Art Deco: An Art of Industry

Erté - Shoe Design for Delman's Shoes, New York - 1934 - Gouache - 14 15/16 x 11 1/16 in. (37.9 x 28.1 cm) - Purchase, The Martin Foundation Inc. Gift, 1967, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkWilliam Van Alen (American, 1882-1954), Chrysler Building, 1930, New York City.Art Deco was a popular international art and design movement from 1925 until the 1930s-40s, affecting the decorative arts, architecture, interior design and industrial design, as well as fashion, painting, the graphic arts and film. The style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional and modern. It was a mixture of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century (including Precisionism). Its popularity peaked in Europe during the Roaring Twenties and continued strongly in the United States through the 1930s. Art Deco was purely decorative. It experienced a decline in popularity during the late '30s and early '40s, but resurfaced in graphic design in the 1980s. Art Deco had a profound influence on many later artistic movements, such as Pop art. Deco works are characterized by abstraction, distortion and simplification--and typically embody geometric shapes as well as highly intense colors. Art Deco celebrated the rise of commerce, technology and speed. The Chrysler Building in New York City is an archetypal American Art Deco skyscraper. The exterior of the building reflects the Chrysler automobile. The building was faced with Nirosta stainless steel, because of its low-maintenance, and for the beauty of its color. Russian born French Art Deco artist, Erté (Romain de Tirtoff) (1892-1990) was one of the most famous Deco artists in the area of design. Art Deco is a movement that has stayed with us--and original Deco works are actively sought by many, many collectors. It seems to be a style that stays with us.