The 1940s marked a period of transition in interior design: the quarrel between ancient and modern was outdated, the combination of function and art was essential, and interior designers were more focused on new creations rather than on post-war reconstruction. The style of this period exhibits all the contradictions that arise from a society that was in a general state of shock, unsure of what the future would hold. Exemplary cabinet making marks the period, featuring famous names like T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbing and George Nelson from the United States. In France, Adnet, Arbus, Dominique, Kohlmann, Jallot, and Leleu produced sumptuous ensembles, with beautiful detailing. Furniture and Interiors of the 1940s features the work of numerous designers in 300 archival images and recent color photographs that shed new light on this transitional period in design, as it evolved both in Europe and in the United States. The 1940s marked a period of transition in interior design: the quarrel between ancient and modern was outdated, the combination of function and art was essential, and interior designers were more focused on new creations rather than on post-war reconstruction. The style of this period exhibits all the contradictions that arise from a society that was in a general state of shock, unsure of what the future would hold. Exemplary cabinet making marks the period, featuring famous names like T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbing and George Nelson from the United States. In France, Adnet, Arbus, Dominique, Kohlmann, Jallot, and Leleu produced sumptuous ensembles, with beautiful detailing. Furniture and Interiors of the 1940s features the work of numerous designers in 300 archival images and recent color photographs that shed new light on this transitional period in design, as it evolved both in Europe and in the United States.

Anne de Bony is the author of the widely–acclaimed "Decade" series, which looks at key features of world design and culture by decades from the 1930s through to the 1990s, published by Editions du Regard.

Eric Phillipe is a specialist on the period, who has curated several catalogued exhibitions.

Design in the 1940s is most often admired in the realm of apparel, but other design arts developed rapidly after World War II as well, as Bauhaus modernism and Art Deco craft resumed their influence. Bony, who has written a French series on highlights in world design, here makes the central point that the designers of the 1940s infused their fundamentally modernist perspective with an enrichingly eclectic approach-and she makes it convincingly with 300 photographs, some archival and others contemporary. Favoring the work of European (especially French) designers, the author does not adhere to the decade strictly, stretching to include Gerald Summers's work in molded plywood from the 1930s and contracting oddly to omit Jens Risom's important lounge chairs (1941). Although the objects and interiors depicted are described minimally, the biographies of the designers are thorough and detailed. The frequent omission of page numbers is an annoying design decision. Still, as a significant contribution to a marginally documented era, this book is important for all interior design and decorative arts collections.-Paul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Lib., New York Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.