Jews and Midcentury Modernism

Join the Art Deco Society of New York for a fascinating illustrated talk by celebrated independent curator Donald Albrecht.

This presentation explores the contributions of Jewish designers, architects, patrons, and merchants in the creation of a distinctly modern, Twentieth-century American domestic landscape. The story told gives remarkable insight into Jewish assimilation into American society. At the same time, Designing Home goes beyond a simple exploration of physical Jewish contributions to the history of modern architecture and design—an impact that continues today—to examine broader cultural and social themes.

In the aftermath of World War II, the hub of world Jewry shifted from Europe to America. Albrecht’s talk looks at the cultural context in which many Jewish émigré architects and designers from Europe in the 1930–40s were welcomed and embraced into the creative communities that sprang up around the U.S.—including Black Mountain College, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, and Pond Farm in Guerneville, California.

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About the Speaker:

Donald Albrecht is an independent curator who has organized exhibitions for the Getty Center, Library of Congress, Museum of the City of New York, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, among others. He served as curator of the exhibition Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco in 2014.