Overview Of The Art Deco Movement

The Art Deco movement had its beginnings in Paris, at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs which was a showcase for new inspiration and was initially meant to advertise the authority of the French in the creation and manufacturing of luxury goods. With a small, yet faithful following from the early 20th century, Art Deco evolved from nationalism, Art Nouveau, Cubism, Futurism, Neo-Classism, and modernism, and flourished after World War 1, achieving global popularity between the two world wars, primarily in the jazz age of the roaring 20's and 30's. As a result of a civilization ravaged by war and the deprivation and poverty that follows war, intertwined with the hopefulness of the machine age and the new women's liberation

It was the Swing era of jazz music, big bands, and flappers, as well as the birth of the silent movie and silver screen charm where celebrities reveled in lavish indulgence. As a result of the considerable reforms in social, personal and economical matters of post World War 1, expensive, hand crafted and formal Art Nouveau lost its support and was replaced with a new design concept of mass produced modernism. The jumbled floral patterns, pastel colors and the overly decorative curls and designs of Art Nouveau were cleared down to angular geometric shapes, uncomplicated, vivid and striking colors, crisp shapes and stylish, elegant characteristics of the new style Art

Art Deco was heavily influenced by mass travel and the ‘mysticism' it represented. As travel wasn't as widespread and easily accessible as it is today, the fantasy of far of lands with exotic people, cultures and fashion became almost an obsession, and motifs which represented far off reaches of the globe like the sunburst from ‘the land of the rising sun' Japan, zigzag and chevron patterns from the Aztecs, Triangles and hieroglyphics from Egypt, as well as tribal patterns from Africa, as a few examples.
European interest in Eastern art was first stimulated by trade in the 16th and 17th centuries. By the 19th century with the arrival of the railroad and steamship, lands that were previously unknown to westerners became accessible. Interior Decoration and Decorative arts were associated with romantic fantasies of opulence and "barbaric splendor". Other influences were a result of England's massive control over lands in the Pacific, India, China, and Africa. By mid 19th century, many eastern forms of design and ornamental motifs made its way into the European Decorative