ISBN: 978-3-7757-4433-16

Pages: 384 with 303 illustrations
Publisher: Hatje Cantz, 2020
Design: Marco Ugolini | Objectif
Language: English
Dimensions: 23.4 x 29.4 cms (Hardcover)

The Elusive Modernist revisits the history of the modern movement through the legacy of one of its protagonists, Gabriel Guevrekian (1900–1970). Born in Istanbul, Guevrekian grew up in Tehran and then moved to Vienna to study architecture at the Kunstgewerbeschule. He later worked with Oskar Strnad, Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, Henri Sauvage, and Robert Mallet-Stevens. His famous designs include the Cubist garden for Villa Noailles in France and two houses for the Vienna Werkbund exhibition. Not yet thirty, Guevrekian was recognized as one of the protagonists of the European avant-garde in Paris. During the 1930s, he spent a few years in Iran designing public buildings and private villas. Later, after World War II, he assumed teaching responsibilities in Europe and America. All of his various pursuits, and the homes and nationalities he held in Iran, Europe, and the United States, led to a serial adoption of personae. By dint of his own very tangible engagement, Guevrekian made every discipline meaningful, every city central, and every period epochal.