This art
movement originated in the 1920’s in France, with the name Art Deco evolved
from the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes”; an exhibition held in
Paris in 1925, which was dedicated for modern decorative arts to be displayed.
It had different designs from different places, and it was the first phase of
Art Deco, as it was the first exhibition for this style.
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| The Exhibition Poster |
The designs
of Art Deco represented modernism developed into fashion with the products
being both individually crafted luxury items and mass-produced goods. The aim
of this movement was to create a sleek and antitraditional elegance that
signify abundance and composure.
Features of the style are: clean shapes; with a smooth look, geometric
ornaments or stylized from representational forms, and as materials used by the
style were: expensive materials which had man-made substances in them together
with those natural materials. Such materials included were: Bakelite plastics,
vita-glass, ferroconcrete, jade, silver, ivory, obsidian, chrome and rock
crystal. Even for machine-made objects, Art Deco reflected admiration for the
innovation of the machine and for the built-in design qualities of it. Some
examples of this; planarity, symmetry, relative simplicity and unvaried
repetition of elements.
Art Deco was
influenced by other movements such as: Art Nouveau, Cubism, Bauhaus and Russian
Ballet Company (Ballets Russes). Its decorative ideas came from American
Indian, Egyptian, and early classical sources as well as from nature. The
characteristics concepts included in Art Deco were; abstract forms of: nude
female figures, animals, foliage and sun rays.
A number of
designers in different areas used to design individually crafted or
limited-edition items. Some of these designers (one from each area):
Furniture Designer.
Maurice Dufrene: Born in France in 1876 and died in
1955. Since he was young he used to collect scrap pieces of wood, fabric and
cardboard from the wholesale commodities business of his father and used to
work his own creations. By time he learned how to decorate with marquetry
floral medallions in boxwood ebony and ivory after attending to Ecola Boulle
(school).
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| Maurice Dufrene |
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| Maurice Dufrene's work |
Architect Designer.
Eliel Saarinen: Born in Finland in
1873 and died in 1950. Before he moved to the US where his architectures could
been notable for his influence on modern architecture particularly on
skyscraper and church design, he was widely known in Europe and also being the
foremost architect of his generation in Finland for his work.
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| Eliel Saarinen |
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| Eliel Saarinen's work |
Metalsmith:
Jean Puiforcat: He was born in
France in 1897, and died in 1945. He was a sculptor but he used to work on
metal work.
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| Jean Puiforcat |
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| Jean Puiforcat's work |
Glass and Jewelry Designer:
Rene Lalique: Born in France in 1860
and died in 1945. He had an important contribution in Art Nouveau with his
designs in both jewellery and glass during the beginning of the 20th
century.
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| Rene Lalique |
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| Rene Lalique's work |
Fashion Designer:
Erte: Born in Russia in 1892 and
died in 1990. He used to design dresses and accessories for women, he also used
to design costumes sets for dramatic productions, opera and ballet shows.
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| Erte |
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| Erte's work |
Jewellery Artist:
H.G. Murphy: Born in Kent (England)
in 1884 and died in 1939. Since he was young he already had an interest in jewellery
and when he got a bit older he was offered an apprenticeship by a jewellery
designer where he spent some time working for this designer until he set up his
own workshop. He started to work in silver but after some time he started to
work with gold and with expensive gems.
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| H.G Murphy |
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| H.G Murphy's work |
Sculptor:
Demetre Chiparus: Born in 1886 and
died in 1947. He was a Romanian sculptor who created bronze ivory sculptures
which were inspired by Russian dancers from Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
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| Demetre Chiparus |
Then there’s
the fashion designer Paul Poiret and
the graphic artist Edward McKnight
Kauffer whose work reached a larger audience than the others.
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| Paul Poiret |
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| Edward McKnight Kauffer |
This art movement wasn’t being used
anymore/wasn’t popular as before in most places during the World War II (1939-1945),
but in the late 1960s the interest in Art Deco continued again. In today’s
century (21st) Art Deco’s inspirations continued in areas such as:
decorative art, fashion and jewellery design.
Graphic Design Examples:
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| Art Deco Style Poster and Cover |
