In his furniture, the audacious manipulation of wood might be thought
bravura were it not always justified by the physical properties of the
material. As in his architecture. Aalto's designs are a result of the same
combination of sound construction, suitability to use and sense of style.
Any one of the chairs is the result not only of a painstaking study of pos-
ture, the properties of laminated wood and esthetic considerations, but
also of the study of efficient (and consequently economical) mechanical
methods of mass-production. In fact, a major distinction of the furniture
is its cheapness. Low-cost housing of good modern design has been pro-
duced for the last fifteen years; now, probably for the first time, a whole
line of good modern furniture is approaching an inexpensive price level. ¹

On behalf of the President and Trustees the Curator of Architecture
wishes to thank the following owners of Aalto furniture for their gener-
osity in lending to the exhibition:

Mrs. Mary Cooke of the Museum staff has been largely responsible
for assembling and installing the exhibition. Mr. Harmon Goldstone.
Mr. Simon Breines, Mr. A. Lawrence Kocher and Mr. Y. A. Paloheimo
have given special assistance in the preparation of the exhibition and
the catalog.

JOHN McANDREW
Curator of Architecture and Industrial Art

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