Very pleased to have found a copy of Art and Industry by Herbert Read, first published 1934.
Sir Herbert Read (1895-1968) poet, writer, critic, was a champion of modern British artists such as Paul Nash, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
Amongst Read’s most important texts promoting Modernism in Britain is Read's Art & Industry: The Principles of Industrial Design (1934), the layout of which was designed by former Bauhaus tutor Herbert Bayer. In this seminal text, the designer was portrayed as an abstract artist working in industry, reconciling elements of design such as materials, form, colour, and proportion with modern mass-production technology. Read felt that the designer should play a central role in modern manufacture, rather than the low-paid, subservient role that generally prevailed at the time.
This book resonates well, even today. It reminds me of the contemporary of work of Alain de Botton, especially The Architecture of Happiness – Well worth the $5 investment.
