Art Deco
(1910-1939)
   Art Deco represented the rapid modernization of the world. While the style was already widespread and was in fashion in the United States and in Europe, the term Art Deco was not known. Modernistic or the "1925 Style" was used. The name Art Deco was derived from the 1925 "Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs Industriels et Modernes", held in Paris.

   Art Deco was primarily an elegant design style dominant in decorative art, fashion, jewelry, textiles, furniture design, interior decoration, and architecture. It began as the Modernist follow-up style on Art Nouveau but more simplified and closer to mass production.

   Different types of wood and precious metals, tortoise shell, lacquer, egg shell, shagreen, leather, a cross-fertilization of styles either imported from colonial empires and the Orient or borrowed from art history, all were the characteristic signs of this exceptional craftsmanship aimed primarily at a rich international clientele. It was an updated look based on very classical forms. It was a style "at once traditional and innovative". (Bayer) The main elements of Art Deco architecture were its nonstructural decorative elements and its focus on modernity. It is characterized by the use of crisp, symmetrical geometric forms. The style is reminiscent of the Precisionist art movement, which developed at about the same time.

   Well-established artists at the time were painter Tamara de Lempicka, a jeweler and glassmaker, Rene Lalique, fashion illustrator Erte and graphic designer Adolphe Mouron(Cassandre). New York skyscrapers The Chrysler building and Empire State Building were examples of 1930s-era of Art Deco style in architecture. The latter, designed by architect William Van Alen, is considered to be one of the world's great Art Deco buildings.

   Art Deco was the showcase of a modern society in which tastes and styles were becoming international, shared as much by the key players of the Roaring Twenties in the United States as by Indian maharajahs and the gentry of Old Europe. With its sense of modernity and its simple, elegant style, it has proven itself through its longevity.