This lecture explores the varied influences and myths surrounding the appearance of modern decorative arts during the Jazz Age and the popularization of the style during the Depression. The earliest promoters of modern design in America were European émigrés who helped form a quintessentially American version of modernism that borrowed freely from a range of global influences.

This talk looks at how American manufacturers and craftsmen, although skeptical of modernism at first, eagerly embraced the new style and applied it to furniture, housewares, textiles, silver and glass. For many Americans, the idea of "going modern" meant more than simply buying objects in the latest style but implied adopting a new worldview. As a result, modern design became tied to social and cultural issues, such as Prohibition, and celebrated innovations in architecture, transportation and new materials.

Presented by John Stuart Gordon, Benjamin Attmore Hewitt associate curator of American decorative arts, Yale University Art Gallery. A reception to meet the speaker follows the lecture.