Art Deco : Blog 6

Art Deco:

Art Deco is generously known to be the style of glamour. Art Deco is a tendency in Design which emerged from France in the 1920’s. It is different from other styles and movements that were popular before, as this style include less decoration but it is much more sophisticated. Art Deco’s product did not only include luxury items but mass produce items as well. Their intention was to create elegance through something not traditional.

The exhibition that was held in Paris in 1925 gave way to this style to emerge. Some events happening at that time that effected art and design were, women had won the right to vote and machine and technology were rapidly improving life's quality. Radio, printing press and even skyscrapers were introduced at this time. One of the most famous fashion designers, Coco Channel started from the Art Deco style. They looked forward to a very bright future.  

Art deco is inspired from various events and traditions that happened before such as Ancient Egypt, Tribal Art, surrealism and cubism. In 1922, there was also the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb which was a worldwide fascination and that is why Egypt becomes an inspiration for The Art Deco style. In fact we see this influence in various products from architecture to jewellery and even furniture.

Art deco’s characteristics are clean shapes, simple, geometric or stylised forms and use of expensive-looking materials such as Bakelite, Chrome, coloured glass and painted concrete. Their style was used in fashion and advertising. It was a style associated mainly with leisure, such as Hotels, Bars and Cinemas. Apart from low-cost materials, the style incorporated exotic woods like ebony, tortoiseshell and amboyna which were used freely at that time. Some colours associated with Art Deco are bright colours like yellow, ruby, purple and turquoise. Products created in this style were decorated with patterns like zigzags and stripes. Transportation started getting a more futuristic look as well. Art deco's luxury style came from the fact that World War 1 was over, and people were looking forward for a new peaceful world. 

Graphic designers who worked with this style in France are; Paul Colin, Jean Carlu and Charles Loupot. In America this style was mainly used for industrial design and advertising. In fact we see that the travel poster become important at the time. Art deco is often compared and contrasted with Art Nouveau. The main contrast between the two is that Art Nouveau was all about curvature and stylized work while Art Deco was linear with no decorations yet very glamorous. 

When 1930’s approached the economy started having some trouble and the families started to be effected from this economic downturn. Art Deco had to opt for less expensive materials, but this wasn’t as satisfying for the customers. The bright future never came about, but another dull phase approached. With the outbreak of World War two in 1939, Art Deco deceased although; it had a strong revival in the 1960’s. In my opinion, Art Deco was a strong style as it was very influential. The fact that it had a revival also shows that this style was liked by the people. Therefore, they wanted to experience the style’s beautiful work once again.

Bibliography

Anon., 2009. Art Deco Style. [Online]
Available at: http://www.art-deco-style.com/art-deco-history.html
[Accessed 04 11 2014].

Bitannica, E., 2014. Britannica. [Online]
Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/36505/Art-Deco
[Accessed 04 11 2014].