Dunbar Grammar School

DUNBAR GRAMMAR SCHOOL ART & DESIGN HIGHER STILL

HISTORY OF DESIGN

ART DECO ART DECO

General information about the period and characteristics of the Art Deco period.

BACKGROUND The term “Art Deco” (invented in the 1960’s) comes from the “Exposition des Arts Decoratifs” which was held in Paris in 1925 to celebrate the arrival of a new style in the applied arts and architecture. After the catastrophe of the Great War, society wanted to look forward. Art Deco followed on from Art Nouveau, but while the latter relied often on floral artifacts, Art Deco turned away from the winding sinuous qualities of Art Nouveau and looked instead to abstract design and colour for colours sake.

THE ART DECO MOVEMENT (c.1925 – 1939) Art Deco style was originally concerned with expensive luxurious objects for fashionable and rich clients. Rare and expensive materials were used. However, the ideas and designs spread from high fashion to the workaday world and many designs were manufactured in cheaper alternatives. The Art Deco style became a “populist” style and spread through every aspect of daily life, e.g. cinema, radio sets, motor cars, and furniture. Some of the common motifs used included: geometric fan motifs, sunbursts, interlocking geometric forms, zigzags, chevrons, star bursts, Mexican, North American Indian and Oriental designs, Aztec plinths and Egyptian bases.

Art Deco was also influenced by the “Machine Age” of the 20th century. Aspects of machine design were used as inspiration, e.g. the wings of an aeroplane, the bow of a yacht, cogs and wheels. Cars were becoming more widely available, and flying was a new means of transport. Travel and “speed” became a new craze. What Art Deco taught people were bold design. If colours were to be bright, they should bowl you over. Popular colours used in this period were; “Brilliant reds”, “Shocking pinks”, “Electric blues”, “Siren yellows”, “Tango oranges”, Metallic gold, silver and bronze. Luxurious materials were used, e.g. veneers of exotic woods, inlays of mother of pearl, snakeskin, layers of oriental lacquer, ebony, ivory, walnut, mahogany. Highly polished metal work and mirror glass were often used in interiors.

In Paris, many stunning interiors were created involving a collaboration of furniture designers, painters, sculptors, etc. This created a “total design for a room, including walls, windows and furniture. Art Deco was revolutionary in that it prompted the concept of “the designer”. INSPIRATIONS

. Ancient Egyptian art – Tutankhamun’s tomb discovered in 1922

. Japanese art (lacquer work)

. Jazz music

. Cubist, Fauvist and Futurist art movements

. “Speed” and new forms of transport

. Primitive and Folk art

. Designs for Diaghilev “Ballets Russes”

. Growth in consumer goods and advertising

. Streamlined industrial products

CHARACTERISTICS

. Strong geometric patterns

. Sunbursts, zigzags, fan motifs, chevrons, starbursts

. Stylised female and animal forms

. Vibrant “Fauvist” colour

. Fine workmanship and luxurious materials, lacquer, ivory, jade

. Streamlining

. Mass produced products for ordinary homes, fireplaces with glazed tile decoration, radio cabinets in plastic (Bakelite) and innovative ceramic wares. ARCHITECTURE Art Deco architecture was dominated by America. It existed along with, and combined with, the Modernist International style, and was used especially in cinemas, department stores and hotels. Skyscrapers with their spectacular heights and dazzling Hollywood interiors encapsulated the more extravagant facet of Art Deco.

CHARACTERISTICS: Use of advanced technology of the time, luxury materials and glossy surface, streamlined shapes. A prominent building in the Art Deco style was the Chrysler Building in New York, designed by William Van Alen in 1927. The highly ornamental 319m structure was completed in 1930; its tower is covered in shiny chromed steel, in a design of overlapping arcs, punctuated by triangular windows. Below these on the 59th floor stylised eagles play the role of modernist gargoyles. On the 31st storey exterior brickwork forms patterns of streamlined automobiles (Chrysler was an American car company.) The interior includes onyx light fittings, lifts with Ancient Egyptian influenced designs on the doors. It was built as commercial architecture with 77 floors of rentable space. It is considered a classic of Art Deco architecture mainly for its unique tower.

Radio City Music Hall – Staged extravagant musical productions. The exterior of the building was adorned with brightly coloured plaques of metal and enamel depicting the various elements of entertainment, e.g. Drama. The interior was designed in the Art Deco style making use of materials such as Bakelite, formica, mirror-glass, aluminium, chrome, leather and luxury skins. Even the wallpaper was designed to using Art Deco motifs of “Jazz” and the carpet design depicts jazz musical instruments. The influence of Egyptian style can be seen in New York buildings such as the Egyptian Theatre and the Empire State Building. In Britain, we can see examples of Art Deco architecture in the designs for the Odeon Cinemas, the BBC building in Portland Place and Claridges Hotel.

JEWELLERY Firms such as Cartier, Van Cleef et Arpels were renowned throughout the world for their extravagant creations in precious metals and stones. Platinum, diamonds and rock crystal were favoured materials, and they were often combined with black onyx, richly coloured lapis lazuli, apple green jade and gemstones such as emeralds, sapphires and rubies. Fashion of the 20’s called for long and dramatic earrings to offset shorter hairstyles and bobs. Dress-clips were popular, as were bold “cocktail” rings, brooches, belt buckles, bangles and long strands of coloured beads and pearls to emphasise lower necklines and waistlines. “ Fake” costume jewellery was introduced by Coco Chanel. Beaded handbags, enamelled cigarette holders and cases, lacquered compacts, pillboxes, novelty watches and notepads were all created for the luxury market. “Egyptian” style jewellery was also popular. GRAPHICS Posters were bold, and reduced the message to essentials. Use of flat angular shapes, and images of speed and travel, e.g. Poster for Fiat, Cassandres poster “Voyagez la Nuit, en Wagon-Lits,” Faltucci’s poster for the Monaco Grand Prix, Cassandres poster advertising the French line to New York.

CERAMICS Clarice Cliff produced striking tableware and decorative ceramic objects during the twenties and thirties. “Bizarre” series. Use of abstract, geometric patterns and shapes, but she also made use of the human form. Her colours were very often brilliant and clashing. Novel streamlined shapes, e.g. triangular handles for cups. Suzie Cooper, also English, produced Art Deco style ceramics in Staffordshire.

GLASS Art Deco design lent itself well to the decorative surface effects of glass. French glassmakers of the period achieved great success in the application of new techniques to create imaginative designs. Rene Lalique produced many scent bottles, vases, lamp and light fittings, desk accessories and decorative panels. He made use of brilliant colours such as emerald green, peacock blue or plain frosted glass. Imagery included animals, fish, female figure, and plant motifs.

FASHION Coco Chanel revolutionised haute couture with her chic daytime designs, including the classic short and tailored two-piece suit. Elsa Schiaperelli created bizarre gowns and accessories for her 1930’s dress collection. Her hat topped by a shoe, and her gown shaped like a lobster created an element of the surreal. IMPORTANT ART DECO DESIGNERS

WILLIAM van ALEN : ARCHITECT (1882 – 1954)

CLARICE CLIFF : CERAMICS (1900 – 1972)

SUSIE COOPER : CERAMICS (b. 1902)

CASSANDRE : GRAPHICS (1901 – 1968)

GEORGES LEPAPE : GRAPHICS (fashion) (1887 – 1971)

ERTE : GRAPHICS (fashion) (1892 – 1990)

COCO CHANEL : FASHION (1883 – 1971)

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI : FASHION (1890 – 1973)

LEON BAKST : COSTUME DESIGN (1886 – 1924)

PAUL POIRET : FASHION (1879 – 1944)

RENE LALIQUE : GLASS, JEWELLERY (1860 – 1945)

EMILE-JACQUES RUHLMANN : FURNITURE (1879 – 1933)

ROBERT & SONIA DELAUNAY : PAINTERS, GRAPHICS (1885 – 1941) (1885 – 1980)

TAMARA de LEMPICA : PAINTER (1902 – 1980)