Author: Shoshana Resnikoff

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20th and 21st Century Design Art Collection

Welcoming “Miss Blanche” into the Design Collection

Detail of Miss Blanche by Shiro Kuramata

On the heels of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s annual Art in Bloom celebration, a new kind of flower is blooming in the design collection galleries: the Miss Blanche chair created by Shiro Kuramata. It is one of the final works by Kuramata, the legendary designer who brought Japanese design onto the global stage with his expressive and conceptual objects. An homage to Blanche DuBoise, the heroine of Tennessee Williams’s play A Streetcar Named Desire, the chair exemplifies his poetic approach to the everyday and his longstanding engagement with materiality. Its presence in the galleries expands the Museum’s narratives around Japanese design and provides a new, exciting context to the beloved Carlton bookcase by Ettore Sottsass.

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20th and 21st Century Design Art

20th-Century Silver: An Unexpected Medium for Modernism

Circa '70 Tea and Coffee Service

Alongside many other strengths, the Milwaukee Art Museum boasts a remarkable collection of modern American silver. To celebrate these holdings, we wanted to reflect on a few of the significant 20th-century works here at the Museum.

Silversmithing has a long history in the United States, but in the 20th century it emerged as an unexpected medium for the exploration of modern forms and lines. Each an important part of the story of modern silver in the United States, the works featured below express how different designers related to and understood the goals of modernism, and how they worked through a range of ideas around production, craftsmanship, and aesthetics. Some of these objects are currently on view while others will make future appearances in permanent galleries or exhibitions.

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Categories
20th and 21st Century Design Art

A Closer Look: Ruth Asawa’s Milwaukee Connection

The pioneering sculptor, educator, and arts activist Ruth Asawa spent most of her life in California, but she has a surprising—and significant—connection to Wisconsin and the city of Milwaukee. A new work acquired in 2020 and recently installed in the 20th- and 21st-Century Design Galleries represents Asawa’s time in the city and speaks to its impact on this influential artist and her career.

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