Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury
October 7, 2007 – January 6, 2008
Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury features the painting, architecture, furniture design, decorative and graphic arts, film, and music that launched midcentury modernism in the United States and established Los Angeles as a major American cultural center. Through more than 150 objects, Birth of the Cool examines the dynamic community of architects, designers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians who overlapped and interacted in Southern California. This international roster of artists—many of whom made their way to the West Coast from various locations throughout Europe and North America—played a germinal role in the development of this influential and iconic style of high modernism.
Exhibition Tour Schedule
Addison Gallery of American Art,
Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
February 15 – April 13, 2008
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
May 17– August 17, 2008
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum,
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
September 19, 2008 – January 5, 2009
Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX
February 22 – May 17, 3009
This exhibition was organized by the Orange County Museum of Art and curated by Elizabeth Armstrong.