See more objects with the tag interior, domestic, home, landscape, trees, abstraction, art deco, orange.

See more objects with the color darkgrey sienna or see all the colors for this object.

Object Timeline

1920

  • Work on this object began.

1930

  • We acquired this object.

  • Work on this object ended.

2012

2014

2025

  • You found it!

Sidewall (possibly France)

This is a sidewall. It is dated 1920–30 and we acquired it in 1930. Its medium is machine-printed on paper. It is a part of the Wallcoverings department.

This charming landscape scene is full of the energy and optimism of the 1920s. Landscape scenes used as motifs in wallpaper designs have been around since the late 18th century but have been changed stylistically to evolve with the current trends. The bold pattern and coloring reflects the optimism of the post-war period. This design is an inexpensive wallpaper machine-printed in four colors. The bright orange background color and hills give the design a rather surreal quality, keeping it lighthearted, and distancing itself from more realistic landscape renderings. Being machine-printed means all the colors are printed on the paper in one pass through the printing machine, necessitating that the colors be thin so they dry quickly. This aspect of the production works very well for this design, softening the trees somewhat so they appear less harsh against the very bold ground color.

This object was donated by Charles Grimmer & Son. It is credited Gift of Charles Grimmer & Son.

Our curators have highlighted 5 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Textile, Forest
  • dacron polyester.
  • Gift of Henry C. and Eleanor Kluck.
  • 1985-84-23

Its dimensions are

Overall (e): 44.7 x 47.5 cm (17 5/8 x 18 11/16 in.)

Cite this object as

Sidewall (possibly France); machine-printed on paper; Overall (e): 44.7 x 47.5 cm (17 5/8 x 18 11/16 in.); Gift of Charles Grimmer & Son; 1930-14-1-e

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Hewitt Sisters Collect.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/68765597/ |title=Sidewall (possibly France) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>