Art Deco was a decorative and architectural style that flourished internationally from the 1920s through the 1930s, marked by bold geometric ornament, streamlined forms, and lavish use of materials such as chrome, lacquer and inlaid wood. It took its name retrospectively from the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, and it left some of the twentieth century's most recognizable skyscrapers, among them New York's Chrysler Building and Empire State Building.
Facts
Founded In PlaceParis, France, taking its retrospective name from the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes 1 Key PrincipleBold geometric ornament and streamlined forms rendered in lavish materials, applied across architecture and the decorative arts alike 1 Disputed
End YearArt Deco's roots reach back before the First World War and its influence continued in places after 1939, but the outbreak of the Second World War is the point most historians cite for the close of its main international period. Connections
Expressed In
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Influenced By
Art Nouveau, Movements Art Deco emerged directly out of Art Nouveaus decorative vocabulary, streamlining its organic curves into more geometric, machine-age forms.
Movement Members
Canonical Art Deco skyscraper.
Canonical Art Deco skyscraper.
Iconic Art Deco factory building.
Widely read as one of the best-known portraitists of the Art Deco era, working in Paris through the 1920s and 1930s.
Source Wikipedia
Sources
1. Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage Learning- chapter on early twentieth century architecture and design, section on Art Deco
- chapter on Art Deco
Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationArt Deco, Terminology section
In its time, Art Deco was tagged with other names such as style moderne, Moderne, modernistic, or style contemporain.
- Movement Members: Tamara de Lempicka, Tamara de Lempicka, lead section
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the name Art Deco come from?
Art Deco was not called that at the time. The name is retrospective, taken from the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the exhibition that showcased the style's bold geometric ornament and streamlined forms internationally. The style itself flourished through the 1920s and 1930s and left some of the century's most recognizable skyscrapers, including New York's Chrysler Building and Empire State Building.
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