Tastemaker : Elizabeth Gordon, House Beautiful, and the Postwar American Home / Monica Penick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Penick, Monica, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gordon, Elizabeth, 1906-2000.

Gordon, Elizabeth.

House beautiful.

Interior decoration--United States--History--20th century.

Interior decoration.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (261 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A riveting and superbly illustrated account of the enigmatic House Beautiful editor's profound influence on mid-century American taste From 1941 to 1964, House Beautiful magazine's crusading editor-in-chief Elizabeth Gordon introduced and promoted her vision of "good design" and "better living" to an extensive middle-class American readership. Her innovative magazine-sponsored initiatives, including House Beautiful's Pace Setter House Program and the Climate Control Project, popularized a "livable" and decidedly American version of postwar modern architecture. Gordon's devotion to what she called the American Style attracted the attention of Frank Lloyd Wright, who became her ally and collaborator. Gordon's editorial programs reshaped ideas about American living and, by extension, what consumers bought, what designers made, and what manufacturers brought to market. This incisive assessment of Gordon's influence as an editor, critic, and arbiter of domestic taste reflects more broadly on the cultures of consumption and identity in postwar America. Nearly 200 images are featured, including work by Ezra Stoller, Maynard Parker, and Julius Shulman. This important book champions an often-neglected source-the consumer magazine-as a key tool for deepening our understanding of mid-century architecture and design.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Content

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1. Beginnings

Chapter 2. Good Taste and Better Living

Chapter 3. The Postwar House

Chapter 4. The Pace Setter House

Chapter 5. Climate Control

Chapter 6. A New Look

Chapter 7. The American Style

Chapter 8. The Threat to the Next America

Chapter 9. A New Alliance

Chapter 10. The Next American House

Chapter 11. A New Regionalism

Chapter 12. Which Way, America?

Chapter 13. American Shibui

Chapter 14. Catalyst

Epilogue

Abbreviations

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Illustration Credits

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Feb 2020)

ISBN:

0-300-22845-7

OCLC:

988326329