Discover

Modernists Abroad

Between 1926 and 1930, Alfred H. Barr Jr., the first director of the Museum of Modern Art, his wife Marga and Philip Johnson, the museum's first curator of architecture, travelled to Europe several times. Drawn to new ideas and techniques, they were deeply transformed by what they saw there.

These videos capture the essence of the time with a nine-city visual journey, including the new architecture and design that would inspire Good Design at midcentury.

  1. Map of Dessau, Germany

    1. Bauhaus School; Dessau, Germany

  2. Map of Paris, France

    2. Deutscher Werkbund Exhibition, Grand Palais; Paris, France

  3. Map of Berlin, Germany

    3. German Building Exhibition; Berlin, Germany

  4. Map of Moscow, URSS

    4. Gosstrach Apartment Complex; Moscow, USSR

  5. Map of Stockholm, Sweden

    5. Stockholm Exhibition; Stockholm, Sweden

  6. Map of Brno, Czechoslovakia

    6. Villa Tugendhat; Brno, Czechoslovakia

  7. Map of Stuttgart, Germany

    7. Weissenhof Settlement; Stuttgart, Germany

  8. Map of Hook of Holland

    8. Hook of Holland, Netherlands

  9. Map of Poissy-sur-Seine

    9. Villa Savoye: Poissy-sur-Seine, France