Art Deco was an art movement that
lived from the 1920s until around 1940. It stated in France with a group of
French decorators, designers, and artists at the Exposition Internationale
des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the name Art Deco was later
coined from that title which means decorative arts.
Art Deco was a very modern movement,
celebrating the beauty of technology in the early 1900’s. Art Deco contains
many references to trains, planes, cars, and skyscrapers, mixing art with
scientific improvement.
When human figures are seen in Art Deco, they’re often
very stylized, like in this painting by Tamara de Lempicka entitled Sleeping
Woman.
Every part of this painting is a
geometric solid—the figure’s head looks like it was carved out of a single
sphere, and her neck, arms, and fingers are all cylindrical.
Notice her metallic curls as well.
Metal looked figure prominently in Art Deco, and when actual metals couldn’t be
used (in paintings for instance) gradients were substituted to look like metal.
In that era where technology and
machines were being increasingly idolized, it was a revolutionary time where the artists began to perfected
humans, with matte skin and metal for hair.
Bold colors, rays, and other strong geometric patterns
were a trademark of Art Deco too. Charles Delmuth’s I Saw the Figure Five in
Gold is a great example of Art Deco movement, geometry, and color.
Although the movement ended in the 40s, Art Deco is still
used today, often as a design element that references the optimism of the 1920s
and 30s when it seemed as though nothing could stand in the way of human
progress.
Reference
Elif Ayiter, N/A. The History of Visual Communication. [online] Available at: <http://www.citrinit as.com/history_of_viscom/index.html> [Accessed November 2013].
Livingston, A. I., 2003. Graphic Design and Designers. London: The Thames & Hudson.
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