And then there’s mod

Young Chang

Guest curator J. Stewart Johnson of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

stalled recently beside a 1928 scale and made his admiration public.

Shaped like a skyscraper and promising to not only tell one’s “honest

weight” but also his or her fortune printed out on a ticket, the Joseph

Sinel piece is part of the “American Modern, 1925-1940: Design for a New

Age” exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach.

“I don’t think I have anything to say about this except ‘wow,”’

Johnson said.

Media members paused along with him at last week’s press conference

before moving through the rest of the exhibit.

Fresh from the Met in New York, “Modern” presents works from earlier

in the century when America was just starting to develop its own design

style.

The more than 140 pieces come from the museum’s collection and the

John C. Waddell Collection, including cocktail shakers, salt and pepper

holders, clocks, carpets, kitchen ware, radios, a sink and even a vacuum

cleaner.

The exhibit’s Newport Beach stop is its only one on the West Coast and

the collection will stay up through Aug. 19.

Designers behind the works include Norman Bel Geddes, Donald Deskey,

Paul Frankl, Isamu Noguchi and Russel Wright.

“These works were instrumental in defining what modernity was in

America,” said Brian Langston, spokesman for the Orange County Museum of

Art.

Lincoln, a sponsor of the show, played its part in defining today’s

concept of modernity with a reception at the museum Thursday for the

unveiling of its new MK9 Concept Coupe.

“We thought the Lincoln would fit right in with the debut of the

exhibit,” said Jim O’Sullivan, a Lincoln group brand manager. “There’s a

lot of design features that tie into American design. And the Lincoln is

really a statement about where we’re going in the future.”

As the Lincoln represents contemporary society, works in the exhibit

comment on what was considered modern way back when.

“Modernity means embracing the world that you’re in and being

optimistic about what all that can mean and bring you,” Langston said.

Before 1925, Johnson said, America lacked modern art. The United

States was invited to the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts

Decoratifs et Modernes, a big design deal at the time, but declined the

invitation because there was really nothing to show.

Or so East Coast art figures thought -- Southern California was

actually ahead in this game, with such artists as Frank Lloyd Wright

revolutionizing design in the West.

During the next 15 years, the rest of the country got moving.

Designers and manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon, as did museums,

galleries, even department stores.

Earlier styles echoed the art deco movement in Europe, but soon after,

artists moved toward a clean, industrial look.

“You start to get the influence of Germany’s Bauhaus, particularly as

the Depression kicks in,” Langston said. “The idea that there’s an

industrial-based society, a basic level of comfort that should be

provided to everyone and that industrial work was a noble thing.’

At the same time, Americans became fascinated by skyscrapers and the

life and look symbolized by the Manhattan penthouse apartment. Artistic

little salt and pepper shakers -- some cubed like dice, others wavy and

with holes punched in an S or P shape to dispense the salt or pepper --

were examples of just how intimate the design revolution got even for

those who couldn’t live in penthouses.

“They gave each person a little bit of the action,” Johnson said.

“Your edge into it all.”

As the 1940s approached, World War II caused a move away from the

Bauhaus style. A more suburban approach prevailed -- one reminiscent of

backyard barbecues and white picket fences instead of the sleek city

life.

The fact that millions of people were dying in war had disillusioned

Americans of the time.

“You get the French existentialists saying how absurd life is, so it’s

not surprising that American tastes would swing toward something other

than these hopeful visions of what the future would be like or what the

modern age should be,” Langston said. “The modern age wasn’t turning out

so well.”

The edges of appliances, furniture and machines got rounder. Things

became more holdable and approachable.

“I think that wave is still in effect,” Langston said. “And it’s

certainly in effect in Orange County. You look at the architecture and

everything’s trying to be something else -- faux-Tuscan, faux-French . .

. maybe we’re at a comparable juncture. We’re moving on toward the next

millennium.”

FYI

WHAT: “American Modern”

WHEN: Through Aug. 19. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday

through Sunday.

WHERE: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport

Beach

COST: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, free for children

under 16 and members.

CALL: (949) 759-1122