Art Deco (jan 1, 1920 – jan 1, 1945)

Description:

Art Deco Graphic Design Style: 1920 -1940s


Aesthetic Style:

Deco artists sought to create a style that combined simplicity and energy. Even during the worst period of economic depression, the style was associated with glamour, luxury, and extravagance. It was a modern design that utilizes modern materials, aluminium, plastic, black vitrolite, glass, masonite and linoleum. It resembled the fantasy world of Hollywood and the real world of the Harlem Renaissance. Art Deco design represented modernism turned into fashion. Its products included both individually crafted luxury items and mass-produced wares, but, in either case, the intention was to create a sleek and anti-traditional elegance that symbolizes wealth and sophistication.

Famous Practitioners:
Jacques Ruhlmann
Maurice Dufrène
Eliel Saarinen
Jean Puiforcat
Renè Lalique
Ertè
Raymond Templier
H.G. Murphy
Wiwen Nilsson
Chiparus
Paul Poiret
Edward Mcknight Kauffer

Technology:

Art deco was a movement celebrating the beauty of technology. It contains many references to trains, planes, cars, and skyscrapers, mixing art with scientific advancement. Bold colours, rays, and other strong geometric patterns were a trademark of Art Deco. Due to the developments in printing techniques the magazines, catalogues and books of the Art Deco era contain some of the most beautiful prints ever produced. Later in the century printing became more mechanised, the quality of paper became cheaper and magazine printing quality deteriorated. The advent of photography also meant that artist produced images were a thing of the past. But the quality of the prints contained in magazines, catalogues and books of the Art Deco era often means that these are now sold as individual pages and there is still a large quantity of collectable and affordable images available. Due to photography becoming popular it was hard for artists to get their work published.

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