‘The Art Deco style flourished during the 1920’s, the period called by the French ‘les Années Folles’, and by the English ‘the Roaring Twenties.’ Another decade in the twentieth century which quickly won a universally accepted sobriquet was the 1960’s, ‘the Swinging Sixties’, a significant feature of which was a full blown revival of Art Deco.’ (Haslam, 1987, p.10)
Between 1925 and 1939 the world was experiencing many social, economic and political changes. After the end of the First World War in 1918 (the Great War), the losses in both men and material were staggering. France was left in ruins and Germany was experiencing severe political and social unrest. Great Britain’s “lavish expenditure in men and resources” (Kraus, 1994, p. 605) resulted in economic suffering. The United States emerged from the war as the strongest industrial and financial power in the world.
The time period in which Art Deco flourished had many titles and descriptions such as
“the Age of Jazz, the Age of Swing, the Charleston, the Age of the Flapper, of Hollywood, of Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin, and of course the Age of Art Deco, but also the Age of the Great Depression, the Wall Street Crash, the Age when money went mad, and the Age of Fascism.” (Van de Lemme, 1989, p.16).
It is surprising that Art Deco managed to endure and become the “style of the age” (p.19) when the 1920’s and 30’s were miserable and desperate times for all.
The style of Art Deco drew on a diverse range of art styles such as the painting styles from the Avant-garde, Cubism (originated from the works of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the decade preceding World War I. It reached its greatest development in the years 1911-1918. A complex movement that included painters, sculptors, musicians and poets), Constructivism (an artistic and architectural movement that first appeared in Russia from 1919 onward which rejected art for art’s sake. It lasted until about 1934 before it was replaced by Socialist Realism), Futurism (a movement that originated in the early twentieth century. Futurists practiced painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic design, fashion, textiles, literature, industrial design, interior design, theatre, film, music and architecture. The founder of this movement was Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.), the world of high fashion, Egyptology (the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion and art), the Orient and African tribalism.
It is most commonly acknowledged that the term ‘Art Deco’ was derived from the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industrials Modernes held in Paris 1925.
Characteristics of the Art Deco movement could be seen in furniture, ceramics, textiles, painting and design.
The furniture of the Age of Art Deco followed two distinct trends. One of the trends included the use of metals and plastics (which is recognised today as modern furniture) which lent itself to mass production and having a more industrial feel. The second trend included individualistic hand-carved and decorative craftsmanship. In this trend, there were many exotic materials used including macassar, ebony, mother-of-pearl, abalone, ivory, tortoiseshell, amboynas wood, burr walnut, palmwood, silver and gold. Craftspeople that created Art Deco furniture were often inspired by the Oriental techniques of Chinoiserie and lacquer work.
The ceramic, porcelain and plaster model pieces belonging to this art movement were vast and various. The basic shapes of plates, vases, bowls, cups and saucers remained unchanged and these provided a perfect canvas for decoration, painting and stencilling. Some of the pieces were highly decorative with a great assortment of patterns and colours (often up to five or so) on each piece, whilst others leant more towards subdued and simplistic with a more controlled and contained use of shape and colour.
Art Deco textiles used materials such as silk tissue, cotton and wool textile. Many of these were pastel or bold in colour with a range of either simple geometric or complex patterns printed on the fabrics. These can be seen in carpets, rugs or mats, and sometimes even the clothing, but the material in clothing tended to be plainer, which left it to be jazzed up with accessories such as furs, hats and glamorous jewellery.
Jewellery included necklace and earring sets, brooches, bangles and rings. Pieces were most commonly bold, colourful and tended to be round, square or triangular in shape.
Paintings and designs (magazine covers and posters) were simple in colour. The colours were usually natural but bold and eye-catching. Some artworks were geometric and abstract (drawing on Constructivism and Cubism), sometimes displaying man-made motifs. One of the widely recognised forms of art from the Art Deco period was the posters:
“The Art Deco poster was the first full-blown example of a sophisticated understanding of the advantages and idiosyncrasies of the world of advertising.’ (Van de Lemme, 1989, p.108).
The posters promoted all of the new consumer items: gramophones, radio sets, automobiles, aeroplanes, ocean liners, cosmetics, household appliances and Hollywood movies. A recognisable motif used in advertisements and posters was the “modish, chic, self-possessed and highly energetic” (p.109) woman that lasted throughout the Art Deco time period.
Behind the iconic artworks and commissions of the Age of Art Deco were talented designers. These skilled contributors included:
Rose Adler (Paris – 1890-1959), bookbinder and designer. Adler’s masterpiece bindings included Calligrammes, Poèmes and Etudes pour Narcisse.
Oscar Bach (Germany, United States of America – 1884-1957), metalworker and furniture designer. Bach was commissioned to design all of the metalwork for the Berlin City Hall in 1914. He designed furniture for Raymond Hood’s office in the Daily News Building (New York), the interior metalware for the Chrysler and Empire State buildings and completed four plaques by Hildreth Mayer for the exterior of Radio City Music Hall.
Joseph Chaunet (Paris – 1854-?), jeweller. Chaunet became the director of one of the most prestigious jewellery houses in Paris, founded by Nitot in 1780. He was one of the thirty selected to exhibit his pieces in the 1925 Paris Exhibition.
Jean Dupas (Paris – 1882-1964), painter and poster artist. In the early 1920’s, he painted Jugement de Paris and les Antilopes. Dupas produced posters and catalogue covers for SAD (Société des Artistes Décorateurs) and porcelain decoration for Sèvres. He also created a mural on the subject of history of navigation in the grand salon of the ocean liner Normandie.
Waylande DeSantis Gregory (Kansas – 1905-1971), ceramist, sculptor. In 1939 Gregory was given two important commissions for the New York World’s Fair: “The Founatin of the Atom” and “American Imports and Exports,” the latter for General Motors.
Art Deco has influenced the future of graphic design by providing designers with an array of everyday items, posters, paintings, fashion, fabrics and jewellery to study and gain inspiration from. Colour schemes, patterns and shapes from ceramics and the previously mentioned object s in which the characteristics of Art Deco can be seen can also be used as design solutions and inspiration.
Poster art from the period of Art Deco is still used in a modern context because of the unique and bold nature of this particular form of art. It is such an influential movement because there are still many pieces of furniture, architecture and artworks that are still around today – in some circumstances it is still fashionable. The artists of the time explored innovative ways to use colour and shape that can help a graphic designer in the twenty-first century with design solutions.
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