Art Deco is the of the ‘modern’ 20th-century style which was a movement in the decorative arts and architecture. The style came to Worldwide during the inter-war years, in the 1920s and developed into to the main style in Western Europe and the United States during the 1930s. Art Deco included all types art, from fine arts, interior design, architecture to fashion, textiles, film and photography. The Art Deco name comes from the exhibition, which was organised in 1925 in Paris, named L’Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes where the style was first presented. According to the article (Victoria & Albert Museum, 2003) many countries from all around the Europe and beyond, participated in the exhibition, including Poland, Hungary, Britain, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands and USSR. However, other countries for instance USA or Germany did not participate, because of their own reasons. During the seven-month run exhibition, there were presented thousands of designs from different nations. Over sixteen million visitors participated in the exhibition(Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000). The exhibition was dedicated to showcase the interior design, architecture, fashion, perfumes and jewelry. The purpose of of the exposition was to promote French pre-eminence of French taste and in the production of luxury goods. The exhibition played the most important role in promoting the Art Deco style. According to Bevis Hillier’s words (Art Deco of the 20s and 30s, 1968, p. 13), Art Deco has been defined as “an assertively modern style, developing in the 1920s and reaching its high point in the thirties …; it was a classical style in that, like neo-classicism but unlike Rococo or Art Nouveau, it ran to symmetry rather than asymmetry, and to the rectilinear rather than the curvilinear; it responded to the demands of the machine and of new materials … [and] requirements of the mass production.” What is more Encyclopædia Britannica Online (2016) points out, that the most important features of the style are “simple, clean shapes, often with a streamlined look; ornament that is geometric or stylizes from representational forms; and unusually varied, often expensive materials”. In spite of the fact that Art Deco items were mass-produced just once in the while, the features of the style showed that the designers were inspired by modern machines and by the design quality of made thanks to those machines, objects, for instance: simplicity, symmetry, planarity, and repetitive elements.
The biggest design influences on Art Deco had Art Nouveau, National traditions and Avant Garde. Art Nouveau was adapted to Art Deco by nature motifs, but it regrets its organic shapes, colours such as chrome and black, and pastel for bolder materials. When it comes to national traditions, they were applied to the patterns which were usually geometric, stylised and simplified what was easy to modernise. Avant Garde which was represented by movements, such as Cubism, Fauvism, Futurism, De Stijl, Constructivism and Suprematism had also a powerful impact on Art Deco style. Geometric and abstract forms were very quick to transform for designers. Through to use of the clean lines and minimal decoration the Art Deco style was also connected with the Modernism. Among the most popular motifs are animals, the human figure, flowers, plants and abstract geometric decorations. Art Deco, which was originally born in France, quickly spread to other European countries and America until the beginning of the Second World War. According to the journal (Striner, 1990) movement had a big influence on Interior Design. It was the first style which represented the decoration which reflected new materials and technologies. The Art Deco’ concept was to use unique materials such as stainless steel, mirrors, shiny fabrics, aluminium, chrome, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin or zebra skin instead of the traditional ones. The designers in that period used metallic and harder materials. The chosen materials were aimed to reflect the modern age which was introduced after First World War. The unique combined materials created the contrasts which were very fashionable at that time. Regarding the colour themes used in interiors during the 1920s and 1930s, they were mostly composed of cool, metallic shades, for instance: gold, silver, charcoal grey, metallic blue and platinum as a predominating colour. Nevertheless, the black and white were also very trendy colour theme during that period. It was mostly used for floors, wallpapers and checkerboard tiles. Bold use of colour, which was inspiration from the fashion for the exotic, was primarily an essential characteristic of the Interior Design. Art Deco furniture were often made of expensive and very luxurious materials, for instance, leather, zebrawood, tortoise-shell and Macassar ebony. Moreover, glass polished metal and mirrors were visible in many interior design projects. The furniture was often finished by curved edges, clean lines and geometric shapes. Nevertheless, after the Wall Street Crash in 1929 and succeeding Depression, the materials palette changed. The mentioned events had a destructive impact, which had affected on many European designers on the luxury market. That was a reason for increasing demand for inexpensive consumer goods which became more focused on the aesthetic linked with industrial production and new materials rather than in handcraft practice. The expensive materials such as exotic woods, sharkskin and ivory have been replaced for the cheaper materials like aluminium, chromed steel, coloured glass, mirror and the new plastics, for example, Catalin and Bakelite, which became the favoured materials of the 1930s. The inexpensive versions of the materials were adapted to the surfaces typical for Art Deco design in the 1920s but because of the price, they were suitable for the mass production.
According to Encyclopedia of Interior Design, in the 1920s, Art Deco was the main new style which was dominant among the other styles for commercial buildings in West Europe. Art Deco, after an exhibition in 1925, was linked with glamour and luxury. One of the most ambitious and extravagant buildings presented at the Exposition in 1925 in Paris, was Hotel d’un Collectionneur. The person who designed it was a French designer named Pierre Partout. He planned the construction of the pavilion, with the mysterious oval room, and with the meeting point, Grand Salon. The Hotel consists of suite rooms, which were designed by the a French furniture maker Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann who brought together many artists and designers who were the members of the Societe des Artistes Decorateurs (founded in 1901). Ruhlmann was the leading interior designer in that period in France. He was combing other styles with Art Deco luxury. The idea which he evolved was to hang a massive chandelier in the Grand Salon of the Pavillon, additionally, he covered the walls with silk, which was boldly patterned and topped by a classic entablature. The furniture in the room, which he designed were created from 18th-century pieces and centered with very luxurious Macassar ebony. Ruhlmann was an interior design who designed in extravagant style. He was inspiring by the proportions in the classical architecture and he used exclusive and unique materials, for instance, ivory, tortoise-shell, lizard-skin, shagreen and exotic hardwoods. The hotel is identified with rich use of colours, extravagant decoration and with the elegant improvement of the traditional forms and techniques. What is more, according to the journal many critics claim that the Grand Salon at the Hotel d’un Collectionneur is the biggest achievement of Art Deco in France. Some of the work become Art Deco icons, especially the Jean Dupas’ painting ‘Donkey and Hedgehog’ cabinet.
The Art Deco style in Britain was mostly visible in interior design and was limited to the restaurants, hotels, theaters. The second example of the Art Deco within interior design in Europe is Strand Palace Hotel in London. The hotel was renovated in 1929 by Olivier P. Bernard, the British architect, and designer. According to the history of the hotel, it is one of the most successful examples of Art Deco movement in London. The main, large entrance was designed and built by Oliver who used traditional and new materials and made modern use of glass and lighting. The lighting played a very important role in the development of inter-war interior. In the Strand Palace Hotel, the pale pink marble was used to cover the walls in the entrance foyer and the floor was clad with the limestone, what created the kaleidoscope which reflected the light from the balustrades and columns. Moreover, these surrounded balustrades, door, and columns forced the light, with the use of diamond shapes created a futuristic feeling, that was because the were made of the chromed steel, mirrored and translucent molded glasses. Oliver used the lighting as an element of the architecture.
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The influence of Art Deco in America was also highly influential and extensive. According to the (Study Guide Journal vam, nwm jak to napisac) the main influence on the Art Deco in America had the 1925 exhibition. Even though the USA were notable absentees, many American designers visited the exhibition. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1926 organised an exhibition of furniture which has been bought at the Exposition in Paris 1925. Streamlining, which features are strong curves and clean lines, quickly became a phenomenon in America. It was used for decorative and symbolic intention, in order to increase the consumption. American designers applied it to design the architecture, cars and furniture but also to mass-produced products for example radios and refrigerators. The design of the products was based on contoured shells, what helped in the process of mechanization of mass-production and new materials for example plastic. In the 1930s, in order to stimulate consumption and reach new customers, manufactures hit by Depression got inspired by iconic elements of Art Deco style and transformed the look for the mass production, what was a cheap way to produce the products. In 1939, while in Europe was taking place a Second World War, Americans organised the New York Worlds Fair, during which many important designers of that period presented their work. It also included the different directions in design which had been developed in these two decades.
The Art Deco style was mostly used for the design of hotels and skyscrapers. Two of the most popular and important buildings, built in Art Deco style in America, are The New York’s Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. The New York’s Chrysler Building was designed in 1930 by William van Alen for automobile corporation. According to book the Chrysler building has the most characteristic construction in the New York. The characteristic feature of that skyscraper is its spiked top, made of stainless-steel and stepped setbacks. Both of these elements were ornamented with details which were designed to look like headlights and radiator caps of the vehicle produced by Chrysler. The building includes Alen’s Art Deco interiors of elevators, stairs and lobbies. The lobby was clad with mixes of red marble with different hues with chrome and wood, the elevators door, designed in a very unique way, veneered with light amber and dark brown woods, create the modern technology look. Most of the design in the building were made as an inspiration of automobiles.
To conclude, Art Deco was a globally known, popular style which was very influential during the 1920s and 1930s. It was applied to many areas of design and was used in the design of consumer products, for example, furniture or automobiles. It had also a big influence on interior design, architecture, fashion design, graphic arts, industrial design and cinema. Despite the fact, it started to wane during World War II, in the beginning of the 1960s, the interests of that style renewed. Although the style went out of fashion in most places during World War II, beginning in the late 1960s there was a newer interest in Art Deco design. Art Deco was the response for the consumers needs during the inter-war period, it represented the modern life and its development in order to escape from convention. Nevertheless, the designers were still able to adapt national and local identities by using forms and domestic decorations. According to **** Art Deco style was first presented on Paris Exposition in 1925, the event which summarized everything and brought the era of Art Deco till the end might be the World’s Fair 1939 in New York. In the 21st century, Art Deco is continuing to be a source of inspiration in such areas as decorative art and fashion and jewelry design.