Paul T. Frankl | Autobiography

A gem of an historical source.... This unique book provides a wonderfully illustrated and nuanced account of one of America’s most significant twentieth-century designers.
– Alison J. Clarke, University of Applied Arts, Vienna

A page turner [that] captures this leading Modernist in his own words.
– Bennett Johnson, Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine

Frankl’s autobiography sheds even more light on the man, other key artists and designers, and most important, Austrian and American culture in the first half of the twentieth century.
– Wendy Kaplan, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Viennese émigré Paul T. Frankl was a pioneer of early modern design in America, known for his “Skyscraper” furniture of the 1920s and later for the work he did for Hollywood celebrities such as Fred Astaire, Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. His autobiography, thought for decades to be lost, was written at the end of Frankl’s long career and is a vivid account of his early life, his rise in the profession, and his many travels in search of ideas and forms. What will now be known as Frankl’s last book is written in a captivating style befitting the personality of a gentle and cultured man who revolutionized and advocated for American modernism.

This edition, hand-sewn with a printed linen cover, won a design award in Austria and is introduced and annotated by modern design scholar Christopher Long, author of Paul T. Frankl and Modern American Design (Yale 2007). The book includes a remembrance written by his daughter Paulette Frankl as well as many previously unpublished photographs and drawings.