Complete Beauty Forms Book
Complete Beauty Forms Book
Artist
Various artists
Designer
Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel
(German, 1782 - 1852)
Place of OriginUnited States
Datec. 1890-1900
DimensionsH: 8 in. (20.3 cm); W: 9 in. (22.9 cm); Depth: 3 in. (7.6 cm)
MediumCut paper, paint, and various media on paper, accordian folded and bound.
ClassificationBooks
Credit LineMrs. George W. Stevens Fund
Object number
2012.128
Not on View
DescriptionAccordion –folded book consisting of 61- 8 x 9 inch pages, bound in a hand-painted marbleized cover.
Label TextThe designs in this accordion book were conceived by the 19th-century German educator Friedrich Froebel (1782 – 1852). Froebel, who introduced the concept of ‘kindergarten’, believed that children had unique needs and skills and that they could be best educated through playful exercises and stimulating materials. He designed the educational materials known as Froebel Gifts (including geometric building blocks and pattern activity blocks) still used during free play-time in many classrooms. The Complete Beauty Forms Book was made as coursework by women who were learning to teach Froeblian Kindergarten. The work is composed of complex kaleidoscope designs that, over a century later, still resonate with creativity, vitality, and intuitive modernism. Interestingly, the great modern American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, credited his Froeblian education (especially the building blocks) for the development of his Prairie style architecture.Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Paper Roses: Garden-Inspired Works on Paper. Feb. 21-May 18, 2014.
Comparative ReferencesTwo similar books were included in the 2012 Museum of Modern Art exhibition Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000.
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