Dreams Made Real
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Back to Art Deco Multimedia: http://www.theage.com.au/multimedia/art_deco 2008 THE SUNDAY AGE ART DECO 1910~ 1939 15 COVER STORY RAYMOND GILL DREAMS MADE REAL THE MAKING OF affection for art deco as a style, and this was such an exciting project,” THIS ART DECO she says. Describing how the show attempts to explain deco’s enduring BLOCKBUSTER IS A popularity, she says: “We just didn’t want to do a chronological show ... STORY SPANNING but to also to put it in its social and political context.” THE GLOBE. Art nouveau was also a hugely popular style in the early 20th century, with its sinuous lines decorating O ONE WAS MORE everything from biscuit tins to surprised by the success lampposts, but art deco embraced the of Art Deco 1910-1939 new age as political structures were than its organisers at realigned after the horrors of World N the Victoria and Albert War I. New inventions, materials and Museum in London. The blockbuster manufacturing processes ushered of more than 300 objects from in a leisure age manifested in five continents — glass, jewellery, Hollywood film, stylised department ceramics, clothing, industrial design, store windows, and the growth of the a car, even a hotel foyer — attracted middle classes, who were beginning 359,000 paying visitors to its South to travel and spend on home decor Kensington gallery in the spring and fashion. of 2003, eclipsing the record of National Gallery of Victoria 231,000 who came to its art nouveau director Gerard Vaughan and his blockbuster in 2000. deputy at the time, Tony Ellwood, “I knew it could be more popular saw the V&A show in London and than art nouveau, but to get 130,000 immediately knew they wanted it for more was just astonishing,” says the the Winter Masterpieces series. The V&A’s exhibitions curator, Ghislaine two institutions were already working Wood. on a joint project, The Art of Bollywood, Blockbusters at the V&A come which came to the NGV last year. with the vast resources of about And V&A curators are no strangers to 2.3 million objects in its collection, presenting shows in Australia, such plus the expertise of 115 curators as their Vivienne Westwood: 34 Years in among a staff of 700, working across Fashion, seen at Canberra’s National 2000 years of creativity in every artistic Gallery of Australia in 2005. media. But clearly art deco design and The V&A’s presentation of Art decoration hit a nerve with the public. Deco 1910-1939 was the first time “I think it’s because those objects since 1976 that the museum had were made to be highly desirable specifically looked at arts from the TEA CUP BALLET, 1935, — that is their reason to be — and 1930s. One of the main benefits of prINTED 1992; OLIVE people find the style still incredibly staging blockbusters is they provide COTTON, AUSTRALIA, consumable,” Wood says. “And an opportunity to display works from 1911–2003. alongside that you have its celebration the museum’s vaults (see Strand of escape, so it’s very decadent in that Palace and Paquin breakouts). Many NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE, sense.” of these works had been acquired over PUrcHASED FROM Wood’s expertise is in decorative ADMISSION FUNDS, 1992 arts from 1900 to 1950. “I have a great C ONTINUED PAGE 16 MODERN AGE FOR THE MASSES The centrepiece of the NGV’s Art Deco As in so many other public buildings and Albert Museum curator was invited to 1910-1939 is the Strand Palace foyer. Its in London at the time — especially hotels, rescue it in 1969 from the demolition site. sleek chrome balustrades, mirrored glass, cinemas and department stores — local The doors, stairs, lights and pale marble dramatic lighting and dazzling revolving designers used these projects to show panels were put in storage and it was not four-door drum evoke the excitement, off British deco design. They competed until planning for the V&A’s 2003 Art Deco glamour and fast-paced hedonism with the Americans and French in proving show began in 1999 that its restoration promised by the new “modern age”. their passion for the drama, glamour and began. “We have been able to restore The Strand’s foyer was designed by decadence of deco. The Strand was built only a very small part of the interior and it’s Oliver Bernard in 1929 for its construction as deco was becoming part of everyday quite a small part compared to what we in 1930-1931. Bernard had worked as a design. London’s Rivoli Bar at the Ritz have at the V&A (in storage),” says curator stage designer in Britain and the US and Hotel, with its polished onyx surfaces and Ghislaine Wood. was technical director of the British exhibit at camphor wood walls inset with Lalique The installation at Melbourne will not the influential 1925 ParisE xposition. glass, might have been where Noel include its marble-panelled walls but will Coward and the fast crowd gathered (the show the stairs, central revolving door, (LEFT) STRAND PALACE HOTEL STAIrcASE, bar was restored in 2001), but the spread two side doors, the mirrored glass and 1930–31, GLASS (LIT), C H ROME ; of deco to the wider population is evident internally lit columns. These heavy pieces OLIVER BERNARD (DESIGNER), ENGLAND, at The Strand. Today the foyer might were transported to Melbourne by boat in 1881–1939; VICTORIA AND ALBERT appear the last word in glamour, but it was April and assembled at the NGV under the MUREUM, LONDON. AccESSIONED, 1969 a middle-class destination. supervision of specialist V&A technician (C758 – 1969). The Strand Palace’s deco interiors were James Goddard and the museum’s © V&A IMA G ES /VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, demolished in the 1960s and the foyer exhibitions co-ordinator, Anna Fletcher. LONDON was destined for a skip when a Victoria R AYMOND GILL Back to Art Deco Multimedia: http://www.theage.com.au/multimedia/art_deco 16 ART DECO 1910~ 1939 THE SUNDAY AGE 2008 COVER STORY BELOW : GLASSES, C1925; RENÉ LALIQUE (DESIGNER), FRANCE, 1860–1945; R. LALIQUE, WINGEN-SUR- MODER (MANUFACTURER), FRANCE, EST 1921. VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM. AccESSIONED, 1970 (CIrc 34 – 1970 – 34 C1970). © V&A IMA G ES /VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON F ROM PAGE 15 decades but had been ad-hoc additions made by individual curators. “There wasn’t a lot of museum interest in the area until the 1960s,” says Wood. This approach is largely a reflection of changing public tastes and a rejection of the hedonistic glamour of art deco brought about by World War II. This attitude was also seen at the NGV, which had works by specific artists from the period but did not have a policy on collecting examples of deco. This current show is the first time an Australian public gallery has presented art deco as a global style. The show’s presentation in Melbourne as a Winter Masterpieces event dovetails with the V&A’s extraordinary international touring schedule. In 2008 and 2009 alone it will send 18 of its exhibitions to 80 locations. Since its London outing, Art Deco has been shown intact in three North American cities and a smaller version has been presented in Japan. As at the V&A, the NGV will present Art Deco 1910-1939 following six main themes. The exhibition begins with the sources of art deco. These include ancient and pre- 20th-century objects from Europe, the “exotic” of Asia and Africa, and the contemporary influence of the avant-garde, including cubists and modernist designers. The 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris is considered the birthplace of art deco, when the French government hosted a world expo but with a bias on French luxury design. Objects from this emerging C ONTINUED PAGE 18 A WORLD OF GLAMOUR CHIME RE, Art deco’s love affair with the exotic the idea of Africa and she represented Edwardian bustle that had come before,” EVENING DRESS, drew from many sources and continents. modernity and the ultimate image of says Jackson. The Paquin dress (which is 1925; SILK, Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb glamour.” displayed flat because of its weight) is SILK THREAD, of Tutankhamun in 1922 kicked off the Asia provided much of the exotic in art decorated with a central panel of blue silk GLASS BEADS; infatuation with all things Egyptian, which deco design, from clothing and objects to depicting dragons with sparkling eyes and JEANNE PAQUIN found form in the new skyscrapers and its hint of danger in Fu Manchu books and embroidered with pearls and diamante. (DESIGNER), cinema palaces. Architecture also drew Hollywood films such asShanghai Express. “It’s an extremely important example of a FRANCE, 1869- inspiration from Mayan and Incan motifs. Jade in particular was seen as flapper dress,” Jackson says. 1936; PAQUIN, Africa was a popular source of sumptuous, if not mysterious, used in “The dress was donated to the V&A in PARIS (COUTURE “primitive” materials in furniture, clothing, creating objects and jewellery, and the 1948 by a Englishwoman who lived HOUSE), FRANCE, ceramics and jewellery. Designers colour became commonplace among in Paris, but when it was pulled out 1890-1953; exploited the use of animal skins, ivory, mass-produced household objects. Lacquer of storage in 2000 for the Art Deco VICTORIA AND exotic woods such as macassar ebony, work was adopted in furniture design and show its bodice was shredded and ALBERT MUSEUM, and textiles with their zigzags, hatch marks Japanese craftsman worked in Europe with the silk skirt had torn under the weight LONDON; GIVEN and cut circle patterns.