STREAMING PROGRAM INFORMATION
- This program is part of our Smithsonian Associates Streaming series.
- Platform: Zoom
- Online registration is required.
- If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Join curator Elizabeth Lay, a regular lecturer on the topics of fashion, textiles, and American furniture, for an image-rich lunchtime lecture series focusing on decorative arts and design topics.
NOTE: Individual sessions are also available for purchase.
JAN 15 Midcentury Modern: How Immigrants Shaped American Design
America experienced a wave of European migrants during the early 20th century, some of whom were escaping war and oppression, while others sought opportunities in a growing democracy. These immigrants included giants of architecture and design: Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Laszlo Moholy Nagy, Eliel and Loja Saarinen, and Joseph and Anni Albers. Each took up teaching positions, inspiring the next generation of designers and architects such as Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, and Jack Lenore Larson. Lay examines how the contributions of their work and teachings changed the face of American design.
JAN 29 Modernism and Industrial Design
The designed object must solve a problem, be compatible with manufacturing, and visually reflect the materials and ideals of the current culture. Industrial design was not a new idea in the 1930s, but the pulsing 1920s had matured into chic modern design with exciting new materials, new uses, and new expressions of lifestyles. An extraordinary generation of industrial designers met the challenge, including Henry Dreyfuss, Raymond Bel Geddes, Belle Kogan, Raymond Loewy, and Mary and Russel Wright. Lay discusses the influences, inspirations, and work of these designers as they reshaped the way Americans lived.
FEB 12 Fashion Influencers of the 20th Century
Long before social media, fashion was inspired by kings and queens, great ladies and grand mistresses. However, the 20th century presented a new breed of professional woman who wielded the power to shape our ideas of style. Lay profiles several of them: Costume designer Edith Head of Paramount Pictures; Eleanor Lambert, the first PR executive for fashion designers; Diana Vreeland, who changed the face of fashion magazines; and Dorothy Shaver, president of Lord & Taylor, the first retail executive to actively promote American designers.
Lay is a textile historian and the curator at Montgomery History’s Beall Dawson House and Stonestreet Museum in Rockville, Maryland. She is an adjunct professor of 20th century fashion at the Smithsonian–Corcoran School of Art and Design at George Washington University.
3 sessions
Photo caption (upper right): Clockwise: Chair by Charles Eames (American History Museum), Model AD-65 Radio (Cooper Hewitt), Au Jardin des Hespérides (In the Garden of the Hesperides), Gazette du Bon Ton (Journal of Good Taste), Vol. 1, No. 11 (Cooper Hewitt)
UPDATED PATRON INFORMATION
- Unless otherwise noted, registration for streaming programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program.
- Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
- Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of each session. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of each session, please email Customer Service for assistance.
- View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.
