When I am asked to express an opinion on the so-called modern art movement, I cannot help but stumble over the very words of the question.

Everything that is done today and is classified under art is modern art. Modern is pertaining to anything of the present time.

But the word modern as applied to the development of designs of our daily commodities, and accepted by the general public in connection with such efforts, carries within itself the idea of loud colors, arty designs, poor workmanship, cheap and flashy execution; and that is why it is difficult for me to voice an opinion upon this question without explaining my point of view first.

Anything that is done today must be classified as being modern, even if it is a reproduction of a Spanish chair built in Grand Rapids. It depends upon one’s personal point of view of what would be the solution for the proper design of our daily commodities.

When I think of motor cars, skyscrapers, machinery, endless streets and subways, elevators going up and down, of theaters, of moving pictures, of the fashion of our day, it is hard for me to comprehend that the stately, stiff and correct chair of our forefathers—those of Spain, Italy and England, those of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—are the proper solution.

We have electricity, gas, water, technically the latest improvements connected up in every one of our homes, and in trying to express my solution to what modern commodities should look like, I find that my designs develop themselves out of simple, plain forms of good proportions, rather than being influenced by the fashionable smartness of our present time.

It is very fortunate that our ladies of today disapprove of the heavy, cumbersome brocaded dresses that were the pride of their ancestors. Today’s short simple dresses require a finer observation of their habits. They must watch the gracefulness of their walk, the way they sit down or get up, and their every movement must convey grace, elasticity and charm. A long, heavy brocaded gown could easily cover a badly proportioned piece of furniture with many carved ornaments, many little plaques, panels and mouldings, and be accepted as rich and beautiful. But in the simplicity of line lies absolute perfection of proportion—the subtlety of the perfect curve and profound balance.

To answer what my opinion regarding the modern art movement, I should like to say that it must be our ambition to express beauty in our daily commodities, through the most simple, most logical, most graceful and proportioned forms and designs—without appearing to be freakish—and the most natural development based upon the understanding of the problem, will be retained as the best possible solution.

Photo Credit:
Weber in his Lafayette Park Studio, Los Angeles.
Photograph by Will Connell, 1936.
Courtesy of Erika Plack