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Art Deco

20th-century architectural and art style

This article is about the art style. For other uses, see Art Deco (disambiguation).

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Art Deco

(Top to bottom: Chrysler Building in New York City (1930); poster for the Chicago World's Fair (1933); and Victoire hood ornament by René Lalique at Toyota Automobile Museum in Japan (1928))

Additional media

Years active: c. 1910s–1950s Location: Global

Art Deco, a term derived from the French Arts décoratifs (literally 'Decorative Arts'), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first emerged in Paris in the 1910s, just before World War I. It experienced a period of international flourishing throughout the 1920s and into the early 1930s, influencing everything from the grand exteriors of skyscrapers to the intimate details of fashion and jewelry. Its reach extended across buildings, from towering structures to cinemas, and into modes of transportation like ocean liners, trains, cars, and buses. Even everyday objects, such as radios and vacuum cleaners, bore the distinctive mark of Art Deco.

The name "Art Deco" itself gained traction after the 1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) held in Paris. The style's roots can be traced to the bold geometric forms of the Vienna Secession and Cubism. From its inception, Art Deco was also infused with the vibrant colors of Fauvism and the exotic allure of the Ballets Russes. It drew inspiration from diverse artistic traditions, including the stylized art of China, Japan, India, Persia, ancient Egypt, and the Maya. During its peak, Art Deco was known by various other names, such as style moderne, Moderne, modernistic, or style contemporain, and it was not initially recognized as a singular, homogeneous style.

In its prime, Art Deco was synonymous with luxury, glamour, exuberance, and an unwavering faith in social and technological progress. The movement embraced rare and precious materials like ebony and ivory, coupled with exquisite craftsmanship. Simultaneously, it readily adopted new materials such as chrome plating, stainless steel, and plastic, demonstrating a keen embrace of modernity. In New York City, iconic structures like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, along with numerous other buildings from the 1920s and 1930s, stand as enduring monuments to the style. The largest concentration of Art Deco architecture globally can be found in Miami Beach, Florida.

As the Great Depression took hold, Art Deco evolved into a more subdued form. The 1930s saw the emergence of Streamline Moderne, a sleeker iteration characterized by curving forms and polished surfaces. While Art Deco was an international phenomenon, its dominance waned after the outbreak of World War II, giving way to the functional and unadorned aesthetics of modern architecture and the International Style.

Terminology

The name "Art Deco," short for Arts Décoratifs, originates from the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris in 1925. However, the diverse styles that came to define Art Deco had already begun to appear in Paris and Brussels prior to World War I.

The term arts décoratifs itself first appeared in print in France in 1858, within the Bulletin de la Société française de photographie. By 1868, the newspaper Le Figaro utilized the phrase objets d'art décoratifs to describe decorative objects created for stage scenery at the Théâtre de l'Opéra. In 1875, the French government officially granted the status of artists to designers of furniture, textiles, jewelry, glass, and other crafts. In response, the École royale gratuite de dessin (Royal Free School of Design), established in 1766, was renamed the École nationale des arts décoratifs (National School of Decorative Arts). It adopted its current name, ENSAD (École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs), in 1920.

The actual term "Art déco" did not enter widespread print until 1966, in the title of the first modern exhibition dedicated to the subject: Les Années 25: Art déco, Bauhaus, Stijl, Esprit nouveau, held at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. This exhibition covered a range of significant styles from the 1920s and 1930s. The term was subsequently used in a 1966 newspaper article by Hillary Gelson in The Times (London, 12 November), describing the various styles showcased at the exhibit.

Art Deco gained broader recognition as a stylistic label in 1968 with the publication of the first major academic book on the subject, Art Deco of the 20s and 30s, by historian Bevis Hillier. He noted that the term was already in use among art dealers, citing The Times (2 November 1966) and an essay titled Les Arts Déco in Elle magazine (November 1967) as examples. In 1971, he curated an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, further detailing his research in his book, The World of Art Deco.

Art historian Mike Hope has compiled an extensive list of alternative labels applied to Art Deco architecture, including: Odeon Style (after the style used by Odeon Cinemas in the 1930s), Liberty style, Style Moderne, Jazz Moderne, Zigzag Moderne, British Moderne, Nautical Moderne, Modern Ship Style, Pacqueboat Style, Ocean Liner Style, White Modern, Futurist Art Deco, Streamline Beaux Arts, Streamline Moderne, PWA Moderne, PWA/WPA Moderne, Federal Moderne, Depression Moderne, Classical Moderne, Classical Modernism, Modernist Classical, Chicago School, Czech Architectural Cubism, Italian Futurism, Prairie School, Atmospheric Theatre, Med Deco, Amsterdam School, Nieuwe Zakelijkheid (also Neue Sachlichkeit, Neues Bauen, New Sobriety, New Objectivity), Mayan Revival, Japanese Secession, Spanish Pueblo Style, Pueblo Deco, Finnish National Romanticism; Neo-Gothic, Neo-Byzantine, Neo-Egyptian, Spanish Mission, International School, European International Style, Wiener Werkstätte, Free Classicism; Stripped Neo-Classicism, Deco Free Classicism, Stripped Classicism, Transitional Modern, and Vogue Regency.

Origins

New materials and technologies

The advent of new materials and technologies, particularly reinforced concrete, played a pivotal role in the development and distinct appearance of Art Deco. François Coignet had pioneered the first concrete house in the Paris suburbs in 1853. By 1877, Joseph Monier introduced the concept of reinforcing concrete with an iron rod mesh, a technique that allowed for greater structural freedom. In 1893, Auguste Perret constructed the first concrete garage in Paris, followed by an apartment building, a house, and ultimately, in 1913, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, despite its innovative construction, drew criticism from some quarters, with one critic likening it to a "Zeppelin of Avenue Montaigne," allegedly suggesting Germanic influence and a departure from traditional aesthetics. Nevertheless, reinforced concrete became the predominant material for Art Deco buildings, enabling architects to explore new forms and reduce the need for internal supporting pillars and columns. Perret also pioneered the practice of covering concrete with ceramic tiles for both protection and aesthetic enhancement. It was within Perret's studio that the young Le Corbusier first gained practical experience with reinforced concrete construction.

Other technological advancements crucial to Art Deco included new methods for producing plate glass, which made it more affordable and allowed for larger, stronger windows, and the mass production of aluminium, which found application in building frames, window structures, and later, in lightweight furniture designed by figures like Corbusier and Warren McArthur.

Vienna Secession and Wiener Werkstätte (1897–1912)

The architects of the Vienna Secession, particularly Josef Hoffmann, exerted a significant influence on Art Deco. Hoffmann's Stoclet Palace in Brussels (1905–1911) is considered a prototype of the Art Deco style, featuring geometric volumes, a strong sense of symmetry, clean lines, concrete construction clad in marble panels, finely detailed ornamentation, and opulent interiors, including mosaic friezes by Gustav Klimt. Hoffmann was also instrumental in founding the Wiener Werkstätte (1903–1932), an association of artisans and interior designers dedicated to the new style. This endeavor served as a model for the Compagnie des arts français, established in 1919, which brought together André Mare and Louis Süe, two of the leading French Art Deco designers and decorators of the era.

Society of Decorative Artists (1901–1945)

The rise of Art Deco coincided with an elevation in the status of decorative artists, who, until the late 19th century, were often relegated to the status of mere artisans. The term arts décoratifs was coined in 1875, granting official recognition to designers of furniture, textiles, and other decorative objects. In 1901, the Société des artistes décorateurs (Society of Decorative Artists), or SAD, was founded, ensuring that decorative artists held the same authorship rights as painters and sculptors. A similar movement unfolded in Italy, culminating in the 1902 Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art) in Turin, the first international exhibition dedicated solely to decorative arts.

Several new magazines focused on decorative arts emerged in Paris, including Arts et décoration and L'Art décoratif moderne. Decorative arts sections were integrated into the annual salons of the Société des artistes français and later the Salon d'Automne. French nationalism also played a role in this artistic resurgence, as French designers felt the competitive pressure from increasing exports of less expensive German furnishings. In 1911, the SAD proposed a significant international exposition of decorative arts for 1912, with the stipulation that only modern works, devoid of historical styles, would be permitted. The exhibition was postponed, first to 1914 and then to 1925, when it ultimately lent its name to the family of styles known as "Déco."

Parisian department stores and prominent fashion designers were also key players in the ascent of Art Deco. Leading firms like the silverware manufacturer Christofle, glass designer René Lalique, and jewelers Louis Cartier and Boucheron began to produce designs in more contemporary styles. From 1900 onwards, department stores actively recruited decorative artists for their in-house design studios. The decoration of the 1912 Salon d'Automne was entrusted to the department store Printemps, which subsequently established its own workshop, Primavera, that same year. By 1920, Primavera employed over 300 artists whose styles ranged from updated interpretations of Louis XIV, Louis XVI, and particularly Louis Philippe furniture, conceived by Louis Süe and the Primavera workshop, to more avant-garde forms emerging from the studio of the Au Louvre department store. Other designers, such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Paul Follot, eschewed mass production, insisting on the unique creation of each piece. Early Art Deco was characterized by luxurious and exotic materials like ebony, ivory, and silk, vibrant color palettes, and stylized motifs, especially floral arrangements, which contributed to its distinctly modern aesthetic.

Salon d'Automne (1903–1914)

In its nascent stages, between 1910 and 1914, Art Deco manifested as a vibrant explosion of color, featuring bold and often contrasting hues, frequently rendered in floral designs. These were applied to furniture upholstery, carpets, screens, wallpaper, and fabrics. The 1912 Salon des artistes décorateurs showcased numerous colorful works, including chairs and a table by Maurice Dufrêne and a vivid Gobelin carpet by Paul Follot. In 1912–1913, designer Adrien Karbowsky created a floral chair adorned with a parrot motif for the hunting lodge of art collector Jacques Doucet. The furniture designers Louis Süe and André Mare made their debut at the 1912 exhibition under the banner of the Atelier français, combining polychromatic fabrics with exotic and opulent materials such as ebony and ivory. Following World War I, they rose to prominence as one of the leading French interior design firms, responsible for the furnishings in the first-class salons and cabins of French transatlantic ocean liners.

The vivid colorations of Art Deco drew inspiration from various sources. The exotic stage designs by Léon Bakst for the Ballets Russes created a sensation in Paris just before World War I. Some of the color choices were influenced by the earlier Fauvism movement, led by Henri Matisse, while others were inspired by the Orphism of painters like Sonia Delaunay. Additionally, the movement known as Les Nabis and the symbolic painter Odilon Redon, who designed fireplace screens and other decorative items, contributed to the palette. Bright shades were a hallmark of fashion designer Paul Poiret's work, significantly influencing both Art Deco fashion and interior design.

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1910–1913)

  • Théâtre des Champs-Élysées by Auguste Perret at 15, avenue Montaigne, Paris (1910–1913). Reinforced concrete allowed architects to create new forms and larger spaces.
  • La Danse, a bas-relief on the façade of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées by Antoine Bourdelle (1912)
  • Interior of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, with Bourdelle's bas-reliefs above the stage
  • Dome of the Theater, with an Art Deco rose design by Maurice Denis

Apollon et sa méditation entourée des 9 muses (Apollo and His Meditation Surrounded by the 9 Muses), a bas-relief on the façade of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées by Bourdelle (1910–1912). This work is considered one of the earliest examples of what would become known as Art Deco sculpture.

The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1910–1913), designed by Auguste Perret, stands as the first landmark Art Deco building completed in Paris. Prior to this, reinforced concrete had primarily been used for industrial and apartment buildings. Perret had previously constructed the first modern reinforced-concrete apartment building in Paris at rue Benjamin Franklin in 1903–04. Henri Sauvage, another significant future Art Deco architect, built another apartment building at 7, rue Trétaigne in 1904.

From 1908 to 1910, a 21-year-old Le Corbusier worked as a draftsman in Perret's office, absorbing the techniques of concrete construction. Perret's building exhibited a clean, rectangular form and geometric ornamentation, characteristics that would become hallmarks of Art Deco. The theatre's décor was equally groundbreaking; the façade was adorned with high reliefs by Antoine Bourdelle, a dome by Maurice Denis, paintings by Édouard Vuillard, and an Art Deco curtain by Ker-Xavier Roussel. The theatre quickly became a premier venue for the early performances of the Ballets Russes. Perret and Sauvage went on to become the leading Art Deco architects in Paris during the 1920s.

Cubism

Danseuse (Femme à l'éventail, Femme à la cruche) by Joseph Csaky (1912), original plaster, exhibited at the 1912 Salon d'Automne and the 1914 [Salon des Indépendants], a proto-Art Deco sculpture.

The art movement known as Cubism, which emerged in France between 1907 and 1912, significantly influenced the development of Art Deco. In Art Deco Complete: The Definitive Guide to the Decorative Arts of the 1920s and 1930s, Alastair Duncan observes, "Cubism, in some bastardized form or other, became the lingua franca of the era's decorative artists." The Cubists, themselves influenced by Paul Cézanne, focused on simplifying forms to their fundamental geometric shapes: the cylinder, the sphere, and the cone.

In 1912, artists associated with the Section d'Or exhibited works that were considerably more accessible to the general public than the analytical Cubism pioneered by Picasso and Braque. The Cubist vocabulary proved particularly appealing to fashion, furniture, and interior designers.

The Art Décoratif section of the 1912 Salon d'Automne featured an architectural installation known as La Maison Cubiste. The façade was designed by Raymond Duchamp-Villon, while the interior décor was by André Mare. La Maison Cubiste was a fully furnished installation, complete with a façade, staircase, wrought-iron banisters, a bedroom, and a living room—the Salon Bourgeois. Paintings by Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Marie Laurencin, Marcel Duchamp, Fernand Léger, and Roger de La Fresnaye were displayed within. Thousands of visitors to the salon passed through this full-scale model.

The house's façade, designed by Duchamp-Villon, was not radically avant-garde by contemporary standards; it featured prismatic shapes on the lintels and pediments but otherwise resembled a conventional house of the period. For the interior spaces, Mare designed wallpaper adorned with stylized roses and floral patterns, along with complementary upholstery, furniture, and carpets, all featuring flamboyant and colorful motifs—a distinct departure from traditional décor. Critic Emile Sedeyn noted in Art et Décoration magazine: "He does not embarrass himself with simplicity, for he multiplies flowers wherever they can be put. The effect he seeks is obviously one of picturesqueness and gaiety. He achieves it." The Cubist element was primarily conveyed through the artwork. The installation faced criticism for its perceived radicalism, which paradoxically contributed to its success. This architectural installation was subsequently exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show in New York City, as well as in Chicago and Boston. Largely due to this exhibition, the term "Cubist" began to be applied to anything modern, from hairstyles to clothing to theatrical performances.

The influence of Cubism persisted within Art Deco, even as the latter style branched out in numerous other directions. As Richard Harrison Martin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art observed, "Cubism's adumbrated geometry became coin of the realm in the 1920s. Art Deco's development of Cubism's selective geometry into a wider array of shapes carried Cubism as a pictorial taxonomy to a much broader audience and wider appeal."

Influences

Pre-World War I European styles

In its decorative aspects, Art Deco absorbed influences from a wide array of sources. It represented a departure from, and often a reaction against, Art Nouveau, a style that had flourished in Europe between 1895 and 1900. Art Deco coexisted with and drew from Beaux-Arts and neoclassical styles prevalent in European and American architecture. In 1905, Eugène Grasset published Méthode de Composition Ornementale, Éléments Rectilignes, a systematic exploration of the decorative potential of geometric elements, forms, and motifs. This work stood in contrast to the undulating, organic style of Hector Guimard, which had been highly popular in Paris. Grasset championed the principle that fundamental geometric shapes, such as triangles and squares, formed the basis of all compositional arrangements. The reinforced-concrete structures of Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage, particularly the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, introduced a novel approach to construction and decoration that was emulated globally.

Ancient and non-European civilizations

Art Deco designers drew inspiration from a wide range of global sources, often found in museums like the Musée du Louvre, Musée de l'Homme, and the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie. The popular fascination with archaeology, fueled by excavations at Pompeii, Troy, and the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, also contributed significantly. Artists and designers integrated motifs from ancient Egypt, Africa, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Asia, Mesoamerica, and Oceania, blending them with elements of the Machine Age.

Early 20th-century avant-garde movements

Other styles that influenced Art Deco included Futurism, Orphism, Functionalism (architecture), and Modernism in general. Cubism found its decorative potential within the Art Deco aesthetic when translated from canvas to textiles or wallpaper. Sonia Delaunay created dress designs in an abstract and geometric style, describing them as "live paintings or sculptures of living forms." Cubist-inspired designs were employed by Louis Barillet in the stained-glass windows of the American bar at the Atrium Casino in Dax (1926), which also featured the names of fashionable cocktails. In architecture, the distinct interplay of horizontal and vertical volumes, characteristic of both Russian Constructivism and the work of architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Willem Marinus Dudok, became a common feature in articulating Art Deco façades, from individual homes to cinemas and service stations. Art Deco also incorporated the bold, contrasting colors and designs of [Fauvism], particularly in the work of Henri Matisse and André Derain, which influenced textile, wallpaper, and painted ceramic designs. The style drew from the high fashion vocabulary of the era, characterized by geometric patterns, chevrons, zigzags, and stylized floral bouquets. Discoveries in Egyptology and a growing interest in the Orient and African art also played a part. From 1925 onwards, Art Deco was increasingly inspired by an appreciation for new technologies and machines, such as airships, automobiles, and ocean liners, leading to the development of the Streamline Moderne style by 1930.

International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (1925)

The pivotal event that marked the zenith of the Art Deco style and provided its name was the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, held in Paris from April to October 1925. Officially sponsored by the French government, the exhibition spanned 55 acres, extending from the Grand Palais on the Right Bank to Les Invalides on the Left Bank, and along the Seine. The Grand Palais, the city's largest exhibition hall, housed displays of decorative arts from participating nations. Fifteen thousand exhibitors from twenty countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden, were represented. Germany was not invited due to post-war tensions, and the United States, misinterpreting the exhibition's purpose, declined to participate. The event attracted sixteen million visitors during its seven-month run. A key requirement of the exhibition was that all submitted works be modern, with no historical styles permitted. The primary objective was to promote French manufacturers of luxury furniture, porcelain, glass, metalwork, and textiles. Major Parisian department stores and prominent designers showcased their wares in dedicated pavilions. The exhibition also aimed to promote products from French colonies in Africa and Asia, including ivory and exotic woods.

The Hôtel du Collectionneur was a particularly popular attraction, featuring the latest furniture designs by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, alongside Art Deco fabrics and carpets, and a painting by Jean Dupas. The interior design adhered to principles of symmetry and geometric forms, distinguishing it from Art Nouveau, while its vibrant colors, fine craftsmanship, and use of rare materials set it apart from the strict functionalism of Modernist design. While most pavilions were lavishly decorated with handcrafted luxury furniture, two pavilions—those of the Soviet Union and the Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau, sponsored by the magazine of the same name led by Le Corbusier—adopted an austere style with plain white walls and minimal decoration. These represented some of the earliest examples of modernist architecture.

Late Art Deco

In 1925, two distinct, often competing, schools of thought coexisted within Art Deco: the traditionalists, represented by the Society of Decorative Artists, which included furniture designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dunand, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, and designer Paul Poiret. This group favored combining modern forms with traditional craftsmanship and expensive materials. On the other side were the modernists, who increasingly rejected the past in favor of a style grounded in technological advancements, simplicity, a lack of ornamentation, inexpensive materials, and mass production. The modernists established their own organization, The French Union of Modern Artists, in 1929. Its members included architects Pierre Chareau, Francis Jourdain, Robert Mallet-Stevens, Le Corbusier, and, in the Soviet Union, Konstantin Melnikov; the Irish designer Eileen Gray; the French designer Sonia Delaunay; and the jewelers Georges Fouquet and Jean Puiforcat. They vehemently criticized the traditional Art Deco style, deeming it solely for the wealthy, and advocated for well-constructed buildings accessible to all, emphasizing that form should follow function. They believed that the beauty of an object or building lay in its perfect suitability for its purpose and that modern industrial methods allowed for mass production rather than handcrafted creation.

The Art Deco interior designer Paul Follot defended the style, stating, "We know that man is never content with the indispensable and that the superfluous is always needed... If not, we would have to get rid of music, flowers, and perfumes..!" However, Le Corbusier, a masterful publicist for modernist architecture, famously declared a house to be simply "a machine to live in" and tirelessly promoted the notion that Art Deco belonged to the past while modernism represented the future. Le Corbusier's ideas gradually permeated architectural education, leading to the eventual abandonment of Art Deco aesthetics. The very qualities that initially contributed to Art Deco's popularity—its craftsmanship, rich materials, and ornamentation—also contributed to its decline. The Great Depression, which began in the United States in 1929 and subsequently spread to Europe, drastically reduced the number of wealthy patrons able to afford Art Deco furnishings and artworks. In the prevailing economic climate, few companies were willing to undertake the construction of new skyscrapers. Even the Ruhlmann firm resorted to producing furniture in series rather than as individual, handcrafted pieces. The last significant buildings constructed in Paris in the Art Deco style included the Museum of Public Works by Auguste Perret (now the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council), the Palais de Chaillot by Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu, and Léon Azéma, and the Palais de Tokyo for the 1937 Paris International Exposition. These structures faced the imposing pavilion of Nazi Germany, designed by Albert Speer, which stood in direct contrast to the equally grandiose socialist-realist pavilion of Stalin's Soviet Union.

Following World War II, the dominant architectural style shifted to the International Style, championed by architects like Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. While a few Art Deco hotels were constructed in Miami Beach after the war, the style largely faded elsewhere, except in industrial design, where it continued to influence automobile styling and products such as jukeboxes. The 1960s saw a modest academic revival of Art Deco, partly due to the writings of architectural historians like Bevis Hillier. In the 1970s, preservation efforts in the United States and Europe focused on safeguarding significant examples of Art Deco architecture, leading to the restoration and repurposing of many buildings. Postmodern architecture, which emerged in the 1980s, shares Art Deco's tendency to incorporate purely decorative features. Art Deco continues to inspire designers today, finding expression in contemporary fashion, jewelry, and toiletries.

Painting

There was no dedicated section for painting at the 1925 Exposition. Art Deco painting was inherently decorative, intended to complement architectural spaces. While few painters exclusively worked in the style, two artists are strongly associated with it: Jean Dupas, who created Art Deco murals for the Bordeaux Pavilion at the 1925 Exposition and also painted the prominent artwork in the Maison du Collectionneur exhibit, and whose murals were featured in the décor of the French ocean liner SS Normandie. His work was purely decorative, designed to enhance other elements of the interior design. The other painter closely linked to the style is Tamara de Lempicka. A Polish émigré to Paris after the Russian Revolution, she studied under Maurice Denis and André Lhote, incorporating elements of their styles into her realistic, dynamic, and colorful Art Deco portraits.

In the 1930s, a distinct form of Art Deco painting emerged in the United States during the Great Depression. The Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration provided employment for artists, many of whom were commissioned to decorate government buildings, hospitals, and schools. While the murals varied in style, ranging from American regionalism to social realism, and included artists like Reginald Marsh, Rockwell Kent, and the Mexican painter Diego Rivera, they shared a decorative purpose, often reflecting the activities of the building or city. Reginald Marsh and Rockwell Kent decorated U.S. postal buildings, depicting postal workers in action, while Diego Rivera created a mural for the Detroit Institute of Arts showcasing automobile factory workers. Rivera's mural Man at the Crossroads (1933) for 30 Rockefeller Plaza included an unauthorized portrait of Lenin. When Rivera refused to remove the image, the painting was destroyed, and a new mural was commissioned from the Spanish artist Josep Maria Sert.

Sculpture

Monumental and public sculpture

Sculpture was an integral and common element of Art Deco architecture. In France, allegorical bas-reliefs depicting dance and music by Antoine Bourdelle graced the earliest Art Deco landmark in Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, in 1912. The 1925 Exposition featured significant sculptural works across its grounds, with pavilions adorned by sculptural friezes and several pavilions dedicated to smaller studio sculptures. In the 1930s, a notable group of sculptors contributed works for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne at Chaillot. Alfred Janniot created the relief sculptures for the façade of the Palais de Tokyo. The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and the esplanade in front of the Palais de Chaillot, facing the Eiffel Tower, were populated with new statuary by Charles Malfray, Henry Arnold, and numerous others.

Public Art Deco sculpture was almost invariably representational, typically depicting heroic or allegorical figures related to the building's purpose. The themes were generally chosen by the patrons rather than the artist, and abstract sculpture for decorative purposes was exceptionally rare.

In the United States, Paul Manship was the preeminent Art Deco sculptor for public art, reinterpreting classical and mythological subjects in the style's distinctive idiom. His most celebrated work is the statue of Prometheus at Rockefeller Center in New York City, a 20th-century rendition of a classical theme. Other significant contributions to Rockefeller Center came from [Lee Lawrie], including the sculptural façade and the iconic Atlas statue.

During the Great Depression in the United States, many sculptors received commissions for works adorning federal government buildings, funded by the WPA, or Works Progress Administration. Among them was Sidney Biehler Waugh, who created stylized and idealized depictions of workers and their tasks for federal office buildings. In San Francisco, [Ralph Stackpole] contributed sculpture to the façade of the new San Francisco Stock Exchange building. In Washington D.C., [Michael Lantz] created works for the Federal Trade Commission building.

In Britain, Deco public statuary included works by Eric Gill for BBC Broadcasting House, while Ronald Atkinson decorated the lobby of the former Daily Express Building in London (1932).

Arguably the most renowned and certainly the largest public Art Deco sculpture is Christ the Redeemer by French sculptor Paul Landowski, completed between 1922 and 1931, overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Studio sculpture

Many early Art Deco sculptures were smaller in scale, designed for domestic interiors. One genre was the Chryselephantine statuette, named after the ancient Greek temple statues made of gold and ivory. These were sometimes crafted from bronze, or more lavishly, from materials like ivory, onyx, alabaster, and gold leaf.

Demétre Chiparus, a Romanian-born artist, was renowned for his colorful small sculptures of dancers. Other notable studio sculptors included Ferdinand Preiss, Josef Lorenzl, Alexander Kelety, Dorothea Charol, and Gustav Schmidtcassel. American sculptor [Harriet Whitney Frishmuth], who studied under Auguste Rodin in Paris, was also a significant figure in studio sculpture.

Pierre Le Paguays was a prominent Art Deco studio sculptor whose work was exhibited at the 1925 Exposition. He utilized bronze, marble, ivory, onyx, gold, alabaster, and other precious materials.

François Pompon was a pioneer of modern stylized animalier sculpture. His artistic achievements gained wider recognition at the age of 67, at the Salon d'Automne of 1922, with his work Ours blanc (The White Bear), now housed in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Concurrently, more avant-garde and abstract modernist sculptors were active in Paris and New York City. Among the most prominent were Constantin Brâncuși, Joseph Csaky, Alexander Archipenko, Henri Laurens, Jacques Lipchitz, Gustave Miklos, Jean Lambert-Rucki, Jan et Joël Martel, Chana Orloff, and Pablo Gargallo.

Graphic arts

The Art Deco style first appeared in the graphic arts in the years preceding World War I. In Paris, it was evident in the posters and costume designs of Léon Bakst for the Ballets Russes, and in the catalogues of fashion designer Paul Poiret. The illustrations of Georges Barbier and Georges Lepape, along with the imagery in the fashion magazine La Gazette du bon ton, perfectly captured the elegance and sensuality of the style. By the 1920s, the aesthetic shifted, emphasizing more casual, sporty, and daring fashions, with female models often depicted smoking cigarettes. American fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Harper's Bazaar quickly adopted the new style, popularizing it in the United States. It also influenced the work of American book illustrators like Rockwell Kent. In Germany, the preeminent poster artist of the period was [Ludwig Hohlwein], known for his colorful and dramatic posters for music festivals, beers, and, later in his career, for the Nazi Party.

During the Art Nouveau period, posters primarily advertised theatrical productions or cabarets. In the 1920s, travel posters for steamship lines and airlines gained considerable popularity. The style evolved significantly, focusing on the advertised product with simpler, more precise, linear, and dynamic imagery, often set against a solid-colored background. In France, notable Art Deco designers included Charles Loupot and Paul Colin, renowned for his posters of American singer and dancer Josephine Baker. Jean Carlu designed posters for Charlie Chaplin films, soaps, and theaters; he emigrated to the United States in the late 1930s, where he created posters during World War II to promote war production. The designer [Charles Gesmar] gained fame for his posters for the singer [Mistinguett] and for Air France. Among the most celebrated French Art Deco poster designers was Cassandre, creator of the iconic poster for the ocean liner SS Normandie in 1935.

The 1930s saw the emergence of a new genre of posters in the United States during the Great Depression. The Federal Art Project commissioned American artists to create posters promoting tourism and cultural events.

Architecture

Styles

The architectural style of Art Deco first appeared in Paris around 1903–04 with the construction of two apartment buildings: one by Auguste Perret on rue Benjamin Franklin and another on rue Trétaigne by Henri Sauvage. These buildings, utilizing reinforced concrete for residential construction in Paris, featured clean lines, rectangular forms, and unadorned façades, marking a significant departure from the Art Nouveau style. Between 1910 and 1913, Perret leveraged his expertise in concrete construction to build the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées at 15 avenue Montaigne. Later, between 1925 and 1928, Sauvage designed the striking Art Deco façade for the La Samaritaine department store in Paris.

Art Deco's influence extended beyond terrestrial structures; the ocean liner SS Normandie, which embarked on its maiden voyage in 1935, showcased prominent Art Deco design elements, including a dining room with a ceiling and décor crafted from glass by Lalique.

Art Deco architecture is often categorized into three distinct types: Zigzag [Moderne] (also known as Jazz Moderne), Classic Moderne, and Streamline Moderne.

Zigzag Moderne

Zigzag Moderne, also referred to as Jazz Moderne, was the initial iteration of the style to gain prominence in the United States. The term "Zigzag" refers to the stepped profile of skyscrapers, designed to accentuate their height. This style was predominantly employed for large public and commercial buildings, particularly hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, skyscrapers, and department stores.

Classic Moderne

Classic Moderne exhibits a more graceful aesthetic with reduced ornamentation. It is sometimes referred to as PWA (Public Works Administration) Moderne or Depression Moderne, reflecting its association with projects undertaken by the PWA during the Great Depression.

Streamline Moderne

By the late 1930s, a distinct variant of Art Deco architecture, known as Streamline Moderne or simply Streamline, gained popularity. In France, it was often called the Style Paquebot, or Ocean Liner style. Buildings in this style featured rounded corners and pronounced horizontal lines, were typically constructed of reinforced concrete and finished in white, and often incorporated nautical elements like railings and porthole-like windows. The rounded corner motif was not entirely novel, having appeared in Berlin in 1923 in Erich Mendelsohn's Mossehaus and later in the Hoover Building, an industrial complex in the London suburb of Perivale. In the United States, Streamline Moderne became strongly associated with transportation, appearing frequently in bus stations and airport terminals, such as the original terminal at La Guardia Airport in New York City, which served early transatlantic flights via PanAm Clipper flying boats. It also influenced roadside architecture, including gas stations and diners. In the late 1930s, streamlined diners, modeled after railroad cars, were mass-produced and installed in towns across New England; at least two examples survive today and are registered historic buildings.

Building types

Skyscrapers

American skyscrapers epitomized the Art Deco style, becoming the world's tallest and most recognizable modern structures, designed to showcase the prestige of their developers through height, form, color, and dramatic nighttime illumination. Raymond Hood's [American Radiator Building] (1924) blended Gothic and Deco modern elements, featuring black brick for a sense of solidity and gold bricks to symbolize fire, with an entry decorated in marble and black mirrors. Another early Art Deco skyscraper was Detroit's [Guardian Building], completed in 1929. Designed by modernist Wirt C. Rowland, it was the first to incorporate stainless steel as a decorative element and extensively used colorful designs in place of traditional ornamentation.

New York City's skyline was dramatically transformed by the [Chrysler Building] in Manhattan (completed in 1930), designed by William Van Alen. This seventy-seven-story structure served as a colossal advertisement for Chrysler automobiles, crowned by a stainless steel spire and adorned with Art Deco "gargoyles" inspired by radiator cap designs. The tower's base, thirty-three stories above the street, featured colorful Art Deco friezes, and the lobby was decorated with symbols and imagery expressing modernity. The Chrysler Building was soon surpassed in height by the [Empire State Building] by [William F. Lamb] (1931), employing a slightly more restrained Deco style, and the [RCA Building] (now 30 Rockefeller Plaza) by Raymond Hood (1933), which together redefined the city's skyline. The tops of these buildings were embellished with Art Deco crowns and spires clad in stainless steel, and the Chrysler Building featured gargoyles modeled after radiator ornaments. Entrances and lobbies were lavishly decorated with Art Deco sculpture, ceramics, and design. Similar, though less monumental, structures soon appeared in Chicago and other major American cities. Rockefeller Center introduced a new design concept: a grouping of tall buildings around an open plaza with a central fountain.

Across the Hudson River, Art Deco style skyscrapers were constructed in Newark, New Jersey during the 1920s and 1930s, including the New Jersey Bell Headquarters (completed 1929), designed by Ralph Thomas Walker; the Lefcourt Building (completed 1930), designed by Frank Grad; and the National Newark Building (completed 1933), designed by John H. & Wilson C. Ely. John Cotton Dana, director of the Newark Public Library during this period, remarked contemporaneously that these skyscrapers transformed Newark from a "huge, uncouth and unthinking industrial Frankenstein monster into a place of refinement."

"Cathedrals of Commerce"

The grand showcases of American Art Deco interior design were the lobbies of government buildings, theaters, and, notably, office buildings. These interiors were characterized by vibrant colors and dynamic compositions, integrating sculpture, murals, and ornate geometric designs in marble, glass, ceramics, and stainless steel. An early example is the [Fisher Building] in Detroit, by [Joseph Nathaniel French], whose lobby was extensively decorated with sculpture and ceramics. The [Guardian Building] (originally the Union Trust Building) in Detroit, designed by [Wirt Rowland] (1929), featured red and black marble, brightly colored ceramics, and highly polished steel elevator doors and counters. The sculptural elements depicted the virtues of industry and saving, leading the building to be promptly dubbed the "Cathedral of Commerce." The Medical and Dental Building, known as [450 Sutter Street] in San Francisco, designed by [Timothy Pflueger], drew inspiration from Mayan architecture in a highly stylized manner, incorporating pyramid shapes and interior walls covered in stylized hieroglyphs.

In France, the [Palais de la Porte Dorée] (1931), by Albert Laprade, Léon Jaussely, and Léon Bazin, stands as a prime example of Art Deco interior design from this period. Constructed for the Paris Colonial Exposition of 1931 to celebrate the peoples and products of French colonies, the building's exterior façade was entirely covered in sculpture. The lobby achieved an Art Deco harmony with a geometric wood parquet floor, a mural depicting the diverse populations of French colonies, and a balanced composition of vertical doors and horizontal balconies.

Movie palaces

Many of the best-preserved examples of Art Deco architecture are cinemas built during the 1920s and 1930s. This era coincided with the transition from silent films to sound, prompting movie companies to construct grand venues in major cities to attract large audiences. Movie palaces of the 1920s often blended exotic themes with Art Deco styling. Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood (1922) drew inspiration from ancient Egyptian tombs and pyramids, while the [Fox Theater] in Bakersfield, California, incorporated a tower in the California Mission style alongside an Art Deco hall. The largest among these is [Radio City Music Hall] in New York City, which opened in 1932. Initially designed as a venue for theatrical performances, it soon transitioned into a cinema capable of seating 6,015 patrons. The interior design by [Donald Deskey] utilized glass, aluminum, chrome, and leather to create an immersive escape from reality. The [Paramount Theatre] in Oakland, California, designed by Timothy Pflueger, boasted a colorful ceramic façade, a four-story lobby, and separate Art Deco smoking rooms for men and women. Similar opulent palaces emerged across Europe. The [Grand Rex] in Paris (1932), with its imposing tower, was the largest cinema in Europe, surpassed only by the 6,000-seat [Gaumont-Palace] (1931–1973). The [Gaumont State Cinema] in London (1937) featured a tower inspired by the Empire State Building, clad in cream ceramic tiles, with an interior blending Art Deco and Italian Renaissance styles. The [Paramount] Theatre in Shanghai, China (1933), originally built as a dance hall called The Gate of 100 Pleasures, was converted into a cinema after the Communist Revolution in 1949 and now serves as a ballroom and disco. In the 1930s, Italian architects constructed the Cinema Impero, a small movie palace in [Asmara], in what is now Eritrea. Today, many of these historic movie theaters have been divided into multiplexes, while others have been meticulously restored and continue to serve as community cultural centers.

Decoration and motifs

  • Birds – Quai d'Orsay no. 55 in Paris, designed by Louis-Hippolyte Boileau and carved by Léon Binet (1913)
  • Allegorical representations – Pediment of the Mihai Zisman House (Calea Călărașilor no. 44) in Bucharest, by Soru (1920)
  • Stylized flowers (especially spiral flowers and converging fascicles) – Architectural element for the Parfumerie d'Orsay in Paris, by Georges Béal (1922)
  • The urn – Corner cabinet made of mahogany with rose basket design of inlaid ivory by Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann (1923), Brooklyn Museum, New York City
  • The flower basket – Balconies and pediment of Avenue Montaigne no. 41 in Paris, unknown architect or sculptor (1924)
  • Repeating patterns – Decorative ironwork of the Madison Belmont Building (Madison Avenue no. 181–183) in New York City, by Edgar Brandt (1925)
  • The papyrus flower – Porte d'honneur, at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, by Edgar Brandt (1925)
  • The foliage scroll – Elevator doors, by Brandt (1926), wrought iron, glass, patinated and gilded bronze, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon
  • Simplified reinterpretations of the Doric columns (with a basic rectangular capital or base, or just as a shaft) – Grave of Gustave Simon in Préville Cemetery, Nancy, France, unknown architect (after 1926)
  • Decoration not just through ornaments, but also through combinations of volumes - Withuis (Avenue Charles Woeste no. 183) in Brussels, Belgium, by Joseph Diongre (1927)
  • Ingenious games of light and darkness – Stage design for Meșterul Manole (The Master Builder Manole), by Victor Feodorov (1927–28), collection of the National Theatre, Bucharest
  • The octagon-shaped medallion – Sign of the La Samaritaine department store in Paris, by Henri Sauvage (1928)
  • Mosaics – Maison bleue (Rue d'Alsace no. 28) in Angers, France, designed by Roger Jusserand, and decorated with mosaics by the Odorico fréres (1928)
  • Vertical mouldings – Greybrook House (Brook Street no. 28) in London, by Sir John Burnet & Partners (1928–29)
  • Horizontal mouldings – Atlantic Huis (Westplein no. 51) in Rotterdam, by P.G. Buskens (1928–1930)
  • The stepped motif – Entrance hall of the Chrysler Building in New York City, by William Van Alen (1928–1930)
  • The artesian fountain – Lamp, by Paul Kiss (c. 1930), glass and metal, in a temporary exhibition called the "Jazz Age" at the Cleveland Museum of Art, US
  • The cornucopia – Avenue des Champs-Élysées no. 77 in Paris, unknown architect (c. 1930)
  • Complex zigzags – Foot of a console table, by Paul Fehér (c. 1930), metal, in a temporary exhibition called the "Jazz Age" at the Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Streamlining – Rue Gramme no. 17–21 in Paris, by Marcel Chappey (1930)
  • The sunburst – Detail above the entrance of the Eastern Columbia Building (S. Broadway no. 849) in L.A., by Claud Beelman (1930)
  • An aesthetic of artificial lighting – Maison de France (now showroom for Louis Vuitton), Avenue des Champs-Élysées no. 101 in Paris, by Louis-Hippolyte Boileau and Charles-Henri Besnard (1931)
  • Ziggurat – Union Hotel (Strada Ion Câmpineanu no. 11) in Bucharest, by Arghir Culina (1931)
  • Vertical and horizontal luminous surfaces – Entrance hall of the Villa Cavrois in Croix, France, by Rob Mallet-Stevens (1932)
  • The undulating line – Relief on the Grave of the Străjescu Family in Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest, by George Cristinel (1934)
  • Decorative stylized lettering – Edificio del Parque in Mexico City, by Ernesto Buenrostro (1935)

Art Deco decoration evolved through distinct phases. Between 1910 and 1920, as Art Nouveau waned, design styles saw a return to tradition, notably in the work of Paul Iribe. In 1912, André Vera published an essay in L'Art Décoratif advocating a return to the craftsmanship and materials of earlier centuries, utilizing a new repertoire of forms derived from nature, particularly baskets and garlands of fruit and flowers. A second Art Deco tendency, also from 1910 to 1920, was inspired by the vibrant colors of the Fauves movement and the colorful costumes and sets of the Ballets Russes. This style was often expressed through exotic materials such as sharkskin, mother-of-pearl, ivory, tinted leather, lacquered and painted wood, and decorative inlays on furniture that emphasized geometric forms. This period reached its apex at the 1925 Paris Exposition of Decorative Arts. In the late 1920s and 1930s, the decorative style shifted, influenced by new materials and technologies, becoming sleeker and less ornamental. Furniture, mirroring architecture, began to feature rounded edges and a polished, streamlined appearance, adopted from the Streamline Moderne style. New materials like nickel or chrome-plated steel, aluminum, and bakelite, an early form of plastic, started appearing in furniture and décor.

Throughout the Art Deco period, and especially in the 1930s, decorative motifs often reflected the function of the building. Theaters were adorned with sculptures symbolizing music, dance, and excitement; power companies featured sunrises; the Chrysler Building showcased stylized hood ornaments; and the friezes of the Palais de la Porte Dorée at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition depicted the faces of various nationalities from French colonies. The Streamline style conveyed a sense of motion. The WPA murals of the 1930s depicted ordinary people—factory workers, postal employees, families, and farmers—instead of classical heroes.

Art Deco, much like the complex era that birthed it, is characterized by inherent contradictions: minimalist versus maximalist, angular versus fluid, ziggurat versus streamline, symmetrical versus irregular, among others. The iconography chosen by Art Deco artists to express the period is also laden with such contrasts. Fair maidens in 18th-century attire appear alongside chic, sophisticated ladies and reclining nudes, while flashes of lightning illuminate stylized rosebuds.

Furniture

French furniture from 1910 to the early 1920s largely represented an update of traditional French furniture styles and the Art Nouveau designs of Louis Majorelle and [Charles Plumet]. French furniture manufacturers felt threatened by the growing popularity of German designs, particularly the simple and clean-lined Biedermeier style. Frantz Jourdain, president of the Paris Salon d'Automne, invited designers from Munich to participate in the 1910 Salon. Witnessing the new German style, French designers resolved to present their own modern creations at the 1912 Salon, under the rule that only modern styles would be permitted. Major French furniture designers, including Paul Follot, Paul Iribe, Maurice Dufrêne, André Groult, André Mare, and Louis Suë, participated, presenting updated interpretations of Louis XVI and Louis Philippe styles, incorporating sharper angles inspired by Cubism and brighter colors influenced by Fauvism and Les Nabis.

The painter André Mare and furniture designer Louis Süe both exhibited at the 1912 Salon. After the war, they joined forces to establish their own company, formally named the Compagnie des Arts Française, but commonly known as Suë and Mare. Unlike Art Nouveau designers like Louis Majorelle, who personally designed every piece, Suë and Mare assembled a team of skilled artisans and produced comprehensive interior designs, encompassing furniture, glassware, carpets, ceramics, wallpaper, and lighting. Their work featured vibrant colors and fine woods, such as ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl, abalone, and silvered metal to create floral motifs. They designed everything from the interiors of ocean liners to perfume bottles for Jean Patou. The firm prospered in the early 1920s, but the partners proved to be better craftsmen than businessmen, and the company was sold in 1928, with both men departing.

The most prominent furniture designer at the 1925 Exposition of Decorative Arts was Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann from Alsace. He first exhibited his work at the 1913 Autumn Salon and later had his own pavilion, the "House of the Rich Collector," at the 1925 Exposition. Ruhlmann exclusively used the rarest and most expensive materials, including ebony, mahogany, rosewood, ambon, and other exotic woods, embellished with inlays of ivory, tortoise shell, and mother-of-pearl. Small silk pom-poms adorned the drawer handles of his cabinets. His furniture designs were based on 18th-century models but were simplified and reshaped. In all his pieces, the internal structure was entirely concealed, with the frame, typically oak, covered by thin strips of wood, then a layer of rare woods, followed by veneer and polishing, creating the illusion that the entire piece was carved from a single block. Contrasting with the dark wood were inlays of ivory, as well as ivory key plates and handles. Ruhlmann believed that armchairs should be designed differently based on their intended location: living room armchairs needed to be inviting, office chairs comfortable, and salon chairs voluptuous. Only a limited number of each design were produced, and the average price of one of his beds or cabinets exceeded the cost of an average house.

[Jules Leleu] was a traditional furniture designer who seamlessly transitioned into Art Deco in the 1920s. He designed the furniture for the dining room of the Élysée Palace and for the first-class cabins of the steamship Normandie. His style was characterized by the use of ebony, Macassar wood, and walnut, decorated with plaques of ivory and mother-of-pearl. He introduced lacquered Art Deco furniture in the late 1920s and, by the late 1930s, began incorporating metal furniture with panels of smoked glass. In Italy, the designer [Gio Ponti] was renowned for his streamlined designs.

The expensive and exotic furniture produced by Ruhlmann and other traditionalists provoked strong opposition from modernists, including the architect Le Corbusier, who penned a series of articles denouncing the arts décoratifs style. He criticized furniture designed solely for the affluent and urged designers to create furniture using affordable materials and modern styles that ordinary people could access. He even designed his own chairs, intended to be inexpensive and mass-produced.

In the 1930s, furniture designs began to adapt to evolving forms, featuring smoother surfaces and curved shapes. Leading designers of this late style included Donald Deskey, a highly influential figure who created the interior of Radio City Music Hall. He employed a blend of traditional and modern materials, including aluminum, chrome, and bakelite, an early form of plastic. Other prominent Art Deco furniture designers in the United States during the 1930s included Gilbert Rohde, Warren McArthur, and Kem Weber.

The [Waterfall style] was highly popular in the 1930s and 1940s, representing the most prevalent Art Deco furniture form of the era. Pieces in this style were typically constructed of plywood finished with blond veneer and featured rounded edges, evoking the appearance of a waterfall.

Design

Streamline was a distinct variation of Art Deco that emerged in the mid-1930s. It was influenced by aerodynamic principles developed for aviation and ballistics to reduce drag at high speeds. These bullet-like shapes were applied by designers to cars, trains, ships, and even stationary objects such as refrigerators, gas pumps, and buildings. One of the first production vehicles in this style was the [Chrysler Airflow] of 1933. While not a commercial success, its design's beauty and functionality established a precedent for modernity, and the style continued to influence car design well after World War II.

New industrial materials, including aluminum, chrome, and bakelite, an early form of plastic, began to shape the design of cars and household objects. Bakelite, being easily moldable, quickly found its way into telephones, radios, and other appliances.

The grand dining room of the ocean liner SS Normandie by [Pierre Patout] (1935); bas-reliefs by Raymond Delamarre.

Ocean liners also embraced Art Deco, developing a style known in French as Style Paquebot, or "Ocean Liner Style." The most famous example was the SS Normandie, which made its inaugural transatlantic crossing in 1935. It was specifically designed to attract wealthy Americans to Paris for shopping. The cabins and salons featured the latest Art Deco furnishings and décor. The Grand Salon of the ship, serving as the restaurant for first-class passengers, surpassed the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in size. It was illuminated by electric lights integrated into twelve pillars of Lalique crystal, with thirty-six matching pillars lining the walls—an early instance of lighting being directly incorporated into architecture. This shipboard style was soon adapted for buildings. A notable example can be found on the San Francisco waterfront, where the Maritime Museum building, constructed as a public bath in 1937, resembles a ferryboat with ship railings and rounded corners. The Star Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong also utilized a variation of this style.

Textiles

  • Abundance textile design by André Mare (1911), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
  • Design of birds from Les Ateliers de Martine by Paul Iribe (1918)
  • Rose pattern textiles designed by Mare (c. 1919), Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Rose Mousse pattern for upholstery, cotton and silk (1920), Metropolitan Museum of Art

Textiles played a significant role in the Art Deco aesthetic, appearing in the form of colorful wallpaper, upholstery, and carpets. In the 1920s, designers drew inspiration from the stage sets of the Ballets Russes, the fabric designs and costumes of Léon Bakst, and the creations of the Wiener Werkstätte. The early interior designs of André Mare featured brightly colored and highly stylized garlands of roses and flowers that adorned walls, floors, and furniture. Stylized floral motifs also dominated the work of Raoul Dufy and [Paul Poiret], as well as in the furniture designs of J.E. Ruhlmann. [Paul Poiret] reinvented the floral carpet in the Deco style.

The use of the pochoir stencil-based printing technique greatly enhanced the style, enabling designers to achieve sharp lines and exceptionally vivid colors. Art Deco forms appeared in the clothing designs of Paul Poiret, Charles Worth, and Jean Patou. Following World War I, exports of French clothing and fabrics became a crucial source of national income.

Late Art Deco wallpaper and textiles sometimes featured stylized industrial scenes, cityscapes, locomotives, and other modern themes, alongside stylized female figures, metallic finishes, and geometric designs.

Fashion

  • Evening coat by Paul Poiret (c. 1912), silk and metal, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
  • Evening dress from the Journal des Dames et des Modes, illustrated by George Barbier (1913). Stylized floral designs and bright colors were characteristic of early Art Deco.
  • Illustration by Barbier of a gown by Paquin (1914).
  • Cécile Sorel at the Comédie-Française (1920)
  • Evening dress by the Maison Agnès (1920–1930), silk, pearls, strass, cabochon, and other materials, Musée Galliera, Paris
  • [Desiree Lubovska] in a dress by Jean Patou (c. 1921)
  • Skirt by the Maison Agnès (1925–1927), silk, Musée Galliera
  • Coco Chanel in a sailor's blouse and trousers (1928)
  • [Louise Brooks] with an à la garçonne hairstyle, in a publicity photo for Diary of Lost Girl (1929)
  • Advertisement for pajamas in Lisières Fleuries fabric, from Le Jardin des Modes (1930)

Fashion underwent dramatic transformations during this period, largely driven by designers like Paul Poiret and later Coco Chanel. Poiret introduced the concept of draping, departing from the traditional tailoring and patternmaking methods of the past. He designed clothing with straight lines and constructed from rectangular motifs, offering structural simplicity. The corseted look and formal styles of the preceding era were abandoned in favor of more practical and streamlined fashion, incorporating new materials, brighter colors, and printed designs. [Coco Chanel] furthered this transition, popularizing a style of sporty, casual chic.

A distinctive archetype of the era was the [Flapper], a woman who sported a short bob, drank cocktails, smoked in public, and danced late into the night at fashionable clubs, cabarets, or bohemian establishments. While the Flapper represented a figure of popular imagination rather than widespread reality, another Art Deco female style was the androgynous garçonne of the 1920s, characterized by a flattened bust, a lowered waistline, and revealed legs, reducing the silhouette to a short, columnar form topped with a close-fitting cloche hat.

Jewelry

In the 1920s and 1930s, designers such as René Lalique and Cartier sought to reduce the traditional dominance of diamonds by introducing more colorful gemstones, including small emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. They also placed greater emphasis on elaborate and elegant settings, incorporating less expensive materials like enamel, glass, horn, and ivory. Diamonds themselves were cut in less conventional forms; the 1925 Exposition featured numerous diamonds cut into small rod or matchstick shapes. Other popular Art Deco cuts included:

  • Emerald cut, characterized by long step-cut facets.
  • Asscher cut, more square than the emerald cut, with a high crown and the first diamond cut to be patented.
  • Marquise cut, designed to create the illusion of greater size and presence.
  • Baguette cut: small, rectangular step-cut shapes often used to outline larger stones.
  • Old European cut, a round cut, hand-faceted to produce flashes of color (fire) within the stone.

Settings for diamonds also evolved; jewelers increasingly favored platinum over gold due to its strength, flexibility, and ability to securely set clusters of stones. Jewelers also began incorporating darker materials, such as enamels and black onyx, to create a stronger contrast with diamonds.

Jewelry became significantly more colorful and varied in style. Cartier and the firm of Boucheron combined diamonds with colorful gemstones cut into shapes resembling leaves, fruit, or flowers, creating brooches, rings, earrings, clips, and pendants. Far Eastern motifs also gained popularity, with jade and coral plaques integrated with platinum and diamonds. Vanity cases, cigarette cases, and powder boxes were adorned with Japanese and Chinese landscapes rendered in mother-of-pearl, enamel, and lacquer.

The rapid evolution of fashion also influenced jewelry design. The sleeveless dresses of the 1920s necessitated arm adornment, leading designers to create bracelets of gold, silver, and platinum encrusted with lapis lazuli, onyx, coral, and other colorful stones; bracelets were also designed for the upper arm, and multiple bracelets were often worn simultaneously. The short haircuts popular among women in the twenties called for elaborate Art Deco earring designs. As women began smoking in public, designers created ornate cigarette cases and ivory cigarette holders. The invention of the wristwatch before World War I inspired jewelers to craft extraordinary, decorated watches encrusted with diamonds and plated with enamel, gold, and silver. Pendant watches, suspended from ribbons, also became fashionable.

The established Parisian jewelry houses of the era—Cartier, Chaumet, Georges Fouquet, [Mauboussin], and [Van Cleef & Arpels]—all produced jewelry and objects in the new style. The firm Chaumet created highly geometric cigarette boxes, lighters, pillboxes, and notebooks, fashioned from hard stones decorated with jade, lapis lazuli, diamonds, and sapphires. They were joined by numerous young designers, each with their own interpretation of Art Deco. [Raymond Templier] designed pieces with intricate geometric patterns, including silver earrings resembling skyscrapers. Gerard Sandoz, who began designing jewelry at age 18 in 1921, created celebrated pieces inspired by the smooth, polished aesthetic of modern machinery. The glass designer René Lalique also entered the field, producing pendants of fruit, flowers, frogs, fairies, or mermaids crafted from sculpted glass in vibrant colors, suspended on silk cords with tassels. [Paul Brandt] contrasted rectangular and triangular patterns, embedding pearls in lines on onyx plaques. [Jean Despres] created necklaces of contrasting colors by combining silver and black lacquer, or gold with lapis lazuli. Many of his designs resembled highly polished machine components. [Jean Dunand] also drew inspiration from modern machinery, combining bright reds and blacks with polished metal. [Suzanne Belperron] contributed sculptural designs using materials like rock crystal and semi-precious stones, exploring the period's emphasis on non-traditional elements. [Jean Fouquet], influenced by Cubism, worked with materials such as ebony and chrome-plated steel, bringing a distinctively modernist approach to Art Deco jewelry. Other notable names in Art Deco jewelry include [Boucheron], Lacloche, and Danish silversmith [Georg Jensen], known for his work with silver and less expensive gemstones. American jewelry houses such as [Tiffany & Co.], [Black, Starr & Frost], and [Marcus & Co.] also made significant contributions, producing clocks, objets d'art, and jewelry.

Glass art

Similar to the preceding Art Nouveau period, Art Deco was an exceptional era for fine glass and other decorative objects designed to complement architectural settings. René Lalique, the most celebrated producer of glass objects, created works ranging from vases to automobile hood ornaments that became symbols of the period. He had experimented with glass before World War I, designing perfume bottles for François Coty, but did not commence serious production of art glass until after World War I. In 1918, at the age of 58, he acquired a large glassworks in Combs-la-Ville and began manufacturing both artistic and practical glass items. He treated glass as a sculptural medium, creating statuettes, vases, bowls, lamps, and ornaments. He utilized demi-crystal rather than lead crystal, a softer material easier to shape, though less lustrous. While he occasionally used colored glass, he more frequently employed opalescent glass, where the surface was stained with a wash to achieve varying degrees of translucency. Lalique provided decorative glass panels, lights, and illuminated glass ceilings for the ocean liners SS Île de France in 1927 and SS Normandie in 1935, as well as for some first-class sleeping cars on French railways. At the 1925 Exposition of Decorative Arts, he had his own pavilion, designed a dining room setting with a matching glass ceiling for the Sèvres Pavilion, and created a glass fountain for the courtyard of the Cours des Métiers—a slender glass column that spouted water from its sides and was illuminated at night.

Other notable Art Deco glass manufacturers included Marius-Ernest Sabino, who specialized in figurines, vases, bowls, and glass sculptures of fish, nudes, and animals. He often used opalescent glass that could shift from white to blue to amber depending on the light. His vases and bowls featured molded friezes of animals, nudes, or busts of women with fruit or flowers, exhibiting a less subtle but more colorful approach than Lalique's work.

Additional prominent Deco glass designers included [Edmond Etling], known for his vibrant opalescent colors, often with geometric patterns and sculpted nudes; Albert Simonet; Aristide Colotte; and [Maurice Marinot], celebrated for his deeply etched sculptural bottles and vases. The firm of [Daum] from Nancy, previously renowned for its Art Nouveau glass, produced a line of Art Deco vases and glass sculptures characterized by solid, geometric, and chunky forms. More delicate, multicolored works were created by Gabriel Argy-Rousseau, who produced delicately shaded vases with sculpted butterflies and nymphs, and Francois Decorchemont, whose vases featured streaked and marbled finishes. The Great Depression significantly impacted the decorative glass industry, which relied heavily on wealthy clientele. Some artists turned to designing stained glass windows for churches. In 1937, the [Steuben] glass company initiated the practice of commissioning renowned artists to produce glassware. [Louis Majorelle], famous for his Art Nouveau furniture, designed a remarkable Art Deco stained glass window depicting steelworkers for the offices of the [Aciéries de Longwy], a steel mill in [Longwy], France.

The [Amiens Cathedral] features a rare example of Art Deco stained glass windows in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, created between 1932 and 1934 by the Paris glass artist Jean Gaudin based on drawings by Jacques Le Breton.

Metal art

  • A grill with two wings called The Pheasants, made by Paul Kiss and displayed at the 1925 Exposition of Decorative and Industrial Arts
  • Iron and copper grill called Oasis by Edgar Brandt, displayed at the 1925 Paris Exposition
  • Table mirror by Franz Hagenauer of Werkstätte Hagenauer Wien (c. 1930)
  • Cocktail set of chrome-plated steel by Norman Bel Geddes (1937)

Art Deco artists produced a wide array of functional objects in the Art Deco style, utilizing industrial materials ranging from traditional wrought iron to chrome-plated steel. American artist Norman Bel Geddes designed a cocktail set resembling a skyscraper, crafted from chrome-plated steel. Raymond Subes designed an elegant metal grille for the entrance of the Palais de la Porte Dorée, the centerpiece of the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition. French sculptor Jean Dunand created magnificent doors on the theme of "The Hunt," covered in gold leaf and paint on plaster (1935).

Animation

Art Deco skyscrapers are depicted in [Falling Hare] (1943).

Art Deco visuals and imagery were incorporated into numerous animated films, including Batman: The Animated Series, Night Hood, [All's Fair at the Fair], Merry Mannequins, [Page Miss Glory] (1936 film), [Fantasia] (1940 film), and [Sleeping Beauty] (1959 film). The architecture features prominently in the fictional underwater city of Rapture in the [BioShock] video game series.

Art Deco visuals served as an inspiration for the architecture of Iacon City in the animated science fiction film [Transformers One].

Art Deco architecture around the world

Art Deco architecture originated in Europe but had spread to large cities on every continent and in nearly every country by 1939. The following is a selection of prominent buildings from each continent.

For a comprehensive list of existing buildings by country, see: List of Art Deco architecture.

Africa

Most Art Deco buildings in Africa were constructed during European colonial rule, often designed by Italian, French, and Portuguese architects.

Asia

Many Art Deco buildings in Asia were designed by European architects. However, in the Philippines, local architects such as Juan Nakpil, Juan Arellano, Pablo Antonio, and others were prominent. Numerous Art Deco landmarks in Asia were demolished during the rapid economic expansion of Asia in the late 20th century, yet notable enclaves of this architectural style still exist, particularly in Shanghai and Mumbai.

The Indian Institute of Architects, established in Mumbai in 1929, played a significant role in promoting the Art Deco movement. In November 1937, the institute organized the 'Ideal Home Exhibition' at the Town Hall in Mumbai, which ran for 12 days and attracted approximately one hundred thousand visitors. The exhibition was deemed a success by the 'Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects'. The displays showcased 'ideal,' or rather, the most 'modern' arrangements for various parts of a home, with meticulous attention paid to avoiding architectural flaws and presenting efficient, well-conceived models. The exhibition covered diverse aspects of home design, including furniture, interior decoration elements, radios, and refrigerators, utilizing new and scientifically relevant materials and methods.

Driven by a desire to emulate Western trends, Indian architects were captivated by the industrial modernity offered by Art Deco. Western elites were the first to experiment with the technologically advanced facets of Art Deco, and architects began this transformative process in the early 1930s.

Mumbai's expanding port commerce in the 1930s led to the growth of an educated middle class. It also saw an influx of people migrating to Mumbai in search of employment, creating a pressing need for new developments through land reclamation schemes and the construction of new public and residential buildings. Concurrently, the shifting political climate and the aspirational quality of Art Deco aesthetics resulted in the widespread adoption of this architectural style in the city's development. Most buildings from this period can be found across various city neighborhoods, including Churchgate, Colaba, Fort, Mohammed Ali Road, Cumbala Hill, Dadar, Matunga, Bandra, and Chembur.

Australia and New Zealand

Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, boast several notable Art Deco buildings, including the [Manchester Unity Building] and the former [Russell Street Police Headquarters] in Melbourne, the [Castlemaine Art Museum] in [Castlemaine, Victoria], and the [Grace Building], [AWA Tower], and [Anzac Memorial] in Sydney.

Several towns in New Zealand, including [Napier] and [Hastings], were rebuilt in the Art Deco style following the [1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake]. Many of these buildings have since been protected and restored. Napier has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, marking the first cultural site in New Zealand to receive such a nomination. [Wellington] has also preserved a significant number of Art Deco buildings.

North America

In Canada, surviving Art Deco structures are primarily found in major cities such as [Montreal], Toronto, [Hamilton, Ontario], and [Vancouver]. These range from public buildings like [Vancouver City Hall] to commercial structures ([College Park]) and public works ([R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant]).

In Mexico, the most imposing Art Deco example is the interior of the [Palacio de Bellas Artes] (Palace of Fine Arts), completed in 1934 with its elaborate décor and murals. Examples of Art Deco residential architecture can be found in the [Condesa] district, many designed by [Francisco J. Serrano].

In the United States, Art Deco buildings are present nationwide, in all major cities. The style was most widely adopted for office buildings, train stations, airport terminals, and cinemas; residential buildings are less common. During the 1920s and 1930s, architects in the [Southwestern United States], particularly in [New Mexico], combined Pueblo Revival with [Territorial Style] and Art Deco to create [Pueblo Deco], exemplified by the [KiMo Theater] in [Albuquerque]. The more austere Streamline style gained popularity in the 1930s. Many buildings were demolished between 1945 and the late 1960s, but preservation efforts began thereafter, focusing on protecting significant examples. The City of Miami Beach established the [Miami Beach Architectural District] to safeguard its extensive collection of Art Deco buildings.

Central America and the Caribbean

Art Deco buildings are prevalent throughout Central America, including in Cuba.

Europe

The architectural style first emerged in Paris with Auguste Perret's Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1910–13) and subsequently spread rapidly across Europe, with examples appearing in nearly every major city, from London to Moscow. Germany saw two distinct Art Deco variations flourish in the 1920s and 30s: the Neue Sachlichkeit style and Expressionist architecture. Notable examples include Erich Mendelsohn's [Mossehaus] and [Schaubühne] in Berlin, [Fritz Höger]'s [Chilehaus] in Hamburg and his [Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz] in Berlin, the Anzeiger Tower [de] in [Hanover], and the Borsig Tower [af] in Berlin.

One of the largest Art Deco structures in Western Europe is the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in [Koekelberg], Brussels. In 1925, architect Albert van Huffel received the Grand Prize for Architecture for his scale model of the basilica at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris.

Spain and Portugal feature striking Art Deco buildings, particularly cinemas. Portuguese examples include the Capitólio Theater (1931) and the Éden Cine-Theatre (1937) in [Lisbon], and the [Rivoli Theater] (1937) and the [Coliseu] (1941) in [Porto], along with the Rosa Damasceno Theater (1937) in [Santarém]. In Spain, the Cine Rialto in Valencia (1939) is a notable example.

During the 1930s, Art Deco significantly influenced house design in the United Kingdom, as well as the design of various public buildings. Characteristics included straight, white-rendered house frontages with flat roofs, sharply geometric door surrounds, tall windows, and convex-curved metal corner windows.

The [London Underground] is renowned for numerous examples of Art Deco architecture, and several buildings in this style are situated along the [Golden Mile] in Brentford. Also in West London is the Hoover Building, originally constructed for [The Hoover Company] and later converted into a superstore in the early 1990s.

Bucharest, once dubbed the "Little Paris" of the 19th century, underwent a stylistic transformation after World War I, drawing inspiration from New York City. The 1930s saw the emergence of a new fashion reflected in cinema, theater, dance styles, art, and architecture. Bucharest during this decade was marked by an increasing prevalence of Art Deco architecture, evident on major boulevards like [Bulevardul Magheru], as well as in private residences and smaller districts. The [Telephone Palace], an early landmark of modern Bucharest, was the city's first skyscraper, standing as the tallest building between 1933 and the 1950s at 52.5 meters (172 ft). The architects were Louis Weeks and Edmond van Saanen Algi, with Walter Troy as engineer. The Art Deco monuments form a crucial part of Bucharest's character, symbolizing an important historical period—the interwar years (World War I–World War II). Many of the buildings from this era are vulnerable due to Bucharest's location in an earthquake zone.

South America