ART Deco El Paso Museum of Art
January 18–May10, 2019
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rt Deco has its roots in many art movements like Cubism, Futurism, Vienna Secession, among others. It is an art movement that was inspired by The Ballets Russes, and seemingly exotic cultures like those of North American and Aztec Indian art. The discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922, also had an influence on Art Deco. It inspired the use of unique Egyptian motifs like ziggurats and lighting bolts. Art Deco defined elegant but efficient living. In 1966, the term Art Deco was coined for the movement, derived from the Exposition Internationale de Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, that took place in Paris in 1925. This exposition stood as a monument to the excesses and contrast of Art Deco. Art Deco became an international style of the 1920s to 1930s, and affected many areas including graphic design fashion, and architecture.
“Art Deco defined elegant but efficient living.” Cover: Tamara De Lempicka, Self-Portrait in a Green Bugatti, 1929 Left Page: G. P. Joumard, Les Idées Nouvelles de la Mode, 1924
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G r a p H i c D es i g n
Art Deco was a sleek and smooth style. Simplicity,
clear in a matter of seconds using no, or minimal words.
symmetry, and geometry were some of the basic elements
Cassandre created a triptych poster for Dubonnet liquor
of it. This created visual language and was used in other
which depicts in three stages a man experiencing, or filling
types of art and design. Much of the Art Deco designs
himself with the drink. Along with the different stages of
were made by hand and were expensive, but eventually
the man, there are stages of the word Dubonnet as well.
filtered down to being mass produced. In the Art Deco
Starting with ‘Dubo’ which means doubt in French, then
era, one of the most famous graphic designers in Paris
‘Dubon’ or, good, and finally he fills out the last word
was Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron, also known as A.M.
Dubonnet which is the brand name of the liquor. With this
Cassandre. The Deco style was evident in his posters,
poster, he achieved his goal of communicating with both
which included sleek and geometric shapes. Cassandre
pictures and words, creating an instant impact with them.
published an essay about design in which he expressed
Cassandre also designed many display typefaces. His
the medieval tradition of using images and pictures to
typeface career started with his Bifur typeface, made in
communicate. This way, the message could become
1929. This typeface is yet another example of reductive
Morris Fuller Benton, Cover for American Type Founders, 1928
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geometric shapes that are simple, but essential to comprehend the letter. His typefaces were tied to the styles of his posters, keeping the way in which he grabs the viewers attention with the blink of an eye by using his stylized shapes. Cassandre also introduced the typeface Peignot in 1937. This was an all-purpose typeface named after George Peignot, who supported Cassandre’s works for many years. This sans serif typeface was legible but kept the aspects of Art Deco’s geometric style. One of the most well-known type-faces of the era is Broadway, designed by Morris Fuller Benton shortly before Bifur, in 1928. It associated the New York entertainment district with the stylized fashion of Art Deco. New York was idealized by graphic designers of this period. The typeface is highly decorative and intended to be used in large displays, not for general use, since its readability is low.
Top: Morris Fuller Benton, Cover for American Type Founders, 1928 Bottom Left: A. M. Cassandre, Étoile du Nord, 1927 Bottom Right: A. M. Cassandre, Nord Express, 1927
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Fash i o n Art Deco fashion was a unique combination of
original and traditional garment and turn it into luxurious
exoticism and modernity. These aesthetics
embroidered clothing that would fit the female figure, like
defined the era between 1909 and
her Evening Dress of 1927. Using extensive embroidery
1939. In the 1920s, haute couture was
and metallic lace, this dress resembled designs from Asian
very successful. The designers Gabrielle
screens that Chanel collected. Chanel’s “Garconne Look” has broadly been called the “flapper look” and truly
“Coco” Channel and Madeleine Vionnet revolutionized 1920s fashion, each in their
defined Art Deco fashion. The Flapper look was defined
own ways. Vionnet explored the different cuts
by its “Tomboy” and flat silhouettes. Chanel used male
and flows that could be achieved. She used
motifs like sailor suits to interpret masculinity into her
the geometric shapes from Art Deco, like
fashion. The flapper dress was for newly liberated women
squares, triangles, and circles in her designs
who wanted to look free.
while letting the fabric decide what the dress would look like and added little details like beads and fringe for a more elaborate design. Her Rayon Dress from 1938, now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a fine example of how she avoided complicated textiles. Coco Chanel was not a typical designer like Vionnet, but she always had an incredible eye for fashion. She drew her inspiration from going to parties of the inner circles of her lovers. She would also use an
Center: Madeleine Vionnet, Rayon Dress, 1938 Bottom Right: Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Evening Dress, 1927 Right Page: Unknown, Flappers, c.1920s
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Architecture
The corner of East Texas Avenue and South Stanton Street
in Phoenix, Arizona, which unlike other buildings, like the
in El Paso, Texas has its own example of Art Deco. The
Luhrs Tower, has only one exposed elevation. This tower
Bassett Tower designed by Henry Trost in 1930 has 12
was built in 1933 also by Edward Sibert who also used
floors along with an attic and a machinery floor, very
terra-cotta to create this Kress Store. The windows of the
closely similar to the Luhrs Tower in Phoenix that is only a
building are divided into groups of three and the higher up
story shorter. The Bassett Tower is ornamented by limestone
the smaller the windows became.
and granite and includes marble panels. The lobby’s floor
This was to create the illusion
is made of various marbles with a coffered ceiling and
that the building was taller than
a bronze grill ordaining the entrance. Another architect,
it actually was.
Edward Sibert was responsible for the Kress Store designs from 1929 to 1954. Also in El Paso, he designed the Kress Store as an ‘L’ shape on Oregon and Mesa Streets. This building uses terra-cotta in different shades to further ornament the building. The Kress Store has some hints of Spanish influence. For example, the balconies are of iron and there is a miradorlike top stage. There is also a Kress Store Background: Charles Bassett Hammand, Entrance and Store Front, 1929 Bottom: Unknown, El Paso, 1959
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Legacy Art Deco has influenced different aspects of life in the
presence in modern day film, a recent example of this is
1920s and 1930s and still influences today’s art. For
the Hollywood production The Great Gatsby. The movie
example, the Broadway typeface that is still used today
captures the lush lives of those living in the era. There is
by night clubs and restaurants that want to show a level of
even a certain resemblance to C3PO from the Star Wars
sophistication. Chanel, even after her death in 1971, still
series from the Metropolis poster. Art Deco is expected
inspires designers to recreate Art Deco fashion. Gucci’s
to come back in its same glamorous and bold style, but
SS12 dress skims the female figure and flows freely, much
as it comes back, it will become more adaptable to the
like a 1920s flapper would wear. It also has a very strong
technology we have today.
Gucci, Spring Season, 2012
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Left: Unknown, The Great Gatsby, 2013 Top Right: Boris Bilinsky, Poster for Metropolis, 1927 Bottom Left: George Lucas, C-3PO, 1977
“Art Deco was a sleek and smooth style.”
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