Art Deco Message Board Discuss, Buy and Trade Art Deco, Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper etc. with other collectors
Taking its name from the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs of 1925,
Art Deco is a style associated with the late 1920s and early 1930s with emphasis on
richly-coloured and geometric pattern, new materials and styles and a decorative
approach to modernism.
Its origins begin in elements of Art Nouveau, particularly the formal geometry, Cubism and abstract art,
primitivism, modernist architecture, Russian revolutionary art, jazz music, American films,
especially musicals, and even modern methods of transport.
Pictured right: 'Suzanne' an Opalescent Glass Figure, design 1925
modelled as a female nude, her outstretched arms draped with flowing fabric
22.5cm high, moulded 'R.Lalique'. Sold at Bonhams, London Nov 2006 for £5,500
The period can be divided into two main phases. The first is colourful, dramatic, abstract and
angular, with a traditional use of materials, and is seen at its best in ceramics, textiles,
and graphics.
Often garish and abrasive in its extreme approach to modernist decoration, this
phase is epitomised by the pottery of Clarice Cliff,
by the fashions of the period (Erte), and by an extreme use of geometry and symbols such
as the ziggurat and the lightning flash.
The second, later phase, associated more with the 1930s, reflects a cooler, more elegant
approach to modern design, with pastel and ice-cream colours, rounded forms and an
understanding of modernism that is more than purely decorative. Powerfully inspirational
were Hollywood styles and the streamlined shapes of ships, trains and planes were applied
to objects as diverse as cinemas, teapots and radios.
Its origins begin in elements of Art Nouveau, particularly the formal geometry, Cubism and abstract art,
primitivism, modernist architecture, Russian revolutionary art, jazz music, American films,
especially musicals, and even modern methods of transport.