Art Deco - A History
No artistic style speaks more redolently of the Roaring Twenties than Art Deco
, though its origins are in fact two decades earlier.
The name "Art Deco" comes from "La Societe des artistes decorateurs", which was founded in 1900 in Paris. However, the term was not used until well after the movement"s heyday, in 1968, with the publication of "Art Deco of the 20"s and 30"s" by Bevis Hillier. Until then, the usual term was "Art Moderne".
The style is characterised by bold geometrical shapes, elegantly curved lines and a distinctive range of ornaments and motifs. It can be found in everything from the architecture to jewellery, including furniture, clothing and accessories.
"La Societe" aimed to make French design known internationally, and to turn art into business. Its founders included Art Nouveau luminaries such as Hector Guimard (1867 "" 1942), the architect responsible for the facades of several of Paris"s metro stations; decorative artist Eugne Samuel Grasset (1845 "" 1917) and Raoul Lachenal (1885 "" 1956), who specialised in pottery.
Indeed, Art Deco style can be seen as an evolution of Art Nouveau: with stronger, bolder, more symmetrical shapes replacing the flowing organic curves of the latter.
The International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Art in Paris in 1925 was perhaps the greatest ever exhibition of Art Deco. One highlight was the glassware of Ren Lalique (1860 "" 1945).
Lalique is also one of the best known Art Deco jewellery designers, along with Grard Sandoz (1902 "" 1988), who began designing for his family firm while still a teenager, and Jean Desprs (1889 "" 1980), whose work was industrial in style, featuring streamlined, mechanical shapes.
1920s fashion was strongly influenced by Art Deco design. Dresses started to follow the bold geometric shapes characteristic of the style, and they were often accentuated with long strings of beads which mirrored the bold, heavy lines found in Art Deco sculpture and painting.
Coco Chanel (1883 - 1871) was the most famous fashion designer of the Art Deco world. As well as her clothes, her perfume reflects Art Deco ideals, both in the heavy, complex scents (a rejection of conventional, overwhelmingly floral perfumes) and in the design of the bottles.
It was during the period 1928 to 1930 that some of the most ambitious Art Deco projects were completed, including the Chrysler Building in New York, the City Hall in Buffalo and the Fisher and Guardian buildings in Detroit.
This was also the period during which glamorous Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempica (1898 "" 1980) began to flourish, although she was equally prolific during the 1930s. Her distinctive style features stylised female figures painted with heavy patterns of light and shade.
During the mid to late 1930s and 1940s, Art Deco experienced a decline in popularity. In the face of the Great Depression and then the Second World War, 1920s decadence was no longer in tune with the times.
It was not until the 1960s that Art Deco began to see a revival. Following the success of his book, Hillier curated an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The style has remained popular ever since, with original items fetching sky-high prices in auctions and antique shops, and reproductions, for example Art Deco mirrors, Art Deco bags, scarves, lamps and jewellery popular choices for those on more modest budgets.
by: Mandy Waters
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