Cold War Modern

Design 1945-1970

Jane Pavitt, David Crowley

This was a period of great political tensions and exceptional creativity touching every aspect of life, from everyday products to the highest arenas of human achievement in science and culture. Art and design played a central role in representing and sometimes challenging the dominant political and social ideas of the age. Cold War Modern is an ambitious review of the geography of Cold War modernity, including works from the Socialist Bloc and western Europe, the United States, Cuba and Japan. Essays on subjects as diverse as Cold War strategy, domesticity and hi-tech design developments are illustrated with remarkable images by internationally renowned artists and designers from Picasso to Kubrick, alongside the forgotten figures of the Cold War era.

Jane Pavitt is the University of Brighton Senior Research Fellow in Product Design at the V&A. She is lead curator of the exhibition Cold War Modern and has curated several major exhibitions including Brilliant (V&A 2004) and Brand.New (V&A 2000) and edited the accompanying books. David Crowley teaches history at the Royal College of Art, London and is the consultant curator of Cold War Modern at the V&A.