In the eyes of Nikolaus Pevsner, twentieth-century design appeared to be in a state which could be described as "anomy in design," where any act of design could be justified as long as it followed the taste of the majority. Thus he had come to admonish the world of design and the public, on various occasions, of the potential dangers of liberty that they were enjoying in post-World War II "democratic" society. For Pevsner, who believed art and design had roles to play in reforming post-World

more »

... II society, what could not be ignored was the fact that artists, designers and architects were pandering to a majority who so often accepted uncritically the taste of a powerful few who sought to control public opinion rather than cultivate and refine the aesthetic faculties of common people