Art Deco
Art Deco
started in Paris in the early 1920's just before World War I and continued till
the late 1930’s and spread internationally over the years. It was a very influential movement
that inspired a lot of design areas. Art Deco emerged as a modernist reaction
to Art Nouveau, both movements happened as a reaction to the industrial
revolution and War.
Art Deco is
a sophisticated and stylish and some of it's characteristics consist of:
Geometrical
and vertical/horizontal lines
Angular
shapes,
Different materials like; stone, terracotta, brick, inlay
wood, steel, aluminium, bronze, tiles, glass and shiny fabrics and exotic
materials such as ivory, shark skin and zebra skin.
A lot of
ornaments
Styled
images of airplanes, cards and cruise liners
Nature
motifs like the sunburst, plants and animals.
This is a style that was all about being glamour’s, elegant, modern and functional. Art Deco was
inspired by a wide range of previous styles including Cubism, Art Nouveau, De
Stijl, Futurism, and by past cultures as well.
Features of
Art Deco in architecture –
Horizontal
orientation
Rounded
edges, corned windows, and glass brick walls
Glass block
Porthole windows
Chrome
hardware
Smooth exterior
wall surfaces
Horizontal
grooves or lines in walls
Colours –
light earth tones like off whites and beiges, dark colours used to contrast
with the light base.
Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage
Auguste Perret was a French famous architect that designed early
Art Deco architecture and was a specialist in concrete construction. Another
important figure for Art deco architecture and design is Henri Sauvage, he not
only specialized in art deco but he is also famous for his work in the Art Nouveau
movement and also the early modernism architecture. Functional architecture
wasn’t his only sector but he was also talented in decoration. One of his
famous work that is considered to be the first architecture of the Art Deco
movement is the Louis Majorelle.
Palais d'Iéna built in France Paris in 1937 by Auguste Perret
Studio building, 65 rue Jean de la Fontaine, 16th arrondissement, Paris, (1926–28) by Henri Sauvage
The La Samaritaine department store, Paris (1926-1928) by Henri Sauvage
Art Deco
Furniture
Art deco
furniture is very collectible today. The pieces of furniture have an elegant
form that were done by talented craftsman.
Some of the first pieces were exhibited at the 1925 Paris ‘’Exposition
Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes’’, this exhibition
was dedicated to showcase modern decorative arts. Many art Deco styled
furniture were featured in this exhibition from all over Europe and other
countries. This exhibition was heled
just after World War I and it ordered the participating designers to exhibit
new modern concepts, which later on formed the Art Deco themes and styles. Furniture
was made out of good quality wood such as ebony, burl walnut or ash and other
expensive materials like wrought iron and glass. This furniture was finished to
a very high standard.
Art Deco chair done in 1930 by Ernest Boiceau
Art Deco Pendant Light with Skyscraper Globe, c. 1930’s - Preservation Station, Nashville, TN
A Pair of Art Deco Armchairs Sweden Circa 1920 - 1930
Streamline Art Deco design armchair, 1930s, by Karl Emmanuel Martin Weber (1889 -1963)
Art Deco Drinks Cabinet By Andrew Varah
The shops
at the exhibition wanted to ta attract people from all over and wanted Paris to
be the place for shopping. Shops had luxury goods and gave good attention to
window displays so they would attract more people. Pierre Imans was a French
mannequin manufacturer at that time, he designed new designs of fashion
mannequins. He created better material with a shinier glossy finish, wax heads
and glass eyes. The woman’s mannequins were quite flat chested with a pear
shape figure and were posed in a sophisticated pose, so it gave a good idea how
the clothing would fit on a real body. The French Mannequin company Siegel
& stockman created more abstracted, simplified and geometric figures of mannequins
which were inspired from Cubist, avant-garde art and abstract art. Art Deco influenced many art sectors and
fashion was one of them, Paul Poiret was the founder of art deco fashion, he
was deeply influenced by the Ballets Russes. Art Deco fashion was influenced by
western fashion and exotic influences from Egypt. Characteristics of art deco
fashion are simplicity in form, richness in colour, textured fabrics.
1920 S, Window Display, Paris 1920, 1920S Lingerie
Art Deco Influences
Fashion -
A designer label that was deeply influenced by the Art Deco movement in Spring 2012 collection ‘Ready to wear’ was Gucci. This collectition includes a lot of Art Deco infuences like motfits, shiney fabrics, geometric designs and embroidery.
Many Hollywood actresses have worn Art Deco inspired dresses on the red carpet by designers like Versace and Julien MacDonald.
‘Ready to wear’ by Gucci
Versace Atelier FW 2009-2010
Architecture -
The
backstage greenroom at the Oscars in 2013 in the Dolby Theatre was all inspired
by Art Deco and also ‘’Old Hollywood Glamour’’. It was designed by AD100
interior designer ‘Madeline Stuart’. The greenroom looked elegant, glamour’s
and sophisticated just like any Art Deco interior. The seating were upholstered
in silks, the floor had geometric designs, the door was in black and gold with
rectangular motifs, Art Deco was all over the place.
Art Deco
has inspired and influenced many styles over the years. To this day we can
still see artists being inspired by the sophisticated and stylish movement and I'm sure it will continue doing just that.
Reference -
Victoria, Museum, A. and webmaster, D.M. (2015) Art deco: The 1925 Paris Exhibition - Victoria and Albert Museum. Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/the-1925-paris-exhibition/ (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
Wentworth, I. (2014) Art deco style (1925-1940). Available at: http://www.wentworthstudio.com/historic-styles/art-deco/ (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
Art deco furniture, A complete guide to the history, sourcing and buying (no date) Available at: http://www.decolish.com/ArtDecoFurniture.html#axzz4A28DnU13 (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
Wallis, L. (2014) The fall and rise of mannequins that look like real women. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25402020 (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
Blumenthal, F.M., Archive, J.W. and Siegel, M. (2016) ‘Auguste Perret’, in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Perret (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
Henri Sauvage (2016) in Wikipedia. Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Sauvage#Art_Deco (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
Art deco fashion (no date) Available at: http://www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com/art-deco-fashion.html (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
Jeanne (2013) Home. Available at: http://www.cozystylishchic.com/2013/03/trending-now-art-deco/ (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
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