THE WORK OF CHARLES AND RAY EAMES. A Legacy of Invention

New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997. First edition. Hardcover. A fine copy in yellow cloth over boards in a very good plus to near fine dust jacket. 4to. The Eames brothers, Charles and Ray, gave shape to America's twentieth century; the shift of the nation's attention from the East coast to the West coast, the rise of corporate and industrial America, and the global expansion of American culture. In a rare era of shared objectives, the Eameses partnered with the federal government and the country's top businesses to lead the charge to modernize postwar America. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the Los Angeles based husband and wife team practiced design at its most virtuous and its most expansive: their furniture, toys, buildings, films, graphics, exhibitions, and books all aimed to improve society, not only functionally but also culturally and intellectually. The Eameses' whole-hearted belief that design could improve people's lives remains their greatest lesson. What is all the more remarkable about them is how they achieved their ambitious seriousness of purpose with elegance, wit, and beauty. This volume is published on the occasion of a major exhibition organized by the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., and the Vitra Design Museum, weil am Rhein, Germany, the holders of the two richest Eames collections in the world. Rather than focus on separate aspects of their work, the book examines the Eameses' projects in the contexts of science, corporate patronage, and politics as well as those of modern design architecture, and art. 205 pages with 243 illustrations, including 165 plates in full color.