Art Deco: Flights of Artistic Fancy

Art Deco has had an astonishing impact on the world of modern design, influencing the styles of everything from fine art through buildings and house-hold objects. This informative work by Susan A. Sternau offers in in-depth look at this century’s most unique art movement with 110 full-color and archival illustrations. Published by Smithmark in New York in1997; ISBN 0-7651-9588-0. You might also like Art Nouveau: The Spirit of the Belle Epoque by Susan Sternau.

More about Art Deco:

Art Deco is a modern design movement that reached its greatest popularity in the decade between 1925 and 1935. In 1925, Art Deco made a splash in Paris at the International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, after which it quickly became popular in the United States and internationally. Hollywood movies promoted it as the style of the stars: the use of Art Deco costumes, furniture, and sets contributed to the popularity and rapid spread of the style, as did the building of many remarkable theaters.

Art Deco developed out of a number of very different art and design influences, including French Art Nouveau and Cubism, the German Bauhaus, the Russian Ballet, and the arts of Egypt, China, Japan, Africa, and the Americas. It began as a light, graceful style but quickly evolved into a style of stark simplicity that reflected the austerity of life in the machine age. Bold colors, forms, and symbols were used to express the speed of modern life. This was an age where cars, trains, planes, radios, and electricity were rapidly transforming the world. Ultimately Art Deco shaped design not only of buildings, but of interior decoration, clothing, accessories, illustration, and of course, painting. Undoubtedly, the dramatic nature of Art Deco will continues to intrigue artists in the new twenty-first century. With its gleam of classic Hollywood glamour, and its blend of optimism, exoticism and fantasy—the forms and decorations have proved their lasting appeal.