There seems to be some confusion over the history of art deco.
It is believed that the Exposition des arts decoratifs et industriels modernes (The international exposition of modern industrial and decorative arts) held in Paris in 1925 heralded the beginning of the art deco period.
Others believe that the discovery of TutanKhamun’s tomb in 1922 was the beginning of the art deco period. This was due to the tomb using bold colours and shapes as seen in the art deco style.
Another belief is art deco was first produced in 1910, at this time it was only produced by a few factories in Europe and was not in mainstream distribution.
No matter which story is truly correct it was the international exhibition held in Paris in 1925 which brought art deco into the public eye.
Art deco is a mixture of several major movements of the 20th century, these include Cubism, Art Nouveau, Modernism, Futurism, Constructivism and Neoclassical.
This is what makes art deco so unique, the contrast of colours and shapes.
This is the basic concept of Art deco antiques, light against dark and geometrical shapes against serpentine like swirls.
By the late 20′s everything we used was designed in the art deco style. By the early 30′s art deco had also swept America and Hollywood, the elegance attached to the style was used in many film sets of the time. We now associate these films with the term film noir.
The art deco movement was soon picked up by architects and used widely. As these architects were commissioned by countries around the world more and more buildings were erected in the art deco style.
Even the golden gate bridge had art deco influence.
Cities as far as India, Manilla and New Zealand all had buildings erected using the art deco style. Even the Queen Mary ocean liner was built using the art deco style.
The growth in Art deco antiques was partly due to womens rights been granted.
Women had campaigned for rights since before the first world war began in 1914. As the majority of men were fighting in the war women finally got the chance to get out of the house and work in the factories. The war ended in 1918 but some women remained in the factories to supplement family income, this gave them the extra income they needed to incorporate the art deco style.
The beginning of the recession in the early 30′s saw women moved out of the workplace and back in to the home. It was seen they were taking mens jobs and as the finances dropped so did the ability to afford luxuries.
The real demise of the art deco period came as the second world war began in 1939. One of the wartime rules was that only plain white pottery was to be used.
By the end of the war in 1945 art deco had gone out of fashion and was replaced by more modernistic designs.
Some people say that art deco never went out of fashion as it was still being produced and sold in top stores like Harrods, it did not have the following it had.
In 1960 art deco made somewhat of a comeback and it was actually in the sixties that the term art deco came about with the release of Bevis Hilliers book entitled
“Art Deco of the 20s and 30s” in 1968.
The real resurgence of art deco came in the 80′s, a sudden love of film noir brought back the elegance of art deco. This resurgence led to an increase in price of original art deco pieces, soon television began producing antique shows which further increased the art deco style especially the pottery pieces of Clarice Cliff which begun to have a huge following.
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