An essential guide to Prairie School art and architecture in the Midwest.
Largely regarded as one of the most important movements of American architecture and design, the Prairie School helped move America into the modern age. Signaling a departure from nineteenth-century formality, its practitioners sought to create buildings that were organic and would facilitate a new, progressive way of life. This exhaustive guide to the treasures of the Prairie School at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts focuses not only on the museum's outstanding collection of early twentieth-century American design but also on the Institute's historic Purcell-Cutts house, one of the most significant examples of Prairie School architecture in the country. With its multitude of historic photographs, many never before published, Progressive Design in the Midwest is a unique combination of history, house tour, and museum guide.
Built by William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie in Minneapolis in 1913, the Purcell-Cutts house features a buff-colored facade, nearly flat roof, and a revolutionary interior structured around an open floor plan, facilitating everyday living without the senseless division of space. Progressive Design in the Midwest documents the history of the house and its furnishings from the year it was built to the time it was donated to the museum, restored, and opened to the public in 1990.
The many objects in the Institute's Prairie school collection including works by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, William Gray Purcell, and George Grant Elmslie, among others, are described in detail. Along with each piece is a list of relevant texts, exhibitions, and the historical background of the piece, as well as information about the designer.
With its multitude of historic photographs, many never before published, Progressive Design in the Midwest is a unique combination of history, house tour, and museum guide.
Jennifer Komar Olivarez is assistant curator of decorative arts, sculpture, and architecture at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Distributed for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
