Interior design is often thought of as a modern, post-industrial concept, but sculpting our domestic environment became an art form in its own right much earlier. Renowned and highly paid artists from a wide array of disciplines were often involved in the creation and manipulation of living spaces that would meet or even exceed the wishes of their patrons.
Made singlehandedly or by an interpreter in various stages of the manufacturing process, many features of artists' designs have been captured on paper. This exhibition combines drawings, prints, and objects from all over Europe and the United States as they were collected by the Metropolitan Museum over a period of more than a hundred years. It highlights the ingenuity, beauty, and wit often found in designs for the decorative arts, and follows the dynamic development of shapes, ornaments, and materials alternately governed by issues of comfort, theory, and aesthetics.
