'Fit for its purpose': Nikolaus Pevsner argues for the modern movement

Abstract

This article concentrates on the first years of Nikolaus Pevsner in Great Britain, when a fellowship at the University of Birmingham (1934-1935) enabled him to investigate industrial design, supported by the economist Philip Sargant Florence. This research resulted in Pevsner's second book in England, An Enquiry into Industrial Art in England (1937). Pevsner intended this as a kind of twin to his much more famous Pioneers of the Modern Movement. From William Morris to Walter Gropius (1936). Pevsner's approach to modern architecture and design was firmly rooted in his earlier art-historical training in Germany, and in his strong belief in the commitment of artists, architects and art historians to the political and ethical ideal of the community as a social entity. However, Pevsner's perspectives were also shaped by new approaches he experienced in his host country and by striving to integrate himself into contemporary British debates about modernism. This is shown by analysing Pevsner's early publications on the Modern Movement, especially Enquiry into Industrial Art. New insights are gained into the argumentative strategies that Pevsner applied to support the Modern Movement in England in the 1930s and to secure his own position as one of its leading interpreters.