What is Art Deco? A blog about art deco design and its history.

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Art Deco is a style of design that flourished between the two World Wars, especially in the 1920s. Originally the name referred to “art décoratif”, a Parisian style and movement in the decorative arts, which was most active from about 1909 through 1925. The style derived its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925.

Art deco is characterized by the use of geometric shapes (especially circles and rectangles), stylized plant motifs, and frequent use of primary colors and black or grey backgrounds with or without color on a small-scale. Patterns were often geometric stripes, zigzags, chevrons, or checkerboards, though florals (in actual or stylized forms) were also common.

Art deco architecture is a style of architecture popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Art Deco designs are usually characterized by patterns of straight lines and sharp right angles, and often include zigzags with a particular type of lighting fixture known as an “Art Deco” chandelier. Art Deco architecture was inspired by several factors, such as: new technologies that expanded the range of materials used in building; new

Art Deco was the 1920s and 1930s style that replaced Art Nouveau. Inspired by the streamlined forms of automobiles and airplanes, it was bolder and more geometric than Art Nouveau. The look is typified by rectilinear patterns of repeating motifs set against a flat background.

Art Deco’s popularity stemmed in part from its versatility as a style: it could be applied to just about any design project. It was a popular style for home furnishing, but was also used for fashion, jewelry, graphic design, industrial products and architecture.

Art Deco is a style of decorative art, architecture and design that first became popular in the 1920s and 1930s. It was inspired by the ornaments, geometric designs, and machine imagery of Cubism in addition to influences from other styles of design and architecture.

Art Deco influenced many areas of design including architecture, interior design, fashion and industrial design. It is seen in buildings, furniture, jewelry, metalwork, glassware and ceramics. Art Deco was popular throughout the world but remains especially associated with the rich. It is also seen as a symbol of the era known as “The Roaring 20’s” or “The Jazz Age”.

It is often combined with other styles of decoration like Art Nouveau and Regionalism to form what is known as “Style Moderne”.**

Art Deco is a style of design with roots in the Art Nouveau movement. It was most popular from the 1920s through the early 1940s, and it is often referred to as Style Moderne, or just Art Deco.

Art Deco was popular in both Europe and America, but it was particularly associated with New York City, Chicago, and Miami during the 1930s and 1940s.

Today we still see traces of Art Deco style in buildings and furniture design. In many parts of the world it remains popular and well-loved. The style’s influence can be seen even in architecture that would not normally be considered “decorative,” such as bridges and skyscrapers.

Art Deco is a decorative design and architectural style that began in France shortly before the First World War. It was popularized by the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. The name comes from the Exposition, which had a large display of modern art to show off new styles in French culture.

Art Deco got its start as a style in furniture design and architecture, but it quickly spread to other industries and media, including jewelry, interior design, graphic design, industrial design, fashion, and textiles. Art Deco was also used in popular culture and advertising.

Art Deco combines geometric shapes with stylized plant motifs to create a razor-sharp look that is both functional and beautiful. The style is often described as “streamlined,” since it uses bold shapes that give an impression of movement or speed. Art Deco designs often feature zigzags, chevrons, triangles, rectangles, diamonds, parallel lines, concentric circles, and spokes.

Art Deco was popular from the 1920s to the 1940s before giving way to more modern styles like international style and midcentury modernism. It remains popular for decorating homes today for its elegant simplicity and glamour

The Art Deco period was short-lived, beginning in Paris in the 1920s and ending with the onset of World War II. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the war, one could speculate that Art Deco might have gone on to become a major style of the 20th century. It was certainly well on its way before being interrupted.

Art Deco used bold colors and zigzags and stylized plants, stylized in the sense that not only are the individual branches completely geometrical (no twiggy bits), but even their overall shape is clearly defined. No droopy leaves allowed! The colors are mostly black, white, silver and gold. It’s very much a “machine age” look; these are things that would look right at home on the dashboard of your car or inside your kitchen cabinets.

Some Art Deco designs were clearly influenced by African tribal art – witness this very stripped down but still recognizable version of an African mask:

It’s not a particularly accurate representation of an African mask; it owes more to the iconic power of a mask than to any specific tribal style. And it’s also not clear whether it comes from some kind of independent European interest in African art or is simply a matter of using similar

I’m a writer and history geek, not an art expert. I’m not trying to give you a history lesson here. I’m just giving you the highlights and helping you get your bearings in the most interesting parts of the room — which is why we’re starting with architecture.

Instead of seeing the story of Art Deco as a sequence of events and personalities, I think it makes more sense to see it as a collection of places — actual buildings that were built in certain key cities at certain key times. That’s how we’ll be looking at it here, as well as with some other brands and movements that are important to this story.

I’ve always found that when I visit a new place, my first order of business is to figure out where important things were located — what buildings, plazas, and parks were important — because these are the places I want to spend time at. Then I need to know what things were like in those places seventy or eighty years ago, because that’s the layer of atmosphere that really brings me into the place. So that’s what we’re doing here: We’re spending time in the places where Art Deco was born; then we’re filling them out with what they looked like back then.

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