Art deco and modernist carpets by DAY, SUSAN; MIKAELOFF, YVES

Thames & Hudson Ltd 2002. Hardcover, dj., 224pp., 24.5x32.5cm., ills., as new. ISBN 9780500510810. The design revolutions of the early 20th century created carpets of extraordinary vitality, and this pioneering work of scholarship places these dazzling examples of textile art at centre state during an exciting period in the history of decorative arts. The fruits of the flourishing Art Deco movement, not just in France but throughout Europe and the USA, form the first part of the book, while in the second, the focus turns to the reaction against the artistes-decorateurs by the champions of Modernism, and such influences as the Bauhaus, Cubism and collage. In 1927, the critic Rene Chavance identified carpet production as the most successful of the decorative arts in achieving 'the more visionary aims of the times'. Susan Day's exceptional book proves that these wonderful designer carpets still strike us today with their decorative power.