The History of Art Deco
Art Deco was made popular in the 1920s and 30s during an exhibition in Paris called Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. This was the first time the decorative art of the new modern style was announced to the world. The exhibition was originally scheduled in 1915, but World War I postponed it until 1925.
After the war, people wanted more modern and functional decor than the popular Art Nouveau of the late nineteenth century. The French sought to create furniture, architecture, jewelry and interior design that had a much cleaner and geometric style. They took the refined skills of the French artisan and merged it with the Industrialization of the day and Art Deco emerged.
Art Deco has a more angular look than Art Nouveau. Art Deco furniture was styled after the streamlined designs of industrial machinery, ocean liners, airplanes and the Art Deco architecture of the day. Art Deco designs are clean, geometric and often used less traditional materials like ebony, steel, glass, marble and rare types of wood.
Art Deco furniture often utilizes tubular metal or flat, chrome-plated steel bars for its legs and decorative accents and uses fine leathers, canvas or plastic for cushioning. While machines were used to create the components, much artisan finishing had to be done to create the final piece.
Although Art Deco got its start in the 1920s and 30s, the term Art Deco wasn't used until the mid 1960s. Before the 1960s, the style was known as Zig-zag modern, Jazz modern, Deco, Art Moderne or simply Moderne.
Art Deco was popular in creating window displays for upscale stores like Macy's, the interior design of establishments like Radio City Music Hall and in the design of the top of the Chrysler building in New York City. It was also popular in restaurants, hotels and the theatre as many artisans cross-populated the stage, costume design and architecture with their work in these other fields.
The Art Deco style completely rejected the historical motifs of the past. Artists were looking toward the future and they partnered with modern architecture, machines and the aesthetics of a streamlined look to achieve this new era of design. While the French are credited for hosting the Exposition and introducing Art Deco, the German Bauhaus design school contributed a great deal to training in this new style.
The Bauhaus eventually moved to Berlin in 1932 and unfortunately closed under the Nazi regime. However, some of the school's faculty then left Nazi Germany and moved to the United States where designers like Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer made an enormous impact on furthering the Art Deco influence.
