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Thoroughly moderne
‘Art Deco’ at the MFA; ‘Student Loan Art’ at MIT’s List
BY RANDI HOPKINS

The classic martini recipe calls for four ounces of gin or vodka, from zero to one ounce of dry vermouth, ice, and a few of those festive pimento-stuffed olives or lemon twists. Connoisseurs like theirs dry as a bone; legend has it that Winston Churchill made his by pouring gin into a pitcher, then glancing briefly at a bottle of vermouth across the room. The glamorous martini became an American icon during the age of Art Deco, along with luxury liners, streamlined roadsters, gleaming skyscrapers, jazz, and Coco Chanel’s little black dress. Opening at the Museum of Fine Arts on September 22, "Art Deco: 1910–1939" promises a splashy celebration of the sleek style that came to epitomize progress, technology, speed, and modernity in the first half of the 20th century.

Art Deco style originated in Paris before World War I, and it took the worlds of architecture, fashion, and design by storm over the course of the next three decades. It was a global phenomenon, recognizable for its stylized use of natural and geometric forms (ranging from plant and animal motifs to modern images of the man-made world, notably the skyscraper) abstracted and streamlined as European designers recognized the need to adapt artistic traditions and crafts to machine production. Early-20th-century avant-garde art movements like Fauvism, Cubism, and Futurism contributed to the development of the style, as did popular enthusiasm for imagery from Egyptian and classical antiquity. Art Deco takes its name from the "Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes," the 1925 Paris exhibition dedicated to the display of contemporary decorative arts. Boston was an early admirer of the jazzy new style; in 1926, the MFA was the first of nine venues to host a touring show of selected works from the Paris original.

"Art Deco: 1910–1939" promises fine examples of metalwork, ceramics, furniture, photography, fashion, and jewelry, not to mention a re-creation of an entire very classy room: "The Grand Salon of the Hôtel d’un Collectionneur," which brings together a number of works designed for the 1925 exhibition plus a 1935 Auburn 851 Speedster parked in the West Wing lobby. Just to be sure you are really "In the Mood," the MFA’s Bravo restaurant will be offering classic martinis, Singapore slings, and sidecars at a "Cocktail Hour" on Thursday evenings during the show’s run. And all that jazz.

Across the river, as Boston-area schools start to gear up for the fall influx of students, MIT’s List Visual Arts Center opens its understated but remarkable annual "Student Loan Art Program Exhibition and Lottery" on September 3. MIT has been collecting contemporary prints and works on paper for its Student Loan Art Program since 1966; the first-rate selection now includes work by artists from Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns to Rirkrit Tiravanija and Shazia Sikander, and it’s available for MIT students to take home to their dorms on a lottery basis. Although only the lucky MIT winners get to enjoy their John Currin or Nam June Paik on the wall over the couch, the public is invited to view more than 300 works from the collection at the List. This year, work by Richard Artschwager, Jennifer Bolande, and Fred Wilson are among the new acquisitions on view.

"Art Deco: 1910–1939" is at the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue in Boston, August 22 to January 9. Exhibition tickets are required; call (617) 267-9300, or visit www.mfa.org. The MFA’s Bravo restaurant hosts a weekly "Cocktail Hour," with live jazz, every Thursday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. through the run of the exhibition; call (617) 369-3474 for information and reservations. The "Student Loan Art Program Exhibition and Lottery" is at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames Street in Cambridge, September 3 through 13; call (617) 253-440, or visit http://web.mit.edu/lvac


Issue Date: August 20 - 26, 2004
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