the Colonial Revival, which powerfully connects the city to its past. The style is instantly recognizable: red brick walls, limestone trim, multipane windows with shutters. New York architects designed museums, apartment buildings, churches, private clubs, and residences throughout the city and its suburbs in the style; designers and manufacturers created popular lines of furnishings; and museums and civic organizations promoted the style through exhibitions and events.
The American Style: Colonial Revival and the Modern Metropolis looks at this style from the end of the 19th century through today and examines the works of master architects such as McKim, Mead & White and Delano & Aldrich and companies such as Tiffany’s. The show features photographs, furnishings, and an array of decorative arts, which explore this enduring American style.
The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same title, written by Donald Albrecht and Thomas Mellins, and co-published by the Museum of the City of New York and The Monacelli Press.