ART:
Ladislav Sutnar (American, born Bohemia [now Czech Republic]. 1897–1976). Build the Town building blocks. 1940–43. Painted wood, thirty pieces of various dimensions, largest smokestack: 7 3/8 x 2″ (18.7 x 5.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Ctislav Sutnar and Radoslav Sutnar.
(Photo coutesy of MoMA Press Department)
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Selected art pieces from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse
dominates a room near the end of the exhibition.
(Photo taken at the exhibition, with permission by J.Atkinson.)
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Froebel Gift No. 2: Sphere, Cylinder, and Cube. c. 1890. Wood and string, 11 1/4 x 10 1/4 x 3″ (28.6 x 26 x 7.6 cm). Manufactured by J. L. Hammett Co., Braintree, Massachusetts (est. 1863). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Lawrence Benenson, 2011
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
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Jean Prouvé (French, 1901–1984). School desk. 1946. Enameled steel and oak, 28 1/2 x 45 x 34″ (72.4 x 114.3 x 86.4 cm). Manufactured by Ateliers Jean Prouvé, Nancy. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Dorothy Cullman Purchase Fund
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
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At the entrance to the exhibition is a short video showing a motorized wheel being enjoyed and driven by a young boy down a early 20th century road.
(Photos taken at the exhibition, with permission J.Atkinson.)
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Mariska Undi (Hungarian, 1877–1959). Design for children’s room. 1903. Lithograph, 11 5/8 x 16 1/4″(29.5 x 41.3 cm). Published by the Hungarian Ministry of Culture in Mintalapok (1903), New folio 1 (IX), no. 1, sheet 2. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase (Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
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Gerrit Rietveld (Dutch, 1888–1964). Child’s wheelbarrow. 1923 (manufactured 1958). Painted wood, 12 1/2 x 11 3/8 x 33 1/2″ (31.8 x 28.9 x 85.1 cm). Manufactured by Gerard van de Groenekan. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder. © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Beeldrecht, Amsterdam
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
Rietveld, designer of the famous Red and Blue Chair (1917) and the Zig Zag Chair (1934), designed many wooden pieces (eventually mass-produced) which were originally designed to be handcrafted. Rietveld aimed for simplicity in shape and construction. In 1919 he became a member the ‘De Stijl‘ movement and that same year, he became an architect.
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Antonio Rubino (Italian, 1880–1964). Il bimbo cattivo (The bad child) bedroom panel. c. 1924. Tempera on canvas, 6′ 1 1/4″ x 65 3/4″ x 9/16″ (186 x 167 x 1.5 cm). Wolfsoniana – Fondazione regionale per la Cultura e lo Spettacolo, Genoa(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
Antionio Rubino’s taste for the grotesque, the bizarre, and the fantastic is evident in the surreal form of this decorative panel on the theme of “The Bad Child” which was part of a unique children’s room. A self-taught artist, best known as a children’s illustrator and founder of one of the most influential children’s magazines in Italy, Corriere die piccoli, Rubino is also known for his art forms that violate perceived boundaries.
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Detail from Stahlromöbel (Tubular steel furniture), loose-leaf sales catalogue for furniture offered by the Thonet Company, showing Marcel Breuer’s B341/2 chair and B53 table. 1930-31. Lithograph, gravure, and letterpress, 8 3/8 x 6 1/8” (21.3 x 15.6 cm). Published by Thonet International Press Service, Koln. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Architecture and Design Study Center.
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
The Skipper-Racer, c. 1933 – Designed by: John Rideout (American 1898-1951) & Harold Van Doren (American 1895-1957) was mass-produced in Toledo, Ohio. The Skipper-Racer was expressive of a material culture of personal freedom, mobility and consumer choice. Advertising emphasized its stylish streamlining, speed, and innovative features such as ball-bearing wheels. Priced at $4.95, it was nevertheless beyond the reach of many children still living in abject poverty during the Depression years-and thus a reminder of the eleven reach of modern design.
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Graf Zeppelin toy dirigible. c. 1930. Iron alloy, aluminum, enamel paint, and decals, 7 ¼ x 25” (18.4 x 63.5 cm). Manufacture attributed to J.C. Penney Co., Inc., Plano, Texas. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Modernism Collection, gift of Norwest Bank Minnesota
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
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Lucienne Bloch (American, b. Switzerland, 1909-1999). The Cycle of a Woman’s Life study for a mural commissioned by Federal Art Project, Works Progress Administration, for the House of Detention for Women, Greenwich Village, New York. 1935. Water and pencil on board, 11 ¾ x 17 ¼” (29.8 x 43.8 c,). The Wolfsonian-Florida International University, Miami Beach, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
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Unknown Italian designer. Gioco delle 3 oche (Game of the 3 geese). c. 1944. 12 ½ x 22 ½” (31.8 x 57.2 cm). The Wolfsonian-Florida International University, Miami Beach, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
Gioco delle 3 oche – Italian – (Game of the 3 geese). c. 1944 – Toy companies in both the Axis and Allied countries produced board games, puzzles and toys which were little more than propaganda, regarding World War II. Italian children could play Gioco dell 3 ochre, (the game of 3 geese), which was an allegorical game depicting the enemy as silly geese ready for slaughter.
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Schaukelwagon (Rocking car). 1950. Hans Brockhage (German, 1925–2009) and Erwin Andrä (German, dates unknown). Beech frame and birch plywood seat, 15 3/4 x 39 3/8 x 14 15/16″ (40 x 100 x 38 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Architecture and Design Purchase Fund
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
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Omnibot 2000, remote-controlled robot. c. 1985. Various materials, 24 x 15 x 14″ (61 x 38.1 x 35.6 cm). Manufactured by Tomy (formerly Tomiyama), Katsushika, Tokyo. Space Age Museum/Kleeman Family Collection, Litchfield, Connecticut
(Photo courtesy of MoMA Press Department)
Omnibot 2000 – c. 1985 – Programmable by cassette tape and controlled by remote, Omnibot robots could move, speak, grasp items with claw like fingers and transport small objects on a try. The toy was large and had limited functions, but the suggestion of a futuristic life as well as control over a machine, made Omnibots very popular with children and teenagers in the mid-1980s.
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Child’s Rocker c. 1970 by Gloria Caranica (American)
Plywood & painted wood – Mfg. by Creative Playthings, USA
(Drawn at the exhibition, with permission by J.Atkinson.)
Creative Playthings, originally founded in 1949 as a small toy shop in Greenwich Village, became one of the foremost manufacturers of postwar “good toys” – sturdy, modern interpretations of traditional toys. The company gained a reputation for good design as well as educational value most of it’s offerings. The company’s founders, Frank Caplan and Bernard Barenholz, were both former teachers. Creative Playthings operated a factory in Herndon, Pennsylvania and was eventually sold to Columbia Broadcasting Corporation.
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“Nicke” dachshund pull toy c. 1960
This classic, painted wooden pull toy, is 7 1/2 inches long by 4 3/4 inches wide and
was Manufactured by Brio in Stockholm (established in 1908).
(Drawn at the exhibition, with permission by J.Atkinson.)
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Inflatable Giraffe 1969-76
Libuse Niklova (Czechoslovak 1934-1981)
This inflatable is still manfactured and is available at the MoMA gift shop.
(Drawn at the exhibition, with permission by J.Atkinson.)
In a country famous for its wooden toys, Czech designer Libuse Niklova fully embraced plastic. She studied plastic molding, which flourished after WWII and predicted that “in the future products from plastic will surround man just like the air.” Plastic and air are central to her inflatable toys, including children of different cultures and larger animal-shaped play-furniture. She also experimented with PVC figures and animals, some with accordion-shaped torsos (the most common and beloved of which was the cat).
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ARTSnFOOD, is an online publication dedicated to “The Pursuit of Happiness, the Arts and Food.” ™ All rights reserved. Concept, Original Art, Text & Photographs are © Copyright 2012 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. All gallery, museum, fair or festival photographs were taken with permission. Images © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees.