MONTREAL, QUE. -- A landmark exhibition exploring the full range of creative and stylistic influences on Twentieth Century design is on view at the Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts. Tracing such themes as fantasy, ornament, and the use of the body as a design element, and comprising more than 200 objects from around the world, the exhibition presents the diverse aesthetics, beyond the realm of functionalism and rationalism, that have informed and defined modern design. Following its close in Montreal, "Design for Delight" will travel to six other museums in North America and Europe.

"Designed for Delight" includes furniture, glass, ceramics, metalware, jewelry, and textiles from the Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, the organizer of the exhibition. Renowned for its important and comprehensive collection of mid- and late-Twentieth Century design and crafts, the museum has now added numerous examples from earlier decades in order to fully develop the concepts of this exhibition.

"Designed for Delight" challenges the accepted definition of modern design - the idea that form always followed function, and that modern objects were always chaste, unadorned, and rational. It presents the notion that there were many other important trends in Twentieth Century design that have now come to light at the end of the century. By juxtaposing an international array of objects from the entire century, "Designed for Delight" examines these diverse aspects of Modernism, including Art Nouveau, the Wiener Werkstatte, the Novecento Movement, Art Deco, postwar design, crafts revival, Pop, Memphis, and Postmodernism, to demonstrate that these trends constitute an entirely parallel and alternate development in design. "Designed for Delight" brings together these objects for the first time in a comprehensive exhibition.

Objects in the exhibition include outstanding works by many internationally renowned designers, including furniture and lighting by Ron Arad, Edgar Brandt, Wendell Castle, Shiro Kuramata, Gaetano Pesce, and Louis Comfort Tiffany; ceramics by Roseline Delisle, Piero Fornasetti, Wilhelm Kage, Pablo Picasso, Gio Ponti, Peter Vouklos, and Vally Wieselthier; glass by Fulvio Bianconi, Dale Chihuly, Vicke Lindstrand, Maurice Marinot, and Ettore Sottsass; jewelry and metalware by Andrea Branzi Riccardo Dalisi, Camille Faure, Arline Fisch, Josef Hoffman, Sam Kramer, Rene Lalique, and Jean Puiforcat; textiles by Junichi Arai, Jack Lenor Larsen, Peter Max, Alessandro Mendini, Emilio Pucci, and the Wiener Werkstatte.

Dr Martin Eidelberg was the consulting scholar to the exhibition and the editor of the accompanying catalogue.

"Designed for Delight" focuses on four themes in design: the human body as a design element, from jewelry with eyes to chairs shaped like bodies; the transformation of standard elements into design elements, from precarious bases that challenge gravity to fanciful handles that exceed functional needs; surface enrichment and ornamentation, from flower-encrusted dishes to geometric patterns on textiles and furniture; and the role of fantasy, from a coat rack shaped like a cactus to a couch that imitates a city skyline. Objects are grouped thematically rather than chronologically, to highlight the ongoing traditions within these four areas.

Highlights of the section "Body Language" include a Rene Lalique pendant with a female head merging into flowers and fruit, a brightly-colored Niki de Saint-Phalle armchair shaped like a seated person, a bracelet by Bruno Martinazzi that looks like a hand gripping the wearer's wrist, and a chair by Wendell Castle shaped like a tooth.

"Inversion and Transformation" includes a Gaetano Pesce chair with eight spindly legs, challenging the notion of a stable, solid base; a tea service by Andrea Brani that is tilted, threatening to spill the tea; and a copper collar by Arline Fisch, crafted by knitting metal wire rather than by traditional jewelry techniques.

"Is Ornament a Crime?" offers a floral textile by painter Raoul Dufy, a Robert Venturi chair with decoration reminiscent of a grandmother's tablecloth, and a cabinet by Alessandro Mendini decorated in the style of Kandinsky.

Finally, "Flights of Fantasy" features watches by Alfred Hofkunst shaped like pickles and bacon, an ivy-covered jacket, and a necklace made of eye-glasses.

The catalogue was published in English and French editions by Flammarion. Addressing aspects of Modernism from a new perspective, it features essays by Steven C. Dubin, associate professor of sociology, SUNY, Purchase, N.Y.; Martin Filler, architectural and design historian; and Witold Rybczynski, professor of urbanism, University of Pennsylvania. The catalogue includes color photos of each object with an accompanying quote from the designer or a contemporary source to help further acquaint viewers with the design process.

"Designed for Delight" is the inaugural exhibition in the Museum of Decorative Arts' new facility, designed by Frank Gehry. This new downtown space, encompassing 10,000 square feet of exhibition galleries as well as offices adjacent to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, provides a new and contemporary home for the museum to display its collections. It is Gehry's first public project in his native Canada.

After its close in Montreal, "Designed for Delight" will travel to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Canada; the Cincinnati Art Museum; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia; the J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky; Die Neue Sammlung, Munich; the National Museum, Krakow, Poland; and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris. For information, telephone 514/259-2575.