Style Within: Interior Design of the 19th Century

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

8:00 AM-7:00 PM

Exhibition from January 16, 2015 through March 27, 2015. Combining images of historic interiors and examples of furniture and decorative arts, this exhibition offered the viewer a sense of the decorating techniques found during the dramatically changing world of the 19th century.

The 19th-century home was a refuge from the fast-paced outside world introduced by the Industrial Revolution between 1750 and 1900. The styles in these homes expressed the belief that historical reference suggested good values and taste and was a way to experience life in a past seen as wonderful, beautiful and rich.

Revivalism predominates in the design of furnishings and buildings of the 19th century. Furnishings that recreated past styles were familiar and less threatening in the changing world. They offered the newly wealthy and middle class, who might be unsure about good taste, a gauge for fashion and gentility. They gave nations a visual way of reinforcing their political structure or unifying under a common past. Revivalism in interior design eased the growing consumer population of the 19th century into the new world of mass production, greater choice and disposable goods.

Contact Information

Lynn Clouser
215-895-2414
lcc48@drexel.edu