Art Deco was a truly international style, but its dominance ended with the beginning of World War II and the rise of the strictly functional and unadorned styles of modern architecture and the International Style of architecture that followed. A sleeker form of the style, called Streamline Moderne, appeared in the 1930s, featuring curving forms and smooth, polished surfaces. New materials arrived, including chrome plating, stainless steel and plastic. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, Art Deco gradually became more subdued, paving the way for the International Style and Mid-century modern. In New York, the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and other buildings from the 1920s and 1930s are monuments to the style. The movement featured rare and expensive materials, such as ebony and ivory, and exquisite craftsmanship. From its outset, Art Deco was influenced by the bold geometric forms of Cubism and the Vienna Secession the bright colours of Fauvism and of the Ballets Russes the updated craftsmanship of the furniture of the eras of Louis XVI and Louis Philippe I and the exoticized styles of art from China, Japan, India, Persia, ancient Egypt and Maya.ĭuring its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress. Art Deco combined the styles of early 20th century Modernist avant-garde, with the fine craftsmanship and rich materials of French historic design, but also sometimes with motifs taken from non-Western cultures. Īrt Deco got its name after the 1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) held in Paris.

Through styling and design of the exterior and interior of anything from large structures to small objects, including how people look (clothing, fashion and jewelry), Art Deco has influenced bridges, buildings (from skyscrapers to cinemas), ships, ocean liners, trains, cars, trucks, buses, furniture, and everyday objects like radios and vacuum cleaners.

Top to bottom: Chrysler Building in New York City (1930) poster for the Chicago World's Fair by Weimer Pursell (1933) and hood ornament Victoire by René Lalique (1928)Īrt Deco, short for the French Arts Décoratifs ('decorative arts'), and sometimes referred to simply as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s.

Art deco casinos near me