Art Deco was a popular design movement from 1910 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 amalgamation of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Constructionist, Cubism, Modernism, Bauhaus, Art Nouveau, and Futurism.

Its popularity peaks up during the 1920s. 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, ultra modern.

Time Line

The period termed "art deco" manifested itself roughly between the two world wars, or 1920 to 1939. Many actually stretch this period back to 1900 and even as far as the late 1950's, but work of this time is generally considered to be more of an influence to the Art Deco style, or having been influenced by the style. As with many other art movements, even work of today is still being influenced by the past.

This period of design and style did not just affect architecture, but all of the fine and applied arts as well. Furniture, sculpture, clothing, jewelry and graphic design were all influenced by the Art Deco style.

Exploring Art Style

After the Universal Exposition of 1900, various French artists formed a formal collective, La Société des artiste’s 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 International des Arts Décoratifs et Industrials Moderns (International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts), which would feature French art and business interests.

The initial movement was called Style Modern. The term Art Deco was derived from the Exposition of 1925, though it wasn't until the 1960s, during an Art Deco revival, that this term was coined.

Influenced by Art Nouveau, Bauhaus, Cubist, Native American, and Egyptian sources, the distinguishing features of the style are simple, clean shapes, often with a “streamlined” look; ornament that is geometric or stylized from representational forms; and unusually varied, often expensive materials, which frequently include man-made substances (plastics, especially bakelite; vita-glass; and ferroconcrete) in addition to natural ones (jade, silver, ivory, obsidian, chrome, and rock crystal).

Typical motifs included stylized animals, foliage, nude female figures, and sun rays.

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, or Aztec Mexico, as well as Machine Age or Streamline technology such as modern aviation, electric lighting, the radio, 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 aluminum, 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 interiors of cinema theaters and ocean liners such as the Ile de France and Normandie.

A parallel movement called Streamline Modern, 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.

Art Deco & Machine Age
The Art Deco style celebrates the Machine Age through explicit use 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'.

Art Deco & Decorative Arts
 
Christ the Redeemer by Paul Landowski is located atop Corcovado Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Among the decorative arts during this period, architecture and sculpture are easier to recogize 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 Eileen Gray, Jules Leleu, and Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann all fit into this category.

A select few industrial designers were extremely popular, such as Walter Dorwin Teague and Maurice Escalon. Other notable artists were Georg Jensen (silversmith), Jean Dunand (lacquer), Edgar Brandt (wrought iron) and Cartier (clocks and jewelry).

Art Deco & Visual Arts
Art Deco themes affected the visual arts as well, lending Fauvist palettes and Futurist and Cubist concepts while standing in opposition to traditional art formats. Strong, dynamic lines; bright colours; and fast, modern landscapes can be commonly seen in painting, lithographs, and posters from this design period.

Visual artists include Tamara De Lempicka, Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, Romain de Tirtoff, Louis Lozowick, Aleksandra Ekster, and Grant Wood.

Art Deco Falling off
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, it became a gateway for Modernism and continued to be used well into the 1960s.

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, Miami, FL has the largest collection of Art Deco architecture remaining in North America. Napier, New Zealand has an almost entirely Art Deco town center, rebuilt after a devastating 1931 earthquake, and mostly left unchanged since then.

Art Deco and Modern Relevance

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.

Art Deco & Media, Films

In media, such examples are obvious in Batman, the animated series from the early 1990s, which was heavily influenced by Art 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.

Art Deco & Games
Art Deco is used popularly in video game graphic design. Bioshock takes place in an underwater community heavily influenced by Art Deco. Fallout's design was heavily influenced by Art Deco. The computer game Sim City 4 makes heavy use of Art Deco buildings.

Famous Quotes

There was going to be no more poverty, no more ignorance, no more disease. Art Deco reflected that confidence, vigor and optimism by using symbols of progress, speed and power.” -  Robert McGregor

“One of our goals is to preserve and restore the art-deco architecture of the store.” - Shawna Hunsaker

Art Works by Art Deco Artists

• C. Paul Jennewein (German-American, 1890-1978), Greek Dance, 1984, (surmoulage from the original bronze created in 1926), gilt bronze, height 17 inches, Tampa Museum of Art, FL.
• Designed by Poiret (French), manufactured by La Maison Martine, French, Textile Sample, c. 1923, silk, 90 x 34 inches (228.6 x 86.4 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY..
• Grant Wood (American, 1892-1942), American Gothic, 1930, oil on beaver board, 74.3 x 62.4 cm, Art Institute of Chicago. See American Scene painting and American Gothic.
• Grant Wood, Daughters of Revolution, 1932, Cincinnati Art Museum. Daughters of Revolution is a satirical image of three smug ladies who revel in what they think is their true "Americanness." Wood has painted them drinking from Chinese teacups, wearing lace made in Italy, in front of the painting Washington Crossing the Delaware by the German-American artist Emanual Leutze. .
• Grant Wood, The Birthplace of Herbert Hoover, West Banch, Iowa, 1931, oil on composition board, 29 5/8 x 39 3/4 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
• Grant Wood, The Ride of Paul Revere, 1931, oil on Masonite, 30 x 40 inches (76.2 x 101.6 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See history painting.
• Henry Hohauser (American architect) Collins Park Hotel, 1939, one of the many Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach, FL. The building's circular entry is dramatized by strikingly vertical columns, vivid colors, and patterns employing a chevron motif.
• Kem Weber (German-American designer, 1889-1963), "Zephyr" Digital Clock Model No. 304-P40, 1934, lacquered copper, chrome-plated brass, and plastic, 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches (9.5 x 9.5 x 9.5 cm), manufactured by Lawson Time Inc., Los Angeles.
• Louis Lozowick (1892-1973), New York City (Brooklyn Bridge), 1923, lithograph.
• Paul Manship (American, 1886-1966), Dancer and Gazelles, 1916, bronze, .826 x .883 x .285 m (32 1/2 x 34 3/4 x 11 1/4 inches), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
• Paul Manship, Actaeon (#1), 1925, bronze, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.
• Paul Manship, Atalanta, 1921, bronze, height 28 3/4 inches (73.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
• Paul Manship, Indian Hunter with his Dog, 1926, bronze on marble base, height 23 3/4 inches, Dayton Art Institute, OH.
• Paul Manship, Prometheus, 1934, gilt bronze, height 18 feet, weight 8 tons, plaza of Rockefeller Center, NY. Its companion piece is Atlas. See Prometheus.
• Raymond Hood, architect (American, 1881-1934), American Radiator Building (now American-Standard Building), 1924, New York.
• Raymond Hood, Daily News Building, 1930, New York.
• Seraphin Soudbinine (French, 1870-1944), designer, Jean Dunand (French, 1877-1942), designer, "Fortissimo" Screen, 1925-26, lacquered wood; each panel: 98 x 35 inches (246.9 x 89.9 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See screen.
• Tamara de Lempicka (born in Poland, from the age of 20, active in Paris and America, 1898-1980), Self-Portrait in the Green Bugatti, 1925, oil on wood panel, private collection. See Polish art.
• Tamara de Lempicka, Adam and Eve, c. 1932, oil, Petit Palais, Geneva, Switzerland. See Tamara de Lempicka's studio, c. 1931.
• Tamara de Lempicka, Calla Lilies, 1941, oil, private collection, CA. See curvilinear.
• Tamara de Lempicka, Sleeping Woman, 1935, oil on canvas, private collection.
• Tamara de Lempicka, Spring, 1928, oil on wood panel, private collection.
• Wallace Harrison (American), 1939 World's Fair: perisphere and trilon, 1939.
• William Van Alen (American, 1882-1954), Chrysler Building, 1930, New York City. An archetypal American Art Deco skyscraper, the exterior of the building reflects the Chrysler automobile. The building was faced with Nirosta stainless steel, because of its low-maintenance, and the beauty of its color.