Art Deco

◍ Open on the globe

c. 1920 – 1939 · Europe · architecture, decorative arts, sculpture, painting · origin: Paris

Machine-age luxury: geometry, gleaming metal and the stepped silhouette

How to recognise it

• Setbacks stepping up to a spire
• Sunbursts, zigzags and fan motifs
• Chrome, stainless steel, lacquer and bronze
• Vertical bands of windows and piers

Why it emerged

The 1925 Paris exhibition turned a fashion for geometric ornament into an international brand. A boom in skyscrapers, cinemas and ocean liners needed a style that looked both modern and expensive.

Examples

Chrysler Building1928–1930 · William Van AlenIts stainless-steel spire made it the world's tallest building for eleven monthsEmpire State Building1930–1931 · Shreve, Lamb & Harmon102 storeys built in about 410 days; the world's tallest building for nearly 40 yearsChrist the Redeemer1922–1931 · Paul Landowski, Heitor da Silva CostaA 30-metre figure in reinforced concrete and soapstone, the largest Art Deco statuePeace Hotel (Sassoon House)1926–1929 · Palmer and TurnerIts copper-green pyramid crowned the Bund, emblem of 'Paris of the East' and Asian Art DecoRockefeller Center1930–1939 · Raymond Hood and othersThe first private city-within-a-city of towers, with a plaza, reliefs and roof gardens

How it spread

• 1925 Paris
• 1928 New York
• 1929 Shanghai
• 1931 Rio de Janeiro
• 1931 Napier
• 1935 Miami Beach
• 1935 Bombay (Mumbai)

Meanwhile elsewhere

• Peredvizhniki (The Wanderers) Eastern Europe & Russia
• Expressionism Europe
• Cubism Europe
• Russian avant-garde Eastern Europe & Russia
• Harlem Renaissance Americas
• Modern architecture (International Style) Whole world
• Constructivism Eastern Europe & Russia
• Mexican muralism Americas
• Surrealism Europe
• Socialist realism Eastern Europe & Russia

Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English)

← ConstructivismMexican muralism →