Designed for Delight: Alternative Aspects of Twentieth-Century Decorative Arts by Martin Eidelberg, Martin Eidelbeger (Editor), Montreal Museum of Arts Staff

Review: This book is aptly titled, for both the objects contained in it--things such as Dali's lip-shaped sofa and Gaultier's torso-shaped perfume vials--and the book itself will delight the reader. The furniture, vases, fabrics, and other objects are organized according to four classifications: "Body Language," "Inversion and Transformation," "Is Ornament a Crime?," and "Flights of Fancy." All are reproduced in full color and accentuated by essays elaborating the ideas. Quotes by or about the artists, placed alongside each photograph, complement the pieces. In one, Frank Gehry reveals the genesis of his paper furniture: "I got interested in paper furniture when I was designing for department stores and had to invent display furniture that nobody really had to sit on.... I would draw and my assistants and I would then make them. I never expected to sell these things until someone from Bloomingdale's saw them and suggested I develop them." This fabulous view of 20th-century decorative arts includes both well-known and obscure items, making for hours of reading and viewing pleasure.

Hardback, 1997, 350pages, very good condition