Style Spotlight | Art Deco
Art Deco is a theatrical and luxurious style that was hugely popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Key elements include geometric and curvilinear shapes such as scallop, cloud, zigzag, sunbursts, fans and step, often with use of symmetry to maximise impact on beautiful figured wood veneers, bakelite, chrome and glass. The dynamic look of Art Deco was inspired by cubism, futurism and the Bauhaus movement with references to ancient cultures such as the Aztecs and Egyptians.
Art Deco inherited its name from the design exhibition Des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes which took place in Paris in 1925. The exhibition called for unreservedly modern decoration and design, prompting visitor Helen Appleton Read to reflect ‘gone is all carving and superimposed decoration, interest and variety must depend upon the application of colour and flat design or the quality of beauty existing in the unadorned material’. The name Art Deco was later popularised in 1968 by art historian and critic Bevis Hillier.
Although the Art Deco period is considered to be principally decorative and aesthetic driven, its historical context gives the notion of hope for the future. Art Deco was realised post WW1, new technologies had been developed allowing for faster travel, radios were starting to enter the home, there were greater quantities of industrial produced goods and use of new materials such as chrome, aluminium and various plastics. In 1929 the great depression hit causing a global economic crash which lasted the following decade leading up to WW2. Prohibition was enforced in several countries across the globe including America, Russia, Hungary and Finland. The art deco style was a reaction to the global societal struggles and gave some much needed respite in escapism and hope for a brighter future.
Image: Art Deco Paris Exhibition Poster 1976-1977