Women, Modernism, and Philip Johnson

“Women, Modernism, and Philip Johnson” brings new attention to the overlooked subject of architect Philip Johnson’s associations with some of the women who embraced and promoted modernism from the 1930s through the 1950s. The early generations of women modernists—especially those who studied at the Cambridge [MA] School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (1916–42) or Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (beginning in 1942 when women were first allowed to enroll)—had ample opportunities for connections with Johnson as he formulated his own concepts of modernism. 

His varied roles—co-curator of the “International Style” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932 and director of their Architecture Department from 1932-34; graduate student at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, 1940–43; and modernist architect—led to memorable and inspirational meetings. For example, meetings at his “thesis” house of 1942 at 9 Ash Street in Cambridge were considered the “chief attraction” on Friday afternoons for students.