Eugene Schoen: Livable Interwar Design

摘要

The First World War and the subsequent Spanish Influenza shocked the world and facilitated a need for change. Additionally, new innovations in technology, the economy, and the prevailing style dictated the type of interiors that Americans would find the most livable and practical. After traveling to Paris for the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes Eugene Schoen and other designers came back to the United States ready to introduce Americans to the new International Style. Therefore, Schoen was an early proponent of the new art moderne style and its adaptation and proliferation into American vernacular. Seminal research seems to gloss over Schoen and his significance to the art moderne style. Hence, this paper looks at how Schoen's space during the interwar period may have come closest to ideal livable and practical interiors. This thesis analyzes the definition of livability and practicality during the 1920-'30s in context with the interiors Schoen produced for various key exhibitions of American Industrial Art. Therefore this thesis will show that the work produced by Schoen during the interwar period embodied a continued sense of luxury of decoration and efficiency of design.