As the 1930s began Alfred H. Barr Jr., founder of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Philip Johnson, distinguished architect, brought the principles of the Bauhaus to America – even before exiles from Nazi Germany fully established the idea of architecture and furnishings as a functional whole in the United States.

Barr’s organization of the museum reflected the departmental structure of the Bauhaus, elevating architecture, graphic design, utilitarian furniture design, industrial design, photography and film to be on an equal footing with painting and sculpture, and endorsing all to be recognized as art. Barr and Johnson curated exceptional exhibitions such as Modern Architecture: International Exhibition (1932) and Machine Art (1934) at MoMA and created modern interiors in private living quarters.

Comprehensive essays and series of photos trace how modernism found its way into the American cultural landscape.