
Boom
Art and Design in the 1940s
Yale University Press
Published on 22. April 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
80 pages
978-0-87633-306-8 (ISBN)
Description
Tracing the surge in creativity and transformations in culture and the arts during one of history's most tumultuous decades
Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s looks at the complex shifts in technology and the arts, including music, film, and fashion, that surged in a tumultuous decade. Despite restrictions and hardships, the visual arts flourished, with some artists addressing political concerns in their work and others moving into abstraction. War disrupted the fashion industry in Paris, allowing New York to become a competitive center. Furniture design made creative use of technological advances. The movement of artists during the war years and afterward catalyzed the exchange of ideas and created more diverse artistic communities.
Essays by leading figures in their respective fields show how wartime restrictions impacted world economies and the innovative solutions found by creative communities, examine Hollywood of the 1940s and its ability to unite international audiences, explore the ways clothing and textiles were shaped by the rapid changes of the era, and discuss how musicians played a vital role at this moment in history and helped shape the sounds of today. Interviews with contemporary figures, such as jazz artist Christian McBride and filmmaker Ken Burns, reflect on the impact of the 1940s on their respective fields. Including paintings by Lee Krasner, Horace Pippin, and Jackson Pollock, photographs by Margaret Bourke-White and Weegee, furniture by George Nakashima, jewelry by Alexander Calder, poetry by Anna Akhmatova, and apparel by Elsa Schiaparelli, the book covers the transformational responses to a volatile time across the spectrum of artistic practice.
Distributed for the Philadelphia Art Museum
Exhibition Schedule:
Philadelphia Art Museum
(April 12-September 1, 2025)
Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s looks at the complex shifts in technology and the arts, including music, film, and fashion, that surged in a tumultuous decade. Despite restrictions and hardships, the visual arts flourished, with some artists addressing political concerns in their work and others moving into abstraction. War disrupted the fashion industry in Paris, allowing New York to become a competitive center. Furniture design made creative use of technological advances. The movement of artists during the war years and afterward catalyzed the exchange of ideas and created more diverse artistic communities.
Essays by leading figures in their respective fields show how wartime restrictions impacted world economies and the innovative solutions found by creative communities, examine Hollywood of the 1940s and its ability to unite international audiences, explore the ways clothing and textiles were shaped by the rapid changes of the era, and discuss how musicians played a vital role at this moment in history and helped shape the sounds of today. Interviews with contemporary figures, such as jazz artist Christian McBride and filmmaker Ken Burns, reflect on the impact of the 1940s on their respective fields. Including paintings by Lee Krasner, Horace Pippin, and Jackson Pollock, photographs by Margaret Bourke-White and Weegee, furniture by George Nakashima, jewelry by Alexander Calder, poetry by Anna Akhmatova, and apparel by Elsa Schiaparelli, the book covers the transformational responses to a volatile time across the spectrum of artistic practice.
Distributed for the Philadelphia Art Museum
Exhibition Schedule:
Philadelphia Art Museum
(April 12-September 1, 2025)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
91 color + b-w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 310 mm
Width: 245 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
430 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-87633-306-8 (9780876333068)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Jessica Todd Smith is director of curatorial affairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Alison McDonald is chief creative officer at Gagosian gallery.