Mid-century is now far enough back to be considered historic and art book publishers think it worthwhile to have the creative efforts of the period in their book lists. Put 'mid-century' into Amazon search and you'll come with a wealth of titles. This book is a reprint of the 2012 edition (published by Mitchell Beazley) and I found it a reasonable, though very generalized, look back at the wonderfully designed products for the home.
The title is basically in two sections: products (170 pages) and a designers index (45 pages) before these there is an illustrated essay about the origins of the style and back pages have a Resources and Index but the book is really a collection of huge product photos (floating in rather excessive white space) and captions with a brief essays explaining their historic context. As such there is not too much new here that isn't available in other books. Perhaps of interest is the price guide for each item, ranging from under $65 to $390,000 but the prices are the same as the 2012 edition.
For those interested in a much broader and comprehensive look at the period I think Dominic Bradbury's 2014 Mid-century modern: complete (544 pages) is better. It covers the same subjects as the Miller book but also considers industrial design, graphics and architecture and the usual illustrated designer index.
No comments:
Post a Comment