Art Deco

Delia Tacheny
INT 332 - History of Interiors II

Art Deco: The Rebel of the 1920s

Post WWI, the 1920s was a prosperous time in the World. In 1925 the World's Fair in Paris featured an interior design exhibition: furniture, lamps, textiles, and accessories. They all commonly displayed sharply-angled + cubistic forms, and the use of aluminum, black lacquer, and glass... hence the entrance of Art Deco. 

The History

As we think about the design periods we have covered there has always been a tension between authentic, historic design vs. functionalist, mass produced design. We have seen the transition from the Arts + Crafts Movement to our more recent study of Modernism. Now being in the 1920s, modernism has been thriving since about 1900: functionalism, minimalism, industrialization, etc. However, France begins to challenge the functionalist design which begins an era of tensions between functionalists and decorators. Art Deco is said in many to derive from Art Nouveau, but the book said something about Art Deco and it's counterparts that I found intriguing: Art Deco was an era that dealt with "how to make history new, adaptable, and relevant." The book also notes that Art Deco was one of the design movements primarily defined in furniture, art, and decor, rather than architecture. However, Art Deco was not for everybody, and took awhile to gain public acceptance...

The Essence

The Essence of Art Deco is a wealthy, fashion-oriented style -- strongly decorative and highly influenced by the skyscraper (including "skyscraper" furniture). Chevron and zig-sag shapes are a popular motif -- large mirrors and prominent light fixtures call attention to modern materials. Furniture was designed with rich materials: ebony, zebrawood, tortoise shell, leather, polished metals, mirrors, and even glass. Parts of Art Deco are inspired by African tribal art. 

The Art Deco period features a variety of contributors some who defined Art Deco, and others who overlap with other design styles. Tamara de Lempicka was an art deco painter; Jean Michel Frank (related to Anne Frank) was a French interior designer; Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann was a furniture designer. In the U.S. Paul Frankl, Joseph Urban, and Donald Deskey were amongst the more well-known names. These names are only a fraction of the Art Deco creators at the time. 

The Impact

A few of the most famous Art Deco representations was the SS Normandie -- a French ocean liner decorated in Art Deco style, which assisted in the international spread of the Art Deco movement (as did the invention of the radio). In New York, both the Chrysler Center and Rockefeller center are also prime examples. 

While Art Deco had its controversies, it contributed another unique design style to the world that is still seen today. The Art Deco movement coincided with the cultural changes of the 1920s and is seen in the fashion of the day; it also saw the increase of women in the world of Art, Design, and Architecture world. 

One Step Further: Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980)

"I live life in the margins of society, and the rules of normal society don‘t apply to those who live on the fringe." - Tamara de Lempicka

Tamara de Lempicka was a Polish artist who spent most of her life working in France and the US. She was also known as "baroness of the brush." Born Maria Gorska, she grew up in a well-to-do family, and even after her parents divorced, she was spoiled by her grandmother and continued to grow up around a life of wealth. She has a dramatic love story involving her marriage at 16, followed by her husband's arrest by the Bolsheviks, and then her attempted rescue of him; after his release, the couple fled to Paris as refugees, where Tamara began her painting career. Glamor and exotic became the center of Tamara's life and artwork; she became very well-known and well-off from portrait painting. 

Following the threat of WWII, Tamara fled for the US where her and her second husband moved to Beverly Hills and then to New York... and then back to Paris when the war was over, continuing her painting career throughout her lifetime even when the fame died away. I think her personality is best seen in her work, so I've attached a couple of images.  

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