Art Deco was a popular design movement from 1920 until 1939, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as
fashion, painting, the graphic
arts, and film. This movement was, in a sense, an amalgam of many different styles and
movements of the early 20th century, including Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Bauhaus, Art Nouveau, and Futurism. Its popularity peaked during the
Roaring Twenties. Although many design movements have political or philosophical roots
or intentions, Art Deco was purely decorative. At the time, this style was seen as elegant, functional, and ultra modern.
History
After the Universal Exposition of 1900, various French artists formed a
formal collective. This was known as La Société des artistes décorateurs. Founders included Hector Guimard, Eugène Grasset, Raoul Lachenal, Paul Follot,
Maurice Dufrene, and Emile Decour. These artists heavily influenced the principles of Art Deco as a whole. This society's purpose
was to demonstrate French decorative art's leading position and evolution internationally. Naturally, they organized the 1925
Exposition Internationale des Arts
Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Art), which would
feature French art and business interests. Russian artist Vadim Meller was awarded there a
gold medal for his scenic design.
The initial movement was called Style Moderne. The term Art Deco was derived from the Exposition of 1925, though it wasn't until the
late 1960s that this term was coined by art historian Bevis Hillier, and popularized by
his 1968 book Art Deco of the 20s and 30s. In the summer of 1969, Hillier conceived organizing an exhibition called Art
Deco at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which took place from July to
September 1971. After this, interest in Art Deco peaked with the publication of Hillier's 1971 book The World of Art Deco,
a record of the exhibition.[1]
Sources and attributes
It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources.
Among them were the "primitive" arts of Africa, Egypt, and
Aztec Mexico, as well as Machine
Age or streamline technology such as modern aviation, electric lighting, the radio, the
ocean liner and the skyscraper. These design influences
were expressed in fractionated, crystalline, faceted forms of decorative Cubism and
Futurism, in Fauvism's palette. Other popular themes in
art deco were trapezoidal, zigzagged, geometric, and jumbled shapes, which can be seen in many early pieces.
Corresponding to these influences, Art Deco is characterized by use of materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin
(shagreen), and zebraskin. The bold use of stepped forms and sweeping curves (unlike the
sinuous, natural curves of the Art Nouveau), chevron patterns, and the sunburst motif are typical of Art Deco.
Some of these motifs were ubiquitous — for example, sunburst motifs were used in such varied contexts as ladies' shoes, radiator
grilles, the auditorium of the Radio City Music Hall, and the spire of the
Chrysler Building.
Art Deco was an opulent style, and its lavishness is attributed to reaction to the forced austerity imposed by
World War I. Its rich, festive character fitted it for "modern" contexts, including the
Golden Gate Bridge, interiors of cinema theaters (a prime example being the
Paramount Theater in Oakland, California) and ocean liners such as the Île de France and
Normandie. Art Deco was employed extensively throughout America's train stations in
the 1930s[2], designed to reflect the modernity and
efficiency of the train. The first Art Deco train station in the United States was the Union Station in Omaha, Nebraska.[3] [4]
The unveiling of Streamline trains paralleled the construction of the Art Deco stations.
A parallel movement called Streamline Moderne, or simply Streamline, followed
close behind. Streamline was influenced by the modern aerodynamic designs emerging from advancing technologies in aviation,
ballistics, and other fields requiring high velocity. The attractive shapes resulting from scientifically applied aerodynamic
principles were enthusiastically adopted within Art Deco, applying streamlining techniques to other useful objects in everyday
life, such as the automobile. Although the Chrysler
Airflow design of 1933 was commercially unsuccessful, it provided the lead for more conservatively designed
pseudo-streamlined vehicles. These "streamlined" forms began to be used even for mundane and static objects such as pencil
sharpeners and refrigerators.
The Art Deco style celebrates the Machine Age through explicit use of man-made materials
(particularly glass and stainless steel), symmetry, repetition, modified by Asian influences such
as the use of silks and Middle Eastern designs. It was strongly adopted in the United States
during the Great Depression for its practicality and simplicity,
while still portraying a reminder of better times and the "American Dream".
Decorative arts
”Illustration for Vida Magazine by Santiago Martinez Delgado (1939)”
Among the decorative arts during this period, architecture and sculpture are easier to recognize than other forms of Art Deco,
for they experienced the greatest popularity and with greater longevity than others, such as lacquering, glass work, and
industrial design. Popular sculptors include Lee Lawrie, Rene Paul Chambellan, Paul Manship, C. Paul Jennewein, and Joseph Kiselewski.
Architects of this time include Albert Anis, Ernest
Cormier, Banister Flight Fletcher, Bruce
Goff, Charles Holden, Raymond Hood,
Ely Jacques Kahn, Edwin Lutyens,
William van Alen, Wirt C. Rowland,
Giles Gilbert Scott, Joseph Sunlight,
Ralph Walker, Thomas Wallis,
and Owen Williams.
Other forms of decorative art were very focused on elegance, dynamic design, and bright colours, while expressing practical
modernity. Many popular interior designers of this period were also furniture designers. Artists like Tamara de Lempicka, Eileen Gray, Jules Leleu, Santiago Martinez Delgado and
Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann all fit into this category.
A select few industrial designers were extremely popular, such as Walter Dorwin
Teague, Maurice Ascalon, and Donald
Deskey. Other notable artists were Georg Jensen (silversmith), Jean Dunand (lacquer), Edgar Brandt (wrought iron), Harry Clarke (stained glass) and Cartier (clocks and jewelry).
Decline
Art Deco slowly lost patronage in the West after reaching mass production, when it began to be derided as gaudy and presenting
a false image of luxury. Eventually, the style was cut short by the austerities of World War
II. In colonial countries such as India and the Philippines, it became a gateway for
Modernism and continued to be used well into the 1960s. Before destruction in World War II,
Manila demonstrated many Art Deco buildings; a symbol of the American colonial past. Theatres and
Office Buildings have been lost in the war and recently demolished and abandoned for new development. A resurgence of interest in
Art Deco came with graphic design in the 1980s, where its association with
film noir and 1930s glamour led to its use in ads for jewelry and fashion. South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida has the largest
collection of Art Deco architecture remaining in North America as well as Tulsa,
Oklahoma. Napier, New Zealand has an almost entirely Art Deco town centre,
rebuilt after a devastating earthquake, and mostly left unchanged since
then.
Appropriate to the rich diversity of sources, we find some of the finest surviving examples of Art Deco art and architecture
in Cuba, especially in Havana. Just as the 50s US autos have been preserved and restored, so the Office of the Historian of
Havana has been restoring these fine old buildings for the past 10 years. The Bacardi Building is the best known of these;
however, the style is found throughout all the districts of the city of Havana and in all the cities of Cuba. The style is
expressed in the architecture of residences, businesses, hotels, and many pieces of decorative art, furniture and utensils in
these public buildings and in private homes.[5]
Modern applications
Marlin Hotel - Art Deco architecture on Collins Ave. -
Miami Beach
Although Art Deco fell out of vogue in the 1940s, it has had small rebirths over subsequent decades. Its designs frequently
appear in modern architecture, entertainment, and media when a "classic retro" look is sought. In media, such examples are
obvious in Batman: The Animated Series from the early 1990s in which
the show's creators used Art Deco styling fused with a deliberate darkness to create an Art Deco variant style often referred to
as Dark Deco. Films such as Sky Captain and the World of
Tomorrow, Dick Tracy, and King Kong have various Art Deco elements as well. In Marilyn Manson's The Golden Age of Grotesque,
he demonstrates an Art Deco style mixed with his Gothic trademark.
In Long Beach, California, much of the recent city development has been
presented in an Art Deco-like, postmodern style. Similarly, Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California has an Art
Deco-themed section. A section of the planned community of Ladera Ranch,
California, has a shopping center themed to Art Deco.
Similarly in Santa Ana, California, new development has looked to replicate and complement
the historical Art Deco structures already there.
Art Deco can also be seen in the graphic design of various video games, such as BioShock and the Fallout series, which use it to give
their high tech settings a retro-futuristic feel. The film
noir-type adventure game Grim Fandango largely takes place in a very
pronounced Art Deco environment, and the strategy game Sim City 4 has similar
influences as well.
Shanghai had a distinct Art Deco style. Today, some Shanghainese are attempting to save that
architecture.
Gallery
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The disused Snowdon theatre in Montreal,
Canada
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Mural for the 1933 Chicago International Fair.
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The grand staircase aboard the SS Paris.
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Delano, National hotel fronts on Collins Ave. - Miami Beach
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References
See also
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
nrm:Art Déco
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