Birth of the cool : California art, design, and culture at midcentury

Author(s)

    • Boyd, Michael
    • Brouwer, Anna
    • Trent, Mary
    • Benjamin, Karl
    • Feitelson, Loser
    • McLaughlin, John
    • Orange County Museum of Art (Calif.)

Bibliographic Information

Birth of the cool : California art, design, and culture at midcentury

Elizabeth Armstrong ; with essays by Michael Boyd ... [et al.] ; with contributions by Anna Brouwer, Mary Trent

Orange County Museum of Art , Prestel, c2007

Other Title

California art, design, and culture at midcentury

Available at  / 3 libraries

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Note

Exhibition catalogue

Catalog of an exhibition held at Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California, October 7, 2007-January 6, 2008; Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, February 15-April 13, 2008; Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California, May 18-August 17, 2008; The Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, February 27-May 31, 2009

Exhibitors: Karl Benjamin, Loser Feitelson, John McLaughlin ... [et al.]

Includes bibliographical references (p.290-[293]) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

1950s West Coast style exuded "cool" from the smooth, hypnotic strains of a Miles Davis riff; Richard Neutra's elegant, modernist residences; the hard-edged paintings of Helen Lundeberg and Karl Benjamin. This richly illustrated volume casts a fresh eye on Fifties West Coast style with illuminating commentary from a variety of perspectives. Designed to echo the period it celebrates, this catalogue explores modernist innovations in art, architecture, design, film and music. Prominent cultural critics write on an array of topics - Thomas Hine about the culture of cool; Elizabeth Smith on domestic aspects of the period's architecture; Francis Colpitt on hard-edged abstract painting; Dave Hickey on jazz; Bruce Jenkins on the crossover between animation and experimental film. The result is a multi-faceted exploration of the 1950s West Coast zeitgeist in all its colour, creativity, and cool.

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