News from PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
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Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5264
Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301Jan. 31, 2001
CONTACT: Ruta Smithson (609) 258-3763
First Exhibition of Le Corbusier Drawings at Princeton University Art Museum
Exhibition Dates: February 7 through June 17, 2001
PRINCETON -- Remarkably well-preserved drawings by the French architect Le Corbusier will be shown to the public for the first time at The Art Museum, Princeton University, in the exhibition "Le Corbusier at Princeton: 14-16 November 1935," on view from February 7 through June 17, 2001.
Organized by the Museum in collaboration with the Princeton University School of Architecture, the exhibition and related programs focus on a series of public lectures given by the renowned architect at Princeton in 1935. Two drawings, each approximately sixteen feet long, have survived from the lectures.
The French modernist architect Le Corbusier (born Charles Edouard Jeanneret, 1887-1965) came to the United States for the first time in 1935, on a tour of lectures at museums and universities. He was already famous for his revolutionary theories on modern architecture and urban planning. He had given a series of lectures in Buenos Aires several years earlier, which he later published in a book entitled Precisions, which was followed by The Radiant City, in which he further explored his visions of large-scale urban planning. His American tour in 1935 provided the substance of what is perhaps his most widely read book, When the Cathedrals Were White. Although he built only one building in America, Le Corbusier remains one of the most important influences in twentieth-century American architecture.
Le Corbusier's habit when lecturing was to draw in colored pastels on long sheets of paper tacked to the wall to illustrate his philosophy, theories, and projects. In When the Cathedrals Were White, he wrote: "I take great pleasure in making large, ten-foot, colored frescoes which become the striking stenographic means, enlivened by red, green, brown, yellow, black, or blue, for expressing . . . my ideas about the reorganization of daily life." Over the course of three days in November 1935, he gave lectures in the School of Architecture at Princeton, drawing with colored pastels in a rapid, animated style as he spoke. The first of the two drawings in the exhibition outlines his theories of architecture, discusses theoretical issues central to his work, and includes sketches of the Villa Savoye and the then newly constructed Maison aux Mathes. The second drawing illustrates his theories of urban planning, and includes a discussion of the twenty-four-hour clock relative to modern human activity, as well as idealistic proposals for Paris city planning and references to a proposed "Garden City" to be built in Algeria. In addition to the use of drawings, Le Corbusier also projected slides and films.
The exhibition was organized by Susan M. Taylor, director of The Art Museum. Calvin Brown, preparator, served as project manager and exhibition coordinator. Jesse A. Reiser, assistant professor of architecture and partner, RUR Architecture PC, was responsible for the installation design. The exhibition also includes models and photographs of projects represented in the drawings and the film L'Architecture aujourd'hui, made by the architect with Pierre Cheneal in 1931. A reading area in the gallery with furniture designed by Le Corbusier and provided by Cassina America will allow visitors to learn more about the architect's work and philosophy through a variety of his publications.
The Art Museum is open to the public without charge. Free highlights tours of the collection are given every Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. It is closed on Monday and major holidays. The Museum Shop closes at 5:00 p.m. The Museum is located in the middle of the Princeton University campus. Picasso's large sculpture Head of a Woman stands in front. For further information, please call (609) 258-3788.
Related ProgramsLecture: "Le Corbusier and the Myth of America"
Jean-Louis Cohen, director, Institut Français d’Architecture, Paris, and professor, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
February 7, 2001, 7:30 p.m., McCormick 101Gallery Talk: "Le Corbusier: An Exhibition as Collaboration"
Susan M. Taylor, director, The Art Museum, and Jesse A. Reiser, partner, RUR Architecture PC
March 2, 2001, 12:30 p.m., The Art MuseumLecture: "Modernism and Its Reception: Le Corbusier at Princeton,"
Mardges Bacon, professor, Department of Art and Architecture, Northeastern University
April 10, 2001, 4:30 p.m., McCormick 101
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