Author Archives: a.gorenstein

John Henry Bradley Storrs

Forms in Space no. 1–1927

Metropolitan Museum of Art–Modern and Contemporary Art section

The artwork that stood out to me most at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during my visit was named “Forms in Space no. 1” by its sculptor John Henry Bradley Storrs. While most of the artworks on display in the exhibit are paintings, Forms in Space no. 1 is a sculpture. This sculpture was sculpted in anatomical accordance with many of the skyscrapers that were being built in New York City during the early 1900s, the era of modernism in which building, improving, and expanding were some of the goals of society during the modern era. 

John Henry Bradley Storrs was born in Chicago in 1885. As a young child he was always interested in architecture because his father, D.W. Storrs, was an architect. After studying arts in many different academies, Storrs decided to go into sculpting. He became a sculptor during the modern era, around the time New York City began its revolution, beginning to build skyscrapers that would soon shape the skyline we all get the honor of seeing today. 

As New York City skyscrapers became popular in the 1920’s, John Henry Bradley Storrs decided to sculpt a miniature version of a New York City skyscraper to capture the art style that many architects were using as they built their buildings creating the skyline of New York. This model that Storrs was trying to portray was a modernistic style of architecture known as Art Deco. Art Deco was the most commonly used art style used in the 1920’s and 1930’s. It can be recognized by its symmetrical shape and color patterns. Both the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building are examples of Art Deco buildings. 

Forms in Space in No.1 is categorized as Art Deco too because it is symmetrical in shape as well as color. This means the sculpture can be divided into four parts and every part would look identical. 

John Henry Bradley Storrs was certainly a modernist and he captures modernistic ideas in his sculpted art by capturing the powerful and fast-paced rise of industrialization and urbanization as skyscrapers started to rise into the clouds of the sky. In the early 1900’s, there would become a new tallest building in the world ever so often. 

Industrialization and urbanization are two processes of development that define the modern era, which began around 1890 and lasted until the end of World War I. Industrialization is the process of developing more areas for economic growth and urbanization is the process of turning rural areas into towns or cities.   Turning unused land into cities and towns for people to live and grow economically was a process that happened throughout the modern era. This is why I consider Forms in Space no. 1 to be a work of art that captures modernity sufficiently.