Art Deco By: Acacia Thalmann
Origin
First Show
Art Deco was a popular art movement during the 1920s through the 1930s. It has a very unique geometric style that was derived from Art Nouveau. Many of the artists were great at popularizing the movement through poster design. The innovation of new technology really helped with the Art Deco theme that was so glamorous and futuristic. Art Deco survived through the Great Depression even though many people didn’t think it would, since it was so glamorous and seemed like an expensive style for a time when people didn’t have much money. But overall the Art Deco theme changed the creative world.
Art Deco is closely associated with the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs at Industriels Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts.) This expo became the world’s fair for art and was held in Paris from April to October in 1925. Over 15,000 architects, artists and designers showcased their work at this exposition. During the seven months that the show was available for viewing, over six million people toured it. This show was important for the beginning of the Art Deco movement. The term Art Deco was invented by architect Le Corbusier when he used it as a headline for his many articles in his journal L’Esprit nouveau with the headline 1925 Expo: Art Deco. Art Deco is a very luxurious style of art compared to the earlier modern styles, but it also has some influences from other styles such as cubism and de stijl. It’s a modern style that was changed to represent the elegance of the decade with their new machine-age cultures. Many designs featured machinery because of this. Also, it shows how glamorous and extravagant the culture has become with all this new technology. Many of the new typefaces that were created in this period included many highly decorative elements and they focused on style rather than strict legibility. Many of the poster designs focused on the seamless integration of type and image.
Art Deco was derived from Art Nouveau. Art Nouveau fell out of style during World War II because it was super decorative and the Art Deco movement came in and streamlined everything in the design and art world. It was most popular during the Paris expo of 1900. It took a break during World War II because they couldn’t hold the Expo again in 1915, but it regained it’s popularity in 1925 at the expo that year. Many of the retailers got behind the style and used it because of its elegant style. Art Deco has a very unique style. It’s considered a total style, which means it was used in many different types of art, such as architecture, interior design, product design, fashion and of course, graphic design. The Art Deco style diverged from the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts styles, which emphasized the uniqueness of handmade objects and featured stylized, organic forms. The artists wanted to show that the man-made machines are available to everyone and that they can be aesthetically pleasing.
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j ean
c a rlu There were many artists that thrived during the Art Deco period. In France, Jean Carlu and A.M. Cassandre were popular artists. Jean Carlu was originally going to become an architect but he lost his arm in a trolley accident and then decided to become artist instead, since he was not able to pursue architecture. He was an illustrator at first but then worked at an agency that designed advertisements. This is when he designed his most famous Art Deco poster for The Kid by Charlie Chapman.
The Kid by Charlie Chapman Jean Carlu
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A.M.CAS This is where Art Deco style really became popular. It was mainly used as display or headline type for book titles or posters and was only intended to be used that way. Because it was so stylized it fell out of use. During the Art Deco movement typeface designers focused more on style rather than strict legibility. Cassandre also produced over 200 posters and many of his best projects were designed for shipping lines and railroad companies. Some great examples of this are posters he designed for the transatlantic route paid by the ocean liners such as L’Atlantique (1931) and Normandie (1935). The Normandie poster, which was designed for a transatlantic liner, is the best known art-deco poster ever designed. It shows a great Art Deco style and shows the greatest connection between Art Deco, luxury and glamour. One of his designs, the Dubonnet, featured a man drinking and ended up being used as the company’s logo. The man in the design became iconic and was always associated with the company.
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It’s a modern style that was changed to represent the elegance of the decade with their new mAchine -age cultures.
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In his early career, A.M. Cassandre was influenced by cubism and surrealism but he is one the best Art Deco poster designers. His first example of success was the poster he designed for the Parisian furniture store Au Bucheron (The Woodcutter) in 1923, which proved his talents in this style of art. The poster has a strong typographic foundation that worked perfectly with the image, which is a great example of the Art Deco style. He used this style for many of his posters to great effect and it was one his main talents when it came to poster design. Cassandre once said that, “A good poster is a visual telegram.” The Au Bucheron poster won first prize at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs at Industriels Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts). He also designed the Art Deco typeface Bifur, which he drew for the Deberny & Peignot Foundry in 1929. This typeface had highly stylized letters and were very geometric, which fell right alongside the Art Deco movement.
SSANDRE
L’Atlantique A.M. Cassandre
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A GOOD IS A V TELEG
-A.M. Ca
D POSTER VISUAL GRAM.
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assandre
Normandie A.M. Cassandre
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the best known art-deco poster ever designed. In 1936 he was honored with a solo exhibition of his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. After this he spent some time in the United States designing magazine covers for Fortune and Harper’s Bazaar. He also worked for a couple advertising agencies, Young and Rubicam and N.W. Ayer & Sons. A quote from A.M. Cassandre, “Modern man is always in a rush-rushing whither, one wonders? The fact remains, he’s in a hurry, he’s rushed and impatient. He hasn’t got the time to split hairs. What impresses him is the short cut, the rapid sketch, the straight line. He prefers violence to strength, shouting to conversation, a quick lay to love, Coca Cola to Chateau Margaux. This is why he likes posters and why advertising may perhaps be his truest expression.” When he returned to France he didn’t receive many commissions so he started theatre design. He suffered from depression in his later years and committed suicide in Paris in 1968.
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“MODERN MAN IS ALWAYS IN A WONDERS? THE FACT REMAINS, H AND IMPATIENT. HE HASN’T GO WHAT IMPRESSES HIM IS THE SH THE STRAIGHT LINE. HE PREF SHOUTING TO CONVERSATION, A TO CHATEAU MARGAUX. THIS IS WHY ADVERTISING MAY PERHAPS
A RUSH-RUSHING WHITHER, ONE HE’S IN A HURRY, HE’S RUSHED OT THE TIME TO SPLIT HAIRS. HORT CUT, THE RAPID SKETCH, FERS VIOLENCE TO STRENGTH, QUICK LAY TO LOVE, COCA COLA S WHY HE LIKES POSTERS AND S BE HIS TRUEST EXPRESSION.”
Artists Heinz Schulz-Neudamm was an art deco artist from Germany. He designed the poster for Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis in 1926. This poster brought a more futuristic style to the Art Deco movement. In America the Art Deco movement had a different name, Jazz Modern. The Art Deco movement also lasted longer in the United States than it did in Europe. The American artists took style ideas from Native American and Aztec art. Joseph Baker designed the cover of the December 1937 edition of fortune magazine. It’s one of the most famous Art Deco-inspired magazine covers that had been made.
Art Deco and the Great Depression
The Art Deco movement surprisingly stayed popular even throughout the Great Depression. It gave the people hope that they could afford elegant and luxurious things even if they were struggling at the moment. During World War II the style became more of a mass market design, which in turn made the elegance of the Art Deco theme seem fake and the style fell out of favor. It also feel out of popularity because the style seemed too gaudy and decorative. Instead of using metals to decorate buildings in the Art Deco style, there was an effort to save metals to help with the war. Many of the American artists helped with the war effort itself. Charles and Ray Eames worked for the U.S. Navy, developing molded plywood designs for leg splints. This led to them designing furniture which helped them design their LCW chair, which was an inexpensive, mass-produced molded plywood object, from their wartime experiments.
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Fortune Cover Joseph Baker
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ARCHIT ARCHIT ARCHIT ARCHIT ARCHIT
ECTURE ECTURE ECTURE ECTURE ECTURE 8
CHRYSLER The Art Deco style also had great influence in architecture. The Chrysler building is the greatest example of Art Deco style used in architecture. The Chrysler building was designed by William Van Allen. Even the lobby was the most decorative and fanciful lobby in the city. On the ceiling there is a large ornate mural that shows the modern age of technology that was beginning to form at the time such as the age of flight. The mural also showed many of the workers who worked on the building. Much of the interior design is filled with Deco triangles, sharp angles, slightly curved lines, chrome detailing, and a multitude of patterns. Many people see the Chrysler building as a transitional piece. At the time it was built it didn’t match many of the architecture but it really pushed the boundaries of what was known for architecture. It was the tallest building in the world for 11 months until the Empire State Building was built. The Empire state building was also Art Deco style even thought the style of architecture seemed less important to the building because it was then and now the tallest building in the United States. Another iconic Art Deco building in New York was the Bryant Park hotel. This hotel has a dark exterior with gold accents that really sets it apart from any other normal cement design. Even though the building was completed a year before Art Deco even got it’s name in France it is still a brilliant example of the new found architecture that took over the New York Skyline. Many other Art Deco buildings in New York include the Paramount Building, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City Music Hall, and The Eldorado are just a few of the many buildings in New York City. Art Deco architecture focused on hard-edged but very much embellished designs that were accentuated with gold accents. Normally the buildings had long squared shapes on the side and were topped with a circular design and spire and that created a streamline effect. This effect was really helpful when architects started designing more and more skyscraper buildings.
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Chrysler Building William Van Allen
BUILDING
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The Chrysler Building is the greatest example of Art Deco style used for Architecture.
claud
be el man The Art Deco style in buildings is a little different than how it’s used in posters. While it is the same in it’s geometric and natural form it differs in the fact that the buildings will have many other parts to the design. Most of Art Deco design of the buildings focused on making the designs feel modern to show the ideas of the new age. Art Deco buildings featured sleek exterior design with a linear and geometric idea to them. They would also feature step backs to create and interesting outline or silhouette to the building. Many of the buildings would also include low-relief panels on the interior design. The buildings were usually designed in many different materials such as stucco, cement, glazed brick, and mosaic tile. Many decorative details of Art Deco architecture includes patterns such as chevron, zig zag and other geometric patters. Also the architect would create a motif to match the building he was designing to whatever he please. All these characteristics of Art Deco architecture really showed in the new buildings of skyscrapers throughout the world. They were iconic to building of these skyscrapers.
coast. He helped bring an old city into new light and designed the most new age buildings. When in San Francisco he formed a partnership with Aleck Curlett and together they made the firm of Curlett and Beelman. They designed many buildings in the prevailing styles of the early twentieth century such as Art Deco. But it was mainly Beelman that went designed on his own the many Art Deco buildings in the Los Angeles area. His most popular designs include the Sun-Realty Building, Ninth & Broadway, and the Garfield Building. Even the brilliant, turquoise Eastern Columbia Building which is one of the most beloved buildings in Los Angeles was designed by him. The Columbia Building featured emerald terra cotta and the classic Art Deco Design. In today’s world, Miami’s Beach Art Deco District is the largest
Claud Beelman was one of best Art Deco architects on the west
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Eastern Columbia Building Claud Beelman
Miami’s Beach Art Deco District and best known Art Deco wonderland. Albert Anis was one of the artists who helped design these Art Deco buildings. There are over 800 buildings built in this area that show the Art Deco style. It is the first neighborhood to be recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. Many of these were set up to be destroyed but thankfully, Barbara Baer Capitman founded the Miami Design Preservation League, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the appearance and integrity of the Miami Beach Architectural Historic District. With her hard work this wonderful show of historic architecture was saved and got it’s national protection, which motivated many artists to make sure this neighborhood stay in its full glory. In conclusion, the Art Deco movement was a new way of art that streamlined Art Nouveau. It was a classic style that really showcased how elegant and luxurious design can feel. This style really helped the poster design business and shined a new light on advertising. Even though the movement fell on a hard time in the United States it still provided hope to people who were going through difficult times. It even survived World War II. “The Art Deco movement, architecture from that period and sort of the industrial aesthetic from that period. Art Deco meets tribal kind of thing. All that is my primal inspiration.” Quote from Pamela Love about Art Deco.
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Bibliography Seddon, Tony. Twentieth Century Design: a Decade-by-Decade Exploration of Graphic Style. PRINT, 2014. Winton, Author: Alexandra Griffith. “Design, 1925–50 | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Oct. 2004, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dsgn2/hd_dsgn2.htm. “Art Deco Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement-art-deco.htm. Franker, Kara. “Art Deco Historic District.” GMCVB, www.miamiandbeaches.com/places-to-see/miami-beach/art-deco-historic-district. “PHMC Art Deco Style 1925 - 1940.” PHMC > Pennsylvania Architectural Field Guide, 25 Aug. 2015, www.phmc.state.pa.us/ portal/communities/architecture/styles/art-deco.html. “Los Angeles Conservancy.” Claud Beelman | Los Angeles Conservancy, www.laconservancy.org/architects/claud-beelman.
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