Art Deco

The Art Deco spire of the Chrysler Building, built 1928-1930, commemorated on a US stamp

Art Deco (French: Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes) was an early twentieth century movement in the decorative arts, that also grew in influence to affect architecture, fashion and the visual arts.

Overview

Art Deco derived its name from the World's fair held in Paris in 1925, formally titled the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, which showcased French luxury goods and reassured the world that Paris remained the international center of style after World War I. Art Deco did not originate with the Exposition; it was a major style in Europe from the early 1920s, though it did not catch on in the U.S. until about 1928, when it quickly modulated into the Streamline Moderne during the 1930s, the decade with which Americanized Art Deco is most strongly associated today.

Paris remained the center of the high end of Art Deco design, epitomized in furniture by Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, the best-known of Art Deco furniture designers and perhaps the last of the traditional Parisian ébénistes, and Jean-Jacques Rateau, the firm of Süe et Mare, the screens of Eileen Gray, wrought iron of Edgar Brandt, metalwork and lacquer of Swiss-Jewish Jean Dunand, the glass of René Lalique and Maurice Marinot, clocks and jewelry by Cartier.

The term Art Deco was coined during the Exposition of 1925 but did not receive wider usage until it was re-evaluated in the 1960s. Its practitioners were not working as a coherent community. It is considered to be eclectic, being influenced by a variety of sources, to name a few:

  • Early work from the Wiener Werkstätte; functional industrial design
  • "Primitive" arts of Africa, Egypt, or Aztec Mexico
  • Ancient Greek sculpture and pottery design of the less naturalistic "archaic period"
  • Léon Bakst's sets and costumes for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
  • Fractionated, crystalline, facetted form of decorative Cubism and Futurism
  • Fauve color palette
  • Severe forms of Neoclassicism: Boullée, Schinkel
  • Everything associated with Jazz, Jazz Age or "jazzy"
  • Animal motifs and forms; tropical foliage; ziggurats; crystals; "sunbursts"; stylized fountain motifs
  • Lithe athletic "modern" female forms; flappers' bobbed haircuts
  • "Machine age" technology such as the radio and skyscraper.
Asheville, North Carolina City Hall, 1926–1928 epitomizes the American Art Deco style.

Corresponding to these influences, the Art Deco is characterised by use of materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin, and zebraskin. The bold use of zigzag and stepped forms, and sweeping curves (unlike the sinuous curves of the Art nouveau), chevron patterns, and the sunburst motif. Some of these motifs were ubiquitous- for example the sunburst motif was used in such varied contexts as a lady's shoe, a radiator grille, the auditorium of the Radio City Music Hall and the spire of the Chrysler Building. Art Deco was an opulent style and this opulence is attributed as a reaction to the forced austerity during the years of World War I. Art Deco was a popular style for interiors of cinema theatres and ocean liners such as the Ile de France and Normandie.

A parallel movement following close behind, the Streamline or Streamline Moderne, was influenced by manufacturing and streamlining techniques arising from science and mass production- shape of bullet, liners, etc., where aerodynamics are involved. Once the Chrysler Air-Flo design of 1933 was successful, "streamlined" forms began to be used even for objects such as pencil sharpeners and refrigerators. In architecture, this style was characterised by rounded corners, used predominantly for buildings at road junctions.

Some historians see Art Deco as a type of or early form of Modernism.

Art Deco slowly lost patronage in the West after reaching mass production, where it began to be derided as gaudy and presenting a false image of luxury. Eventually the style was cut short by the austerities of World War II. In colonial countries such as India, it became a gateway for Modernism and continued to be used well into the 1960s. A resurgence of interest in Art Deco came with graphic design in the 1980s, where its association with film noir and 1930s glamour led to its use in ads for jewelry and fashion. This is still the image of Art Deco held in the minds of most Americans.

Noted Art Deco artists and designers

  • Adolphe Mouron Cassandre
  • Jean Dunand
  • Jean Dupas
  • Erté (Romain de Tirtoff) (1892-1990)
  • Alexandra Exter
  • Eileen Gray
  • Georg Jensen
  • René Lalique
  • Jules Leleu
  • Tamara de Lempicka
  • Paul Manship
  • Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann
  • Sue et Mar
  • Walter Dorwin Teague
  • Carl Paul Jennewein

Noted Art Deco architects

  • Pablo Antonio
  • George Coles
  • Ernest Cormier
  • Banister Flight Fletcher
  • Oliver Hill
  • Charles Holden
  • Raymond Hood
  • Ely Jacques Kahn
  • Henry Vaughan Lanchester
  • Edwin Lutyens
  • James McKissack
  • George Val Myer
  • William van Alen
  • Wirt C. Rowland
  • Giles Gilbert Scott
  • Clifford Strange
  • Joseph Sunlight
  • Ralph Walker
  • Thomas Wallis
  • Ernest A. Williams
  • Owen Williams

Noted Art Deco designs

Chicago's Carbon and Carbide Building The Supreme Court Building in Ottawa, Canada Far Eastern University Campus in downtown Manila, Philippines The North Building of the Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China
  • The Argyle Hotel in Los Angeles, California
  • The Bullock's Wilshire Building in Los Angeles, California (now home to Southwestern University School of Law)
  • Empire State Building
  • Chrysler Building
  • Dallas Fair Park Hall of State
  • Golden Gate Bridge
  • Fisher Building in Detroit
  • Guardian Building in Detroit
  • The Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada
  • Peace Hotel in Shanghai
  • Buffalo City Hall in Buffalo, New York
  • Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea
  • The ocean liners Ile de France, Normandie and RMS Queen Mary
  • The Montreal Eaton 9th floor restaurant is a copy of the huge SS Ile de France first class dining room
  • Napier, New Zealand - In 1931 the city of Napier was levelled by the Napier earthquake and ensuing fires. The city was rebuilt in the Art Deco style.
  • The Hoover Building, Perivale, London
  • The former Byrant and May match factory in Speke, Liverpool.
  • The India of Inchinnan office block, Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland
  • Anzac War Memorial, Sydney built 1929-34 designed C Bruce Dellit (1900-1942), Sculptor: Rayner Hoff.
  • Radio City Music Hall
  • Université de Montréal central building
  • Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa
  • Marine Building in Vancouver
  • The East and West Stands at Arsenal Stadium in London
  • Eltham Palace extension, south-east London
  • The Colleen Moore Dollhouse at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry
  • Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Designed by Bruce Goff.
  • The city hall of Asheville, North Carolina, built 1926 - 28 [1].
  • The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • Waterman Phileas fountain pen
  • Chicago, Illinois
    • Chicago Board of Trade Building
    • Carbon and Carbide Building
  • 720 and 730 Fort Washington Avenue, in the Hudson Heights area of Manhattan in New York City, New York.
  • South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida.
  • Former Pennsylvania Railroad 30th Street Station and Suburban Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Far Eastern University Campus in the City of Manila, Philippines

Jean Gardner's book Houses of the Art Deco Years ISBN 1898030715 looks at the influence of art deco upon suburban housing styles in England. She considers each architectural feature, chapter by chapter, to reveal how various art deco styles influenced British domestic architecture in 1920s and 1930s.


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She considers each architectural feature, chapter by chapter, to reveal how various art deco styles influenced British domestic architecture in 1920s and 1930s. www.outlawthemovie.com. Jean Gardner's book Houses of the Art Deco Years ISBN 1898030715 looks at the influence of art deco upon suburban housing styles in England. Funding is being obtained thro a website set up by Vertigo Films and Blinque London. This is still the image of Art Deco held in the minds of most Americans. Currently in pre-production this film has made British film history by being the first film totally funded by small executive producers. A resurgence of interest in Art Deco came with graphic design in the 1980s, where its association with film noir and 1930s glamour led to its use in ads for jewelry and fashion. ""OUTLAW"" is a film by acclaimed British film director NIck Love (Goodbye Charlie Bright, The Football Factory, The Business) Set in the UK in not so distant a future, it is essentially The Seven Samurai for a modern day.

In colonial countries such as India, it became a gateway for Modernism and continued to be used well into the 1960s. The attention paid to her cleavage meant that the film had a running battle with censors in several states, as well as with the Hays Office. Eventually the style was cut short by the austerities of World War II. The film is remembered mostly because Hughes invented the push-up brassière for his new star Jane Russell to wear. Art Deco slowly lost patronage in the West after reaching mass production, where it began to be derided as gaudy and presenting a false image of luxury. The film also starred Walter Huston as Doc Holliday. Some historians see Art Deco as a type of or early form of Modernism. The Outlaw is a 1943 Western movie about Billy the Kid that marked the début of Jane Russell; it was directed by Howard Hughes.

In architecture, this style was characterised by rounded corners, used predominantly for buildings at road junctions. The Western outlaw is typically a criminal who operates from a base in the wilderness, and opposes, attacks or disrupts the fragile institutions of new settlements. Once the Chrysler Air-Flo design of 1933 was successful, "streamlined" forms began to be used even for objects such as pencil sharpeners and refrigerators. The outlaw is familiar to contemporary readers as an archetype in Western movies, depicting the lawless expansionism period of the United States in the late 19th century. A parallel movement following close behind, the Streamline or Streamline Moderne, was influenced by manufacturing and streamlining techniques arising from science and mass production- shape of bullet, liners, etc., where aerodynamics are involved. But outlawry was once a term of art in the law, and one of the harshest judgments that could be pronounced on anyone's head. Art Deco was a popular style for interiors of cinema theatres and ocean liners such as the Ile de France and Normandie. The stereotype owes a great deal to English folklore precedents, in the tales of Robin Hood and of gallant highwaymen.

Art Deco was an opulent style and this opulence is attributed as a reaction to the forced austerity during the years of World War I. Although Simon's point of view was supported by Winston Churchill, American and Soviet attorneys insisted on a trial, and he was thus overruled. Some of these motifs were ubiquitous- for example the sunburst motif was used in such varied contexts as a lady's shoe, a radiator grille, the auditorium of the Radio City Music Hall and the spire of the Chrysler Building. Prior to the Nuremberg Trials, the British jurist Lord Chancellor John Allsebrook Simon attempted to resurrect the concept of outlawry in order to provide for summary executions of captured Nazi war criminals. The bold use of zigzag and stepped forms, and sweeping curves (unlike the sinuous curves of the Art nouveau), chevron patterns, and the sunburst motif. Still, the possibility of being declared an outlaw for derelictions of civil duty continued to exist in English law until 1879 and in Scots law until the late 1940s. Corresponding to these influences, the Art Deco is characterised by use of materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin, and zebraskin. In the civil context, outlawry became obsolescent in civil procedure by reforms that no longer required summoned defendants to appear and plead.

It is considered to be eclectic, being influenced by a variety of sources, to name a few:. In the context of criminal law, outlawry faded not so much by legal changes as by the greater population density of the country, which made it harder for wanted fugitives to evade capture; and by the international adoption of extradition pacts. Its practitioners were not working as a coherent community. Because the outlaw has defied civil society, that society was quit of any obligations to the outlaw —outlaws had no civil rights, could not sue in any court on any cause of action, though they were themselves personally liable. The term Art Deco was coined during the Exposition of 1925 but did not receive wider usage until it was re-evaluated in the 1960s. ed., Cambridge, 1898, reprinted 1968)). Paris remained the center of the high end of Art Deco design, epitomized in furniture by Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, the best-known of Art Deco furniture designers and perhaps the last of the traditional Parisian ébénistes, and Jean-Jacques Rateau, the firm of Süe et Mare, the screens of Eileen Gray, wrought iron of Edgar Brandt, metalwork and lacquer of Swiss-Jewish Jean Dunand, the glass of René Lalique and Maurice Marinot, clocks and jewelry by Cartier. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I (1895, 2nd.

until about 1928, when it quickly modulated into the Streamline Moderne during the 1930s, the decade with which Americanized Art Deco is most strongly associated today. W. Art Deco did not originate with the Exposition; it was a major style in Europe from the early 1920s, though it did not catch on in the U.S. Pollock and F. Art Deco derived its name from the World's fair held in Paris in 1925, formally titled the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, which showcased French luxury goods and reassured the world that Paris remained the international center of style after World War I. A man who slew a thief was expected to declare the fact without delay, otherwise the dead man’s kindred might clear his name by their oath and require the slayer to pay wergild as for a true man (F. . An outlaw might be killed with impunity; and it was not only lawful but meritorious to kill a thief flying from justice — to do so was not murder.

Art Deco (French: Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes) was an early twentieth century movement in the decorative arts, that also grew in influence to affect architecture, fashion and the visual arts. No one was allowed to give him food, shelter, or any other sort of support — to do so was to commit the crime of couthutlaugh (or aiding and abetting), and to be in danger of the ban oneself. Far Eastern University Campus in the City of Manila, Philippines. The outlaw was debarred from all civilised society. Former Pennsylvania Railroad 30th Street Station and Suburban Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To be declared an outlaw was to suffer a form of civil death. South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida. Outlawry also existed in other legal codes of the time, such as the ancient Norse and Icelandic legal code.

720 and 730 Fort Washington Avenue, in the Hudson Heights area of Manhattan in New York City, New York. In the earlier law of Anglo-Saxon England, outlawry was also declared when a person committed a homicide and could not pay the weregild, the blood-money, due to the victim's kin. Carbon and Carbide Building. In British common law, an outlaw was a person who had defied the laws of the realm, by such acts as ignoring a summons to court, or fleeing instead of appearing to plead when charged with a crime. Chicago Board of Trade Building. . Chicago, Illinois

    . However, romanticised outlaws became stock characters in several fictional settings, particularly in Western movies.

    Waterman Phileas fountain pen. An outlaw, a person living the lifestyle of outlawry, meaning literally "outside of the law." In the common law of England, a judgment declaring someone an outlaw was one of the harshest penalties in the legal system. The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio. When the government of the First Spanish Republic was unable to reduce the Cantonalist rebellion centered in Cartagena, Spain, the Cartagena fleet was declared piratic, allowing any nation to prey on it. The city hall of Asheville, North Carolina, built 1926 - 28 [1]. Eric Robert Rudolph. Designed by Bruce Goff. Ned Kelly.

    Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Perot Rocaguinarda - Catalan bandit, pictured as the gentlemanly bandit Roque Guinart in Don Quixote. The Colleen Moore Dollhouse at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Joco Udmanić - Serb in Yugoslavia. Eltham Palace extension, south-east London. Jovo Stanisavljević - Čaruga - Serb in Yugoslavia. The East and West Stands at Arsenal Stadium in London. Veerappan Indian (of India) bandit.

    Marine Building in Vancouver. Rob Roy MacGregor - Scottish Chieftain. Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa. William Wallace - Leader of the Scottish resistance to Edward I. Université de Montréal central building. Robin Hood - Legendary Medieval English outlaw. Radio City Music Hall. Song Jiang - Historical Chinese outlaw immortalised in the classic Water Margin.

    Anzac War Memorial, Sydney built 1929-34 designed C Bruce Dellit (1900-1942), Sculptor: Rayner Hoff. Erik the Red. The India of Inchinnan office block, Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Jack Black. The former Byrant and May match factory in Speke, Liverpool. Ma Barker. The Hoover Building, Perivale, London. Bonnie & Clyde.

    The city was rebuilt in the Art Deco style. John Dillinger. Napier, New Zealand - In 1931 the city of Napier was levelled by the Napier earthquake and ensuing fires. List of Western Outlaws. The Montreal Eaton 9th floor restaurant is a copy of the huge SS Ile de France first class dining room. Cole Younger. The ocean liners Ile de France, Normandie and RMS Queen Mary. Jesse James.

    Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea. Billy the Kid. Buffalo City Hall in Buffalo, New York. Butch Cassidy. Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Apache Kid. The Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada.

    Guardian Building in Detroit. Fisher Building in Detroit. Golden Gate Bridge. Dallas Fair Park Hall of State.

    Chrysler Building. Empire State Building. The Bullock's Wilshire Building in Los Angeles, California (now home to Southwestern University School of Law). The Argyle Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

    Owen Williams. Williams. Ernest A. Thomas Wallis.

    Ralph Walker. Joseph Sunlight. Clifford Strange. Giles Gilbert Scott.

    Rowland. Wirt C. William van Alen. George Val Myer.

    James McKissack. Edwin Lutyens. Henry Vaughan Lanchester. Ely Jacques Kahn.

    Raymond Hood. Charles Holden. Oliver Hill. Banister Flight Fletcher.

    Ernest Cormier. George Coles. Pablo Antonio. Carl Paul Jennewein.

    Walter Dorwin Teague. Sue et Mar. Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. Paul Manship.

    Tamara de Lempicka. Jules Leleu. René Lalique. Georg Jensen.

    Eileen Gray. Alexandra Exter. Erté (Romain de Tirtoff) (1892-1990). Jean Dupas.

    Jean Dunand. Adolphe Mouron Cassandre. "Machine age" technology such as the radio and skyscraper. Lithe athletic "modern" female forms; flappers' bobbed haircuts.

    Animal motifs and forms; tropical foliage; ziggurats; crystals; "sunbursts"; stylized fountain motifs. Everything associated with Jazz, Jazz Age or "jazzy". Severe forms of Neoclassicism: Boullée, Schinkel. Fauve color palette.

    Fractionated, crystalline, facetted form of decorative Cubism and Futurism. Léon Bakst's sets and costumes for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Ancient Greek sculpture and pottery design of the less naturalistic "archaic period". "Primitive" arts of Africa, Egypt, or Aztec Mexico.

    Early work from the Wiener Werkstätte; functional industrial design.