Drexler was born in
Brooklyn After the war Drexler worked with the office of industrial designer
George Nelson and was Architecture Editor of
Interiors magazine. Drexler joined the Museum of Modern Art in
New York in 1951 as Curator of Architecture and Design and was promoted to director of the department in 1956 succeeding
Philip Johnson. Drexler has lectured at
New York University,
Yale University,
Harvard University,
Pratt Institute, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other universities and institutions. Drexler had the longest curatorship in the Museum of Modern Art history. Over thirty-five years Drexler conceived, organised and oversaw trailblazing exhibitions that not only mirrored but also foresaw major stylistic design developments in industrial design, architecture and landscaping. During Drexler's curatorship, MoMA played a central role in examining the work and reinforcing the reputations of twentieth-century architects, among them
Frank Lloyd Wright,
Le Corbusier,
Richard Neutra,
Marcel Breuer, and
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Drexler explored unexpected subjects: from the design of automobiles (he was the first to include automobiles in art museums) to a reconstruction of a Japanese house and garden. Drexler's pioneering shows promoted new ideas about architecture and design as modern arts He designed the
Philip Johnson Gallery at MoMA. Drexler retired from the MoMA post due to poor health in 1986 and died in January 1987. In 1977, Drexler received the
American Institute of Architects Medal for "vast contributions in documenting the art of architecture." ==Exhibitions==