The origins of Art Deco as the decorative arts and architecture movement go back to the 1920s. The stylistic term, apparently, is associated with the French “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes” held in 1925 (Marter 139). The movement develops in the 1930s and goes beyond the borders of Europe, finding its home in the American modernist design. Art Deco with its variety of stylistic nuances from stripped Classicism to Cubism and skyscraper style contributed a lot to the art of the United States of the first half of the 20th century.
The style originated on as the fusion of French hand-made bright-colored luxurious products and industrially manufactured goods of audacious geometric shapes (Marter 140). At the time, it created a sensational combination of traditional decorative arts and bold functionality of the industrialized design. The exhibits of the first Exposition in 1925 varied in their styles, purpose and method of production from exquisite glassworks to the weirdly shaped pieces of furniture.
The motives similar to French Art Deco can be recognized in design and architecture in other European countries. Some of the European artists interested in the Art Deco emigrated due to the political reasons to the United States in the 1920-1930s, contributing to the development of the new tendency in the American architecture, decoration, and design.
Apart from the foreign design influences, the American art tendencies were affected by the social and economic situation in the country, and the Great Depression. It made designers split into two movements: some were struggling to the preserve the charm of Classicism in design and architecture while others were looking for modern industrialized shapes, structures and patterns. As Striner and Blair point out, streamlining and modernized classicism were so distinctive, artistic movements that they were regarded even by “people who study cohesive tendencies in architecture as the separate “styles” (5). However, such a distinctive fusion represented the beginning of the Art Deco style.
Among the major influences shaping the traditions of American design and architecture were such connected to Art Deco movements as the Chicago School and the Prairie School. The leader of both schools Frank Lloyd Wright with the typical for Art Deco combination of fancy traditional motives and industrial innovativeness, created “the Prairie” in the suburbs of Chicago. According to Marter, the architect’s objective was “ridding the house of applied ornament and opening up its spaces” (122).
He predicted the transformation of the exterior and interior designs into individualized spaces. Wright kept on trying to realize his objective in his project of the Usonian Houses. According to McCarter, it was Wright’s attempt “to render the suburb a place of cultivation” (197). However, the cubic geometrical shape of these houses resonated in the works of other Art Deco architects and designers.
Art Deco is an influential movement in visual arts that binds together the bizarre geometric forms of industrial design with the luxurious handcraft details and rich colors. The movement resonated in the works of many European and American artists. Particularly, the Prairie School and its leader Frank Lloyd Wright brought Art Deco to the interior and exterior design of the suburban architecture.
Works Cited
Marter, Joan M. The Grove Encyclopedia Of American Art, Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
McCarter, Robert. Frank Lloyd Wright. London: Reaktion Books, 2006. Print.
Striner, Richard, and Melissa Blair. Washington And Baltimore Art Deco. Baltimore: JHU Press, 2014. Print.