The Industrial Design Aesthetic, 1900-1950

Monday, October 8, 2001—Friday, September 27, 2002
Wells Fargo Center, 7th Street and Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis
Free Exhibition

This exhibition, in the Wells Fargo Center at 6th Street and Marquette Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, brings together a selection of industrial designs dating roughly from 1900 to 1950 (all the result of collaborative efforts). The selection is purposely devoted to "industrial strength" designs that challenge long-standing concepts of beauty and taste. These designers and manufacturers were attempting to free themselves from applied decoration; function was the driving force. They addressed such advanced ideas as engineering, utility, aerodynamics, styling, streamlining, new techniques and new materials.

On view at Wells Fargo Center, as an extension of The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.


Organized by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Image:
Ezio Pirali, designer
Italian, born 1921
Fabbriche Elettrotecniche riunite, S.p.A., Italy, manufacturer
Zerowatt VE 505 electric table fan, 1954.
Aluminum housing and wire elements with rubber blades.
Gift of The Kathleen Bendel Fund