“The design reform movement is of the late 1800s to early 1900s, which was a time in history where art had been subjected to machines as industrialism rose,” said Nonie Gadsden, the curator of the exhibit and associate curator of decorative arts for the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Furniture and household items were being mass produced. The artists of the time were balking at the aesthetics.”

The mechanical nature of the time caused the artists of the period to use their works to make statements on the state of art.

“This was the first time in history where artists were publicly lecturing about what art should be and what good art was.” Gadsden said. “The decorative arts reform was part of all the reform movements occurring in the late 1800s, early 1900s which wanted to change the status quo.

“Many of the artists wrote about how art should change, and they believed better aesthetics would help change the condition of life.”

The new exhibit is rather small and contains the work of 16 designers including William Morris, Le Corbusier and Adolf Loos in common mediums such as clocks and jugs. Despite the different European locales the artists hailed from, there was some similarity in their works.

“The design reform impulse was quite large and it’s interesting to see the similar ideas and concepts these artists had,” Gadsden said. “They all believed in truth of material and simplicity in form. This one impulse brought out so many aesthetics.”

These basic beliefs were also expressed in writings which are showcased alongside the art.

“For this exhibition, I studied the lead design reformers of the time and their writings.” Gadsden said. “I did a juxtaposition of their writing next to their art to show what they were arguing. If their argument did not go along with their piece of art, there is an explanation of why or why not their art does not go along with their argument.”

All of this investigating and comparing provided an enjoyable experience for Gadsden.

“It was a really fun exhibition to work on, fun for me to learn and read all these manifestos and get to learn about these designers and their work,” Gadsden said. “And there is some really cool stuff, which came out of local collections.”

“Design Reform: Decorative Arts and the Manifesto, 1850-1920” runs until February 22, 2004 at the Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Drive.