Mark O. Howald
Executive Vice-President,
Twentieth Century Design Specialist

Andy J. Wright
Twentieth Century Design Specialist
Ivey-Selkirk Auctioneers,
Saint Louis, Missouri
It all comes down to what we call “the commercialization of modernism.” The marketing of modernism is responsible for its great success over the past ten years. Some contributing factors are:

• Mass media with an ever larger variety of publications and even television shows devoted to today’s design trends.

• A remarkable array of beautiful auction catalogues, illustrated books and internet sites offering information.

• A profusion of fairs, shows and lectures.

• Mass advertising to draw the public in to everything from local art shows to major museum exhibitions.

• New museums by star architects housing a increasing number of works of modern and contemporary design and art, with museum shops offering mass distribution and imaging of those pieces.

• Mass marketing of designers and artists as celebrities, featuring everything from expensive one-of-a-kind pieces to utilitarian articles.

• Trend-setting dealers, many acting as agents for designers and artists, feeding a frenzied public of collectors.

• The auction houses and internet auctions which have pioneered the marketing and promoted the accessibility of these competitive markets to both the buyer and the seller of design.


Reed Kroloff
Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum,
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
In the last 10 years, one of the most important developments in modernism has been the rise of such publications as Modernism, Dwell and Wallpaper. Although each of these is very different, and one could argue they reflect, rather than lead a trend, I would counter that these publications help bring modernism to a vastly increased audience. They also make the assumption for that audience that modernism isn’t something odd, out of reach or unusable; rather, it is very much attainable and useful in their lives (and also, at times, glamorous). In short, it is part of everyday life.

Though admittedly a bit self-serving, I would predict the recognition of Cranbrook as the American Bauhaus. When you look at who came out of this school (Eero Saarinen, Charles Eames, Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Daniel Libeskind, to name only five — and there are many, many more), it is truly remarkable. No other place can claim either the range or level of achievement, or, and perhaps most importantly, effect on the American modern movement. Try to think of American modernism without Cranbrook: quite simply, you can’t. Yet when was the last time someone really discussed it seriously?