02

Rosenthal was well-known in his day; broadly published in the French and German Press as a progressive voice, especially for his colorful interiors and furniture, but also for his white villas which fit neatly as part of the Neue Bauen. There are many reasons for why his name is not more familiar today: much of his work did not survive the war, and - of course - his German career was cut short because he was Jewish. When he went into exile in Palestine, there was little need for his sophisticated interiors on the frugal settlements. He was never able to re- establish his career in wartime England or afterwards because there, he was considered a German national. Also, he favored expensive materials and fine hand craftsmanship while the architects of this period who were championed by historians preferred inexpensive industrial and functionalist solutions. Besides, the history of the interior has never been taken as seriously by architectural historians as exteriors.