Art-deco

Art Deco is a style of visual arts, architecture, and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. It influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners. It took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) held in Paris in 1925. It combined modern styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.

Origins

Art Deco was a pastiche of many different styles, sometimes contradictory, united by a desire to be modern. It featured rare and expensive materials such as ebony and ivory and exquisite craftsmanship. The Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers in New York were the most famous buildings of the 1920s and 1930s.

Characteristics

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 style), 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 women's shoes, radiator grilles, the auditorium of the Radio City Music Hall, and the spire of the Chrysler Building.

Influence

Art Deco was a major influence on the design and architecture of the 20th century, and it has never gone out of style. Many Art Deco buildings have been granted landmark status, and new ones are still being built according to the style. In the world of fashion, Art Deco has influenced many designers, including Coco Chanel.

See also

• Art Nouveau
• Bauhaus
• Cubism
• Modernism