Wolfsonian FIU: Art and Design in the Modern Age

The Wolfsonian was created to inspire creativity, thought and imagination.  The Wolfsonian uses objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design to depict the story of the social, political, and technological changes that have transformed our world. It encourages people to see the world in a different perspective and to learn from the past as people, places, events throughout history have shaped the present and influenced the future. The museum displays art work that translates ideas to life. It is a unique destination to explore artistic appreciation for art and design.  

In addition, before the museum came to be Wolfson started by collecting objects out of pure impulse and curiosity about the world around him and the identity of objects. The number of objects he collected filled his own home and the Washington Storage Company on Miami Beach who stored the collection. The owner finally confronted him and explained that the collection took up so much space that he would either must purchase the building or move the items because there was no space for anything else. Wolfson bought the building, and turned it into a study and research center.

 Later, those 180,000 objects ranging in time from the 1850s to 1950s would be displayed within a permanent collection "Art and Design in the Modern Age". This permanent collection is comprised of artwork and objects from the peak of the Industrial Revolution through the after effects of the Second World War. The collection exhibits a variety of media including furniture, industrial-design objects, works in glass, ceramics, and metal, rare books, periodicals, drawings, paintings, textiles.

 

My overall impression of the collection was impacting, revolutionary seeing as how Industrialization, mass production, urbanization, new transportation and communication systems transformed the daily life for people. I have not seen enough artwork about height of the Industrial Revolution to the end of the Second World War so I found it surprising and refreshing because I was not expecting to view that type of artwork within this exhibition.