Art Deco

Jazz jar and cover, Enouch Boulton, about 1928. Museum no. CIRC.5261974 The term Art Deco, coined in the 1960s, refers to a style that spanned the boom of the roaring 1920s and the bust of the Depression-ridden 1930s. Art Deco represented many things for many people. It was the style of the flapper girl and the factory, the luxury ocean liner and the skyscraper, the fantasy world of Hollywood and the real world of the Harlem Renaissance. Art Deco affected all forms of design, from the fine and decorative arts to fashion, film, photography, transport and product design. It was modern and it was everywhere. It drew on tradition and yet simultaneously celebrated the mechanised, modern world. Often deeply nationalistic, it quickly spread around the world, dominating the skylines of cities from New York to Shanghai. It embraced both handcraft and machine production, exclusive works of high art and new products in affordable materials. Art Deco reflected the plurality of the contemporary world. Unlike its functionalist sibling, Modernism, it responded to the human need for pleasure and escape. In celebrating the ephemeral, Art Deco succeeded in creating a mass style of permanence. Infinitely adaptable, it gave free reign

to the imagination and celebrated the fantasies, fears and desires of people all over the world. Art Deco, like its forerunner Art Nouveau, was an eclectic style and drew on many sources. Designers sought to infuse jaded traditions with new life and to create a modern style based on a revitalised decorative language. To do so, they borrowed from historic European styles, as well as from the pictorial inventions of contemporary Avant Garde art, the rich colours and exotic themes of the Ballets Russes, and the urban imagery of the machine age. They also drew on more distant and ancient cultures. The arts of Africa and East Asia provided rich sources of forms and materials. Archaeological discoveries fuelled a romantic fascination with early Egypt and MesoAmerica.

Vogue Red Blocks cup and saucer, Eric Slater, 1930-1931. Museum no. C.162:1, 2-2003

Sunray vase, Clarice Cliff, about 1929. Museum no. C.74-1976This content was originally written in association with the exhibition 'Art Deco: 1910-1939', on display at the V&A South Kensington from 27 March - 20 July 2003.

Art Deco: Design Influences

Ebonised wood smoker's cabinet by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Isle of Wight, Hampshire, UK, 1916. Museum no. CIRC.856:1-1956

Hand-coloured pochoir stencil by Georges Lepape, from 'Les Choses de Paul Poiret', France, about 1911. Museum no. CIRC.262-1976

Painted stoneware plate by Cuthbert Hamilton for The Rebel Arts Centre, London, UK, about 1915. Museum no. C.120-1984 Art Deco, like its forerunner Art Nouveau, was an eclectic style and drew on many sources. Designers sought to infuse jaded traditions with new life and to create a modern style based on a revitalised decorative language. To do

so, they borrowed from historic European styles, as well as from contemporary avant garde art, the rich colours and exotic themes of the Ballets Russes, and the urban imagery of the machine age. Art Nouveau Art Nouveau, the fin de sicle style that preceded Art Deco, fell out of fashion in the years before World War I (191418). In the increasingly conservative political climate, critics saw it as decadent and over-elaborate. It failed to meet the demand for a modern national style. In France, veterans of Art Nouveau like Maurice Dufrene and Paul Follot recognized the need to modernise tradition and adapt their designs to machine production. In Austria, the designers of the Wiener Werksttte retained their handcraft practices. However, they gradually abandoned the taut geometry of the turn-of-the century Secession style for a greater decorative freedom based on national sources. Elements of Art Nouveau's visual language were adapted in the stylised naturalistic decoration characteristic of the Atelier Martine. The more linear, geometric variant of Art Nouveau, exemplified by the work of Josef Hoffmann and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, directly fed Art Deco designers' search for 'modern' forms and decorative motifs. National traditions Folk art, an important source for Art Nouveau, also influenced Art Deco. Its appeal was twofold. In a period of nationalism it represented an authentic indigenous source, while its simplified, stylised, often geometric patterns were easily modernised. The Avant Garde The new visual language, colour and iconography of early 20th-century avant-garde art had a profound impact on Art Deco. Movements such as Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, De Stijl, Suprematism and Constructivism frequently bundled together under the label of Cubism transformed all the decorative arts. Art Deco designers were quick to use their geometric, abstract and fragmented vocabulary to evoke the dynamism of modern urban culture.

At the same time, many avant-garde artists applied their ideas to design. In France, Sonia Delaunay experimented with bright colour and geometric forms in designs for graphics, fashion and textiles. In Czechoslovakia, artists, architects and designers applied the ideas of Cubism to buildings and objects of everyday use. In Russia, artists like Nikolai Suetin and Kasimir Malevich created Suprematist ceramics and textiles.

Art Deco: Global Inspiration

Hand-beaded lurex jacket with Egyptian motifs, Paris, France, 1922-25. Museum no. T.91-1999

'Europa and the Bull', lino printed linen furnishing fabric, by Frank & Mary Dobson, London, UK, 1938. Museum no. CIRC.104-1939

Block printed cotton by Ruth Reeves for WJ Sloane Ltd, New York, USA, about 1930. Museum no. T.57-1932

Silk fukusa (gift cover) embroidered with a flight of cranes, Japan, 1800-50, Edo period. Museum no. T.20-1923

Sand-blasted glass panel by Sigmund Pollitzer for Pilkington Ltd, St Helens, Merseyside, UK, 1933-38. Museum no. C.230-1991

Egypt Egypt held a particular fascination for artists and designers. The discovery of the tomb of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun, by Howard Carter in November 1922, sparked enormous popular interest in all things Egyptian. The wealth of funerary goods extracted from the tomb included chariots, furniture, mummy cases, spectacular gold jewellery and the extraordinary gold mask of the pharaoh. Generic Egyptian images and motifs, such as lotus flowers, scarabs, hieroglyphics, pylons and pyramids, rapidly became popular. They covered everything, fine bookbindings to biscuit boxes, variety cases to cinema faades. In fashion design 'Egyptomania' was ubiquitous and sometimes bizarre. The 'Mummy Wrap', a form of fashionable dress that was all the rage in the 1920s, evoked the layered bindings of ancient mummies.

The classical world After the horrors of World War I (191418) many designers sought out the themes and lyrical imagery of the classical worlds of ancient Greece and Rome. Subjects such as the Flight of Europa or Pallas Athena became popular, while the huntress and dancing maenad appeared in designs for everything from textiles and wallpapers to moulded glass and ceramic vessels. The figure was central to the practice of many Art Deco designers. The sculptors Carl Milles and Paul Manshi pexperimented with the classical nude, both free-standing and as a motif in relief decoration. Others explored the simple, stylized forms of the archaic sculptural traditions. Mesoamerica Art Deco designers drew on the art of the Maya and Aztecs to create new architectural and decorative forms. To North and South Americans, in particular, this art seemed to represent indigenous traditions, free of European influences. It offered bold and unadulterated sources for a repertoire of motifs suited to modern tastes and needs. Ancient ziggurats found an echo in the stepping and setbacks of the great skyscrapers of New York and other American cities. Decorative motifs borrowed from Aztec and Mayan sources adorned cinemas, hotels and private houses, as well as jewellery and ceramics. East Asia China and Japan were important ingredients in the eclectic mix that informed the style and spirit of Art Deco. Much of the glamour and exoticism of the new style was expressed through the traditional materials and techniques of East Asian art. Designers particularly admired the polished surface and brilliant colour of Chinese jade and the rich, sensual effects of Japanese lacquer. The stylised natural forms and geometric motifs of East Asian art were also a feature of much Art Deco design. Japanese art held a strong appeal, but it was the art of China that had the greatest influence. Art Deco designers were drawn to the powerful and mysterious motifs on ancient bronzes, the elegant shapes of early ceramics and the simple lines of hardwood furniture.

Africa Africa provided one of the richest sources of exotic imagery for Art Deco designers. The bold, abstract and geometric zigzags, hatch marks, circles and triangles of African textiles, shields and sculptures became part of the repertoire of Art Deco. Many designers used the African figure as a decorative motif, while others explored the African sculptural tradition of masks. In France, Jean LambertRucki and Pierre Legrain produced African-inspired sculpture, furniture and decorative wares. In America, the black artist Sargent Johnson and others saw African art as the source of a new decorative style expressive of the vitality of modern urban black life and culture.

Art Deco: The 1925 Paris Exhibition

Colour woodblock poster for the Paris 1925 Exhibition, by Robert Bonfils for Imprimerie Vaugirard, Paris, France, 1925. Museum no. E.1200-1925

Many international exhibitions helped promote Art Deco, but none was more important than the Paris Exhibition of 1925. Officially entitled the Exposition Internationale des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes, it was dedicated to the display of modern decorative arts. The exhibition brought together thousands of designs from all over Europe and beyond. With over 16 million visitors, it marked the high point of the first phase of Art Deco. The exhibition was shaped by France's ambitions in the years immediately after World War I (191418). Its aim was to establish the pre-eminence of French taste and luxury goods. French displays dominated the exhibition and Paris itself was put on show as the most fashionable of cities. The pavilions of major manufacturers, department stores and designers, together with avenues of boutiques, enticed visitors to the fairground by day. By night, its monumental gates, bridges and fountains, as well as major landmarks in the surrounding city, were a blaze of light. The Eiffel Tower bore the Citron logo. A triumph of 19th-century engineering, the tower was transformed into a giant advertisement for 20th-century consumerism. The exhibition regulations stressed the need for 'modern' inspiration. There were many novel designs, but designers and manufacturers were reluctant to abandon tradition altogether. Nevertheless, whether the exhibits were 'modernised traditional' or 'modernistic' in character, they helped establish the themes and formal repertoire of Art Deco. The exhibition had an immediate and worldwide impact. The Htel d'un Collectionneur

Pavillon de Collectionneur, by Pierre Patout, from 'Architecture Officielle et Les Pavillons: Exposition Internationale des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes; rassembles par Pierre Patout', Paris, France, about 1925. Museum no. NAL 382667

The Htel d'un Collectionneur was the most ambitious project by an individual designer and the most acclaimed display in the exhibition. It housed a suite of elegant rooms conceived by the leading French furniture maker (bniste) Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann. Pierre Patout designed the pavilion, with a vast oval room, the Grand Salon, as its focal point. Ruhlmann brought together many leading artists and designers to decorate the Salon, including Jean Dunand, Jean Dupas, Antoine Bourdelle and Edgar Brandt. Its sumptuous decoration, rich use of colour and elegant modernisation of traditional forms and techniques have led many critics to consider the Grand Salon the greatest achievement of French Art Deco. Several works from the interior, notably the 'Donkey and Hedgehog' cabinet and Jean Dupas' painting Les Perruches, have become Art Deco icons.

Mannequin head. unknown maker, 1925. Museum no. T.3-2002 Boutiques and department stores at the 1925 exhibition The exhibition aimed to establish Paris as the world centre for shopping. On the Pont Alexandre III and in the Galerie des Boutiques, exclusive shops promoted luxury goods with carefully orchestrated window displays. These introduced a new generation of fashion mannequins. The most innovative were the work of Sigel and Pierre Imans, who were inspired by the Cubist and abstract forms of avant-garde art. They also experimented with radical new surface finishes, such as mirror and glistening black wax.

The novel presentation of fashion was visible in both the official Pavilion de l'Elgance and the displays organized by individual designers such as Paul Poiret and Sonia Delaunay. In the eye-catching pavilions of the leading department stores, chic modern furnishings were available at affordable prices.

Desk, Sir Edward Maufe, London, 1925. Museum no. Circ.898-1968. Given by Prudence, Lady Maufe International Displays at 1925 Many European countries participated in the Paris Exhibition, including Britain, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and the USSR. Other parts of the world were less well represented, and Germany and the USA were notable absentees. Germany, as the main aggressor in the First World War and the greatest threat to French supremacy in the decorative arts, was sent an invitation too late to organize a major display. The USA declined to participate on the grounds that 'there was no modern design in America'. Although the exhibition regulations insisted on the need for displays of 'modern' inspiration, this rule was not always observed. In both the French and international displays, there was an uneasy tension between those designs that derived from tradition and those without historical precedent. The decorative innovation that did exist in the exhibition was sometimes shortlived. In many European countries, it later gave way to either a return to tradition or a move towards more functionalist Modernism.

Fireworks bowl; Fyrverkerisklen, Edward Hald, Sweden, 1921 (designed). Museum no. CIRC.52&A-1931 Sweden Neo-classicism and Biedermeier were the most pervasive influences on Scandinavian Art Deco. Both could easily be simplified to meet modern tastes. The Swedish and Danish displays at the 1925 Paris Exhibition revealed a clear debt to these styles. The Swedish pavilion, designed by Carl Bergstein, took the form of a neoGreek temple with attenuated Ionic columns, decorated with relief sculpture by Ivar Johnsson. Neo-Greek furniture designed by Erik Gunnar Asplund complemented the architecture. A historic high style also inspired Simon Gate's Rococo 'Paris' cup, made by the Orrefors glassworks. This work was the centrepiece of the pavilion and displayed in isolated splendour. In the Grand Palais, the Swedish displays showed a more progressive approach. Edward Hald's delicately drawn scenes depicted contemporary city life and often incorporated exotic motifs. They represented a modernization of the engraved glass tradition and helped win Orrefors a gold medal. The Netherlands The Netherlands' selection committee sought to represent a broad range of tendencies. It invited younger designers, influenced by the radical ideas of the German Werkbund and the Dutch De Stijl group, to exhibit alongside older artists working in a variety of styles.However, it was the work of the Amsterdam School that dominated the Dutch displays.

Designed by J. F. Staal, the pavilion was typical of Amsterdam School aesthetics. Made of brick, it combined expressive decoration with exotic forms and motifs. Here and elsewhere, exhibits by the sculptors Hildo Krop and John Rdecker and the designers Michel De Klerk and C.A. Lion Cachet brought the work of the Amsterdam School to an international audience.Throughout the Dutch displays were reminders of the country's colonial heritage. Many works employed exotic imagery, materials or techniques as designers looked to the East for inspiration, particularly to the art and design of Indonesia. Italy Like many of the international displays, the Italian pavilion combined overtly modernistic work with exhibits that drew on tradition. The monumental Renaissance-style national pavilion, designed by Armando Brasini, paid no heed to the 'modern' requirements of the exhibition regulations. But the work of other designers more successfully met the criteria. Gio Ponti, who won a Grand Prix for his porcelain designs, infused the logic of classicism with elegance, fantasy and wit. Elsewhere in the exhibition the brightly coloured, seductive and sometimes provocative graphics, textiles and furnishings of the Futurists - including Giacomo Balla, Fortunato Depero and Enrico Prampolini - gave a completely different dimension to the Italian displays. According to one critic, 'The Futurists saved Italy in Paris'. Czechoslovakia Historic styles, folk art and the work of the avant garde inspired the Czechoslovak displays. The modernistic pavilion, designed by Josef Gor, took the symbolic and abstracted form of a ship. Its main reception room self-consciously combined forms derived from the Renaissance with those of Czech Cubism. In other displays in the exhibition competing tendencies were also in evidence. The Czechoslovak sculptor Jaroslav Horejc designed a set of four glass goblets for the Viennese firm of J. & L. Lobmeyr. Executed in intaglio engraving, they were decorated with the muscular and elongated figures typical of much Art Deco figuration. Conversely, in his photographs of female nudes, Frantiek Drtikol used geometric and abstract forms with a

radical simplification of composition. His work reflects tendencies that would increasingly characterize Art Deco by the late 1920s.

Furnishing fabric, F Gregrory Brown (designer), William Foxton (manufacturer), 1922. Museum no. T.325-1934 Britain Following the hugely successful British Empire Exhibition held at Wembley in 1924, many leading British designers and manufacturers did not feel the need to exhibit in Paris in 1925. Many of those who did participate were reluctant to break with the past and, overall, the British contribution was deeply conservative.One critic complained of the 'dullness and aloofness, and the absence of the spirit of adventure in many of the British displays'. Yet, this was not the whole story. Several textile companies, including Warner & Sons, used new machine techniques but employed traditional styles. Others, such as Grafton & Co. and William Foxton Ltd, produced bright new textiles in modern designs. And some of the ceramics displays, such as those of Carter, Stabler & Adams of Poole, were admired for their lively colour and bold modelling.

Art Deco: Exotic and Moderne

Exotic

La Danse furnishing fabric, designed by Raoul Dufy for Bianchini-Frier, about 1920. Museum no. CIRC.113-1939

The exotic touched every aspect of contemporary life. Motifs such as lotus flowers, tropical birds and animals, dancing girls and native figures became commonplace. Tropical woods and exotic materials such as ebony, ivory, sharkskin and lacquer gave luxurious and sensuous effects. The vogue for 'l'art ngre', which celebrated black African culture, exemplified the widespread taste for the exotic. It encompassed the fine and decorative arts, fashion, film, photography, music and dance.

In the world of the cabaret the American entertainer Josephine Baker embodied the exotic 'primitive'. She first performed her erotically charged Danse Sauvage in Paris in 1925. It electrified audiences with its sophisticated fusion of the 'primitive' and modern black American music and dance. The show transformed Baker into an icon. In the world of fashion and high style, the taste-makers Jacques Doucet, Jeanne Lanvin and Suzanne Talbot commissioned exotic designs for their Parisian homes. Jacques Doucet's apartment at Neuilly combined avantgarde art by Picasso and Modigliani with exotic Art Deco and ancient works from Africa and the East. These interiors represent a pinnacle of French Art Deco. The most striking official use of the exotic was to be found in the International Colonial Exhibition, held in Paris in 1931. Its decorative schemes for the Muse des Colonies used an exoticized Art Deco to create a modern vision of the colonial enterprise. Moderne

Dressing table, Robert Block, 1935. Museum no. W.36:1 to 5-1987

By the late 1920s many designers had turned to abstract and geometric forms and decoration, drawn from the visual repertoire of the avant garde. British and American critics often used the terms 'Moderne', 'Jazz Moderne' or 'Zigzag Moderne' to characterize such work. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and ensuing Depression had a devastating effect on the luxury market. Many leading European Deco designers were hard hit. Increasingly, there was a demand for inexpensive consumer goods, which accelerated the move away from handcraft practice towards a modern aesthetic compatible with new materials and industrial production. Chromed steel, aluminium, mirror, coloured glass and the new plastics such as Bakelite and Catalin - became the favoured materials of the 1930s, replacing exotic woods, ivory and sharkskin. Inexpensive and adaptable, they could be made to emulate the decorative and sensuous surfaces typical of Deco in the 1920s but were suited to batch or mass production. In the 1930s, the sparer decorative aesthetic and new materials of the Moderne were often coupled with an innovative use of lighting and reflective surfaces, whether in fashion design and photography or architecture and interior design.

Art Deco around the World

The Deco World

Bacchante furnishing fabric, Michael O'Connell, 1939. Museum no. CIRC.472-1939 Carried on the winds of commerce and capitalism, Art Deco spread quickly after 1925. A dynamic new age of communications ensured its global reach. As the rich travelled the world in luxury on Art Deco ocean liners, films and magazines transmitted the style to a worldwide audience. In many parts of the world, Art Deco stood for modernity and the escape from convention. It offered an accessible image of modern life and progress, more fun than competing forms of design such as Modernism. At the same time, designers could adapt Art Deco to convey national or local identities and meanings, using native decorative forms and subject matter. From Shanghai to Mexico City, Art Deco influenced the design of the cityscape and the homes of the rich. Above all, it became the style of the pleasure palaces of the age - hotels, cocktail bars, night-clubs and cinemas. Everywhere, it came to represent new aspirations and desires, notably the search for youth, glamour, fantasy and fun.

Japan

Japanese Government Railways poster, Munetsugu Satomi, 1937. Museum no. E.2043-1938 The inter-war period saw a dramatic transformation in Japan. The growth of cities such as Tokyo stimulated the development of a thriving urban culture centred on the department store, cinema and caf. Questions of cultural identity were debated as Japan sought to balance the demands of tradition and modernity, East and West. Art Deco, itself partly inspired by the arts of Asia, had particular appeal. The reconstruction of the capital after a major earthquake in 1923 saw the erection of many Art Deco buildings. The style was seen as a fitting choice for the creation of a modern, sophisticated city. The impact of Art Deco is also evident in striking ceramic, metal, lacquer and graphic works of the 1920s and 1930s.

India In India, Art Deco transformed the lives of a westernized princely elite and the urban middle class. The Maharajah of Indore fashioned a taste for Art Deco by commissioning works from leading European designers for his palace, Manik Bagh. At Umaid Bhawan, the Maharajah of Jodhpur fused western and Indian decorative conventions in a European-designed scheme executed by Indian craftsmen. The result was one of the most sumptuous Art Deco palaces ever built. Bombay, like many cities, saw its seafront developed with a strip of chic, Art Deco apartment buildings. In India the modern apartment block signalled new ways of living, as many young Indians abandoned the multigeneration home in favour of western lifestyles.

Marseille Porte de l'Afrique du Nord poster, Roger Broders, about 1920-1932. Museum no. E.3642-1932

Travel & Transportation From the euphoria of Lindbergh's first transatlantic flight in 1926 to the horror of the Hindenburg fire of 1937, the Art Deco age was one of the most extraordinary in the history of travel. It marked the expansion of mass travel and the high point of exclusive, luxury travel. The vast ocean liners became the greatest symbols of Art Deco elegance and comfort. The Ile de France, Atlantic, Empress of Britain, Conte di Savoia and Queen Mary brought high style to the high seas. The most luxurious of them all, the Normandie, became the ultimate symbol of national prestige. Completed in 1933 and costing over $60 million, she was decorated and furnished by leading French Art Deco designers. Trains also came to represent prestige, speed and modernity, with private companies and state railways competing to build ever faster and more comfortable models. Streamlined trains, such as the American Twentieth Century Limited and the British Mallard, went into service in nearly every country during the 1930s. Striking designs for posters
characteristics of the modern world.

and marketing material also emphasized speed and comfort as

Art Deco Objects in Detail

Stylised Nature

A Group of Axis Deer figure, John Skeaping, 1927. Made by Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd. Museum no. C.426-1934. A Group of Axis Deer, John Skeaping The motif of the 'biches' or deer was extremely popular in all forms of Art Deco design. In profile it presented a strong outline that could be easily adapted for machine production. John Skeaping was one of a number of progressive sculptors who, during the 1920s, revolutionised sculpture in Britain through their interest in nonWestern art, and their commitment to direct carving in wood or stone.This resulted in the simplification of forms, and in many cases their work became increasingly abstract. Skeaping, however, was primarily interested in animal sculpture - particularly of deer and horses - and he turned to animal subjects regularly throughout his life. Skeaping did not have much contact with industrial production, but this particular group of deer is one of fourteen figures that he designed for Josiah Wedgwood and Sons around 1927. At the time, he was in his mid-twenties, was married to fellow-sculptor Barbara Hepworth, and stood at the forefront of new developments in the medium. It was therefore a relatively bold commission for Wedgwood to have made. Nevertheless, the series of figures that he designed proved to be highly successful, as they had broad appeal, and were inexpensive to produce. They were, in fact, perfectly suited to mass-production, because rather than having to be assembled from separate sections, their relatively simple forms allowed them to be made in one piece, using a technique called slipcasting.This process involves taking plaster moulds from the original models that Skeaping would have made.

For mass-production, this would be done in a three-step process, first making a plaster mould using the original work, then in turn using this to produce what is known as a block mould, which is essentially a plaster version of the original model. This block mould would then be used to make a number of working plaster moulds from which the final earthenware figures would be cast. Each of these working moulds would be filled with a watery suspension of clay, known as slip. Because of the absorbency of the plaster, water is drawn out from the clay, so that after a period of time, a cake of clay of uniform thickness forms inside the mould. Any excess slip can then be poured out After a further period of drying, the mould, which will have been made in more than one section, can be safely removed. The figure would then be fired in what is known as the 'biscuit' firing, before being dipped in glaze and fired once more. In the end, Wedgwood selected ten of Skeaping's figures to go into production. These included several figures of deer, but not in fact this particular group, which must have been made as a prototype.

Exotic

Sequin jacket with Egyptian motifs, hand-beaded lurex, unknown maker, 1923. Museum no. T.91-1999. Bequeathed by Clive Scrimshaw. Sequin jacket with Egyptian motifs The archaeological discovery that gripped the public imagination most profoundly was that of the tomb of the boy Pharaoh, Tutankhamun. In November 1922, Howard Carter uncovered his undisturbed tomb in the Valley of Kings in Egypt. It was to prove one of the most important discoveries in archaeological history. The riches extracted over the following months far outstripped expectations. Funerary goods included spectacular jewellery, chariots, furniture, alabaster vessels and the fantastic gold mummy mask. The objects sparked enormous popular interest in all things Egyptian. Egyptian imagery such as lotus flowers, scarabs, hieroglyphics, pylons and pyramids were particularly popular motifs and appeared in many forms of decorative arts, as can be seen in this exquisite evening jacket

Tile, Sigmund Politzer, sand blasted black and grey glass, Made by Pilkington Ltd. 1933-1938. Museum no. C.230-1991 Tile, Sigmund Politzer Africa was one of the richest sources of exotic imagery. The Deco designers borrowed bold abstract and geometric patterns and the subdued black and brown colour range typical of Central African art. Derived from the patterns seen on African textiles, shields and sculptures, zig zags, hatch marks, circles and triangles became part of the repertoire of Art Deco motifs. Many Art Deco designers developed an iconography that used the African figure as a motif often set in lush jungle, as exemplified in this wall tile.

Traditional Motifs Dressing table, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann

Lotus dressing table, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, oak and mahogany with amaranth and andaman padouk veneer; ebony and ivory inlays; silvered bronze mirror frame and fittings; mirrored glass. about 1919-1923. Museum no. W.14:1 to 6-1980. This exquisite dressing table is a superb example of early French Art Deco. Designed by one of the most important Art Deco designers, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, it combines the use of luxurious and exotic materials including amaranth, andaman padouk, ebony and ivory with classical forms. Its design is based on an early nineteenth-century form of a dressing table with a pivoting mirror and lyre-shaped base. The techniques used to make this table continue traditional cabinet-making techniques of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. However here Ruhlmann replaces the two rear legs with a classical vase shape which raises from a domed base. He also modernised the marquetry inlay decoration by combining ebony with ivory to create a striking contrast.

Ruhlmann himself was not a cabinet-maker. He was a designer and a decorator. Until 1923 when he opened his own workshop, he would commission carefully chosen cabinet-makers to make his furniture. He was after perfect execution of his own original designs and challenged his cabinet-makers to innovate and to find new solutions. Here, the carcase of the table is made of solid oak. Oak is the best carcase wood because of its hardness and stability. It was used in luxurious pieces of furniture by French 18th century cabinet-makers. The three drawers are made of solid mahogany. Mahogany is also sometimes used as a carcase wood because it is a very stable, hard wood which does not move much with changes in humidity. It was also chosen for its deep red colour and its very smooth surface. It is an ideal wood for decorative elements like drawers meant to be touched and seen.

Reverse Once the different parts of the carcase are cut and shaped, they are assembled together. Using a technique which was developed by the French

cabinet-makers of the 17th and 18th century, the oak carcase is covered in a veneer of much richer and colourful woods. Very thin sheets of exotic and expensive woods are mechanically cut and glued onto the surface. Here the base and the vase are veneered with andaman Padouk from South-East Asia, the top and the mirror are veneered with purpleheart coming from Amazonia. The columns are in solid purpleheart. These two woods are of a very intense colour, the purpleheart being dark red-purple and the andaman Padouk being dark-red.Their original colours were much more intense than what we can see today, as wood discolours and tends to darken with sunlight. Their texture is also different. By using these two slightly different woods Ruhlmann achieved a very refined visual effect. Ruhlmann is always sensitive to contrasts of materials and colours.Until about 1925 he heightened the effects of his veneers by inlaying the surface of its furniture with strings of dots, rectangles or thin lines of ivory. This technique allows him to emphasise certain lines and insure a very refined finish. The most remarkable feature of this dressing table is the black and white marquetry of ivory and ebony of the top. The work was done by outside ivory carvers who worked on commission from cartoons. This illusionistic and contrasted ivory pebbling was used by Ruhlmann in many instances. Here, it gives the illusion of a fine piece of fabric draped over the table, where brush and other objects would seat. It is also interesting to note that the back of the table is finished as if it was intended to be seen in the round and not put against a wall. The ivory strings of dots and rectangles continue at the back, the back of the mirror is veneered, and the vase is treated three-dimensionally as in front.

Inspiration from the East Screen, Eileen Gray

Screen, Eileen Gray, lacquer on wood, with silver leaf veneer, about 1928. Museum no. W.40:1 to 8-1977. Given by Prunella Clough The increasing fascination of Deco designers with sensuality, luxury and rich surface finish led to a craze for lacquer. A traditional Asian technique, it became one of the most favoured of modern materials. The versatility of lacquer meant that it could be applied to wood, metal, leather and textiles and used for a variety of different objects, but it was perhaps used to greatest effect in the stunning furniture and screens created by both European designers and Japanese masters of the medium. The arts of Japan and China were important ingredients in the eclectic mix that informed the style and spirit of Art Deco. Much of the glamour and exoticism of the new style was expressed through the traditional materials and techniques of East Asian art. Designers were especially captivated by the sumptuous surfaces of lacquer. This fascination led to the creation of some very striking Art Deco objects such as this screen designed by Irishborn artist Eileen Gray. Lacquer is the sap of a tree native to East Asia. After various refining processes to remove excess water and impurities lacquer is essentially a colourless, viscous liquid which hardens when exposed to oxygen under hot and humid conditions. Working with lacquer takes time and skill. It is applied in very thin layers to a base, often of wood. Each layer must be left to harden for a couple of days and then ground and polished smooth before

the next layer is applied. Twenty or more layers are needed to obtain the desired results. The lacquer can be coloured and precious metals and other materials can be used to create decorative effects. Patterning can also be achieved through incising or carving into the lacquer surface. Lacquer was employed as an artistic medium in both China and Japan, but it was Japanese lacquerwork that particularly drew the attention of Art Deco artists such as Eileen Gray.They were attracted not only by the craft of its production, but by the richness, depth and sensuality of its surfaces. This European interest in lacquer was nothing new. Japanese lacquer had been prized ever since trade between East and West had been established in the sixteenth century. Various attempts had been made to emulate the technique using pigmented varnishes, a method known as 'Japanning', but it was not until the twentieth century that artists living in Paris finally learnt the secrets of lacquer production. Their teacher was the Japanese craftsman Sugawara Seiz, who had settled in the city after coming to France for the International Exhibition of 1900.

Detail of lacquer Eileen Gray met Suguwara after moving to Paris in 1906 and the two artists embarked on a collaboration that was to last for forty years. Under Sugawara's tutelage Gray gained proficiency in lacquer and began to produce pieces of furniture as well as small items such as bowls and plates. The hot and humid conditions needed to produce lacquer were first achieved

by Gray in her bathroom, but in 1910 she set up a special workshop for herself and Sugawara. Despite her growing mastery of the technique Gray discovered that the lacquer gave her a skin complaint, a common problem experienced when handling the material. She therefore concentrated purely on the design of pieces, leaving the actual lacquering to Sugawara and his assistants. This screen was designed in 1928 and, with its large, undecorated areas of pure lustre, reveals Gray's fascination with the fundamental properties and qualities of lacquer. Gray also liked to experiment with colour, texture, and reflection, here combining silver leaf with the innovative use of sand and gravel. Lacquer was a vital element of the Art Deco style, part of the widespread taste for the exotic and the luxurious. Through its inventive use designers such as Gray and Sugawara absorbed and transformed a centuries-old East Asian artistic medium into the essence of modernity.

Geometry and Abstraction

Evening gown, Jeanne Lanvin, winter 1935. Museum no. T.340-1965 Evening gown, Jeanne Lanvin Jeanne Lanvin's 1930s evening dresses, reflected the characteristic clean lines of the Deco style and were the epitome of refined and sophisticated elegance. She frequently combined simple, long and fluid forms with severe geometry. This figure-hugging, bias cut evening gown is adorned with a structured collar, covered with narrow parallel rows of stitching. The geometric stitching not only re-inforces the fabric to allow the collar to keep its shape, but also serves a decorative purpose. The use of reflective satin in fashion of the 1930s, often in pale colours, is also characteristic of a wider interest in Art Deco in the manipulation of light and surface sheen.

Bias cut technique At the end of the 1920s, Vionnet's technique of cutting dresses across the grain of the fabric had been adopted by most couturiers, it would become the trademark of 1930s fashion. Bias cut offered very innovative possibilities. Dresses fitted better and fell around the body in figure hugging way. When cut across the grain, fabrics appeared softer, thinner and could be slightly stretched. It was the ideal technique to mould the feminine contours without hindering the body, a feature extremely important to women who had known the comfortable flat and square dresses of the previous decade. Fabrics such as crepes, chiffons, lams, rayon, silk velvets and satins were used to create bias cut garments. Because it has been cut in the bias, the satin used for this Lanvin dress is at the same time extremely fluid while maintaining its natural weight. This combination creates sharply defined yet graceful flounces, recalling classical columns, an important source of inspiration in 1930s fashion. Satin became the emblematic fabric of 1930s Art Deco evening dresses. Used in 1920s black and white cinema, for its capacity to reflect light and its highly dramatic character, it was soon adopted by Hollywood actresses, as a symbol of luxury and sexuality, satin also had very strong graphic characteristics: it could suggest lacquer and streamlined metal forms, all of which were part of the 1930s Art Deco style.

Cape Colour Because of its very evocative character, satin was mostly used in monochrome colours. White or pastel satins of the 1920s and early 1930s soon gave way to stronger, more acidic colours. Lanvin had developed her sense of colour with Nabi painters such as Vuillard and Odilon Redon. She created the Lanvin blue, but also used black, coral, pale pink, cerise, almond green and a striking purple, as in this dress. By using one single very strong colour in this dress, she achieved the simple, yet sculptural look of the 'classical' fashion of the period. Cape In the 1920s, women wore exotic evening coats, mantles or shawls to cover their bare shoulders and arms. Fashion designers created boleros, and short capes to emphasise the length and fluid shapes of the evening gowns of the 1930s. The short cape created by Lanvin to accompany this dress shows a very avant-garde design for the period. Its architectural shape, the off-theneck gigantic collar and the use of huge buttons herald, almost 20 years before its time, a style developed by Balenciaga in the mid 1950s. The cape is made of silk velvet which has been ruched to achieve the effect of Astrakhan fur. The dense and intricate optical effects of the velvet enhances the purity of the dress' satin. This cape is a very good example of Lanvin's consummate knowledge of fabrics and of her characteristic love of textures. Streamlining

Bullet streamliner radio model 115, Fada Radio & Electric Co. Inc, 1940. Museum no. W.26-1992

Patriot radio model 400, Norman Bel Geddes; Bullet streamliner model 115, Fada New plastics - such as Bakelite and Catalin - became the favoured materials of the 1930s, replacing exotic woods, ivory and sharkskin. Inexpensive and adaptable, they could be made to emulate the decorative and sensuous surfaces typical of Deco in the 1920s but were suited to batch or mass production. When technological improvements enabled the production of bright colours, plastics also became a cheap, durable and attractive alternative to other materials. Designers turned to plastic for many types of consumer product, tableware, jewellery and radios. The Bullet and Patriot are typical examples of domestic radios designed and mass-produced in America during the 1930s. They still seem very glamorous and modern in their appearance, and as such represent the progressive and utopian spirit of American industrial design as it developed in between the two World Wars. Early radios were encased in wooden cabinets based on traditional furniture forms. But with the development of more sophisticated plastics and techniques for moulding, radio cases took on new and distinctive shapes during the 1920s and 30s.

Patriot midget radio, Norman Bel Geddes, about 1940. Museum no, W.311992

The Bullet and the Patriot models are both made from Catalin. Catalin was developed around 1927 which is when the patent for Bakelite ran out. One

of the disadvantages of Bakelite had been that 'fillers' such as wood pulp or cotton flock had to be used to reinforce it. To reduce the visibility of these fillers in the final product Bakelite was made in a restricted colour range of black and dark browns.Catalin on the other hand did not require a 'filler' and could therefore be cast in a whole range of solid, mottled, translucent or transparent colours. In its liquid state Catalin resembled a thick syrup. Before the plastic was baked in the oven to harden it, you could add different colouring agents to the liquid, swirl it around and this would produce a luxurious marbled effect. You can see marbling on the luminescent green and toffee coloured case of the Fada Bullet. This is typical of the way plastics were exploited to imitate more expensive materials such as tortoishell, alabaster and ivory. The decorative appearance of radios could also be enhanced through trim, so tuning knobs, dial parts and handles were often cast separately in a contrasting colour. The Patriot shows this brilliantly with its dial and speaker grills picked out in white and red, and the tuning knobs a different shade of blue. This design was produced in varying combinations paying homage to the American flag.

Art Deco in America

The Royal Mail Line to New York poster, Horace Taylor, 1920-1925. Museum no. E.516-1925

Manhattan The impact of Art Deco in America was extensive and profound. Knowledge of the new style spread rapidly as Europeans emigrated to the US and American designers travelled to Europe. European models of design were quickly superseded as designers strove to 'Americanize' the style, adapting it to cheaper materials, machine production and American social habits. In their search for American imagery, artists and designers turned to the modern American city for evocative symbols of progress and modernity. Products of the 1920s building boom, the towering new skyscrapers of Manhattan, with their characteristic set-backs, became recurrent motifs in

designs for textiles, tableware and furniture. They also appeared in photography, painting and the backdrops for Hollywood films. For one leading migr designer, the Austrian-born Paul Frankl, 'the skyscraper was a more vital contribution to the field of modern art than all the things done in Europe put together'. Art Deco and Hollywood Film, the most powerful medium of the modern age, established Art Deco as a global style. In Hollywood Art Deco reached its full potential for fantasy, glamour and mass popularity.

Cigarette lighter, Ronson, about 1925. Museum no. CIRC.266-1971 In films such as Our Dancing Daughters, Grand Hotel, 42nd Street and the musicals of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Hollywood spun a magical web of luxury, youth, beauty, upward mobility, sexual liberation and rampant consumerism. Stars such as Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford played racy, modern heroines who embodied Art Deco chic. Successive waves of European migr designers, directors, writers, actors and producers brought the Art Deco aesthetic to Hollywood. However, the values and culture their films conveyed were thoroughly American. The Hollywood dream was played out against a backdrop of fantastic Art Deco hotels, night-clubs, ocean liners and skyscrapers. Offering a heady cocktail of modern themes and high style, the films proved irresistible to millions worldwide.

Streamlining The 1930s witnessed the emergence of streamlining.

Airline Chair, Kem Weber, 1934-1935. Museum no. W.4-1991

Rapidly identified as an American phenomenon, it transformed the look of everything, from factories and cinemas to transport, film, fashion and product design. Manufacturers, hit hard by the Depression, sought new ways of producing cheap products. Responding to their demands, a group of American designers developed an innovative approach known as 'styling'. They encased products with contoured shells, notionally based on the principle of 'minimum drag'. These forms lent themselves to mechanized mass-production processes and new materials such as plastics. Derived from machines that most powerfully symbolized the modern world trains, automobiles and ocean liners - streamlining lent style and glamour to the most mundane of domestic products. Streamlining was applied for symbolic and decorative purposes, to stimulate consumption rather than facilitate function. As such, it can be seen as yet another strategy to renew decoration. It marks the last phase of Art Deco's rich story.

New York Worlds Fair 1939

New York World's Fair poster, Albert Staehle, 1939. Museum no. E.2852006 The unfettered consumerism and individualism of the New York World Fair of 1939 marked the culmination of Art Deco. The Fair's streamlined and geometric buildings celebrated the American dream in the face of totalitarianism and war in Europe. Giant American corporations, such as General Motors and Ford, built many of the most striking pavilions. Six years later, when the Second World War finally ended, the world was very different. It was a world of austerity, rationalism and functionalist dogma. Ornament was seen as unnecessary or 'treated as suspect' by many Modernist critics. The splendour and flamboyance of Art Deco fell out of favour

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker, international star of sensational, exotic cabarets including La Revue Ngre, and the infamous Folies Bergre in Paris and Berlin, was born on 3 June 1906 in St Louis, Missouri. During their short-lived marriage her parents had a song and dance act; her mother being known for ability to 'do the cakewalk', dancing along a chalk-line with a glass of water balanced on her head and never spilling a drop. Josephine's father, Eddie Carson, was a drummer who played in bands in saloons, vaudeville houses and brothels. Josephine Baker was only one year old when her parents introduced her into the finale of their stage act. By the age of 14, with a huge repertoire of steps, she began her career in the chorus line of the Booker T. Washington Theatre, St. Louis. By 1925, aged 19, Josephine Baker was shimmying and dancing the Charleston in La Revue Ngre, in Paris, bowing her legs and crossing her eyes at the same time as 'scatting' to the music. Throughout her life, Josephine Baker adored and was constantly surrounded by menageries of animals. She had learned early in her poor childhood to be mistrustful of people, and began her lifelong habit of showering affection on animals by befriending and sharing her food with Three Legs, the crippled

dog of her unkind employer. Her dancing was described by reviewers in animal terms; she was a kangaroo, a panther, a monkey, a tropical bird. In fact, she claimed she learned to dance by watching the kangaroos in St. Louis Zoo. This might have been true as many of the black dances of the day were based on imitating animal movement, such as the turkey trot, the kangaroo dip, the bunny hug and the rooster strut. In sharp contrast to the hardships of her early life, by 1925 Josephine Baker had her own nightclub, Chez Josephine, in Paris. Here she shared her dressing room with a goat called Toutoute. In the club kitchen lived her pig, Albert, whom Josephine doused with the Worth perfume Je Reviens. Albert thrived on the kitchen scraps and there was a time when the kitchen doorway had to be broken down to get him out.

Josephine Baker figure, Fritz Lampl, about 1930. Museum no. C.22-1995 Most famously, Josephine Baker was joined in her act at the Casino de Paris by a cheetah, Chiquita, a gift from Henri Varna, the club's owner. Varna's idea was that the cheetah would complement perfectly Josephine's image; half exotic, untamed creature; half elegant beauty and sophistication.

Josephine adored Chiquita, buying him a diamond choker and taking him everywhere with her. Pepito, Josephine's lover and manager, did not go along with her delight in Chiquita, who shared their bed, car and holidays. Diana Vreeland, famous editor of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue in the 1930's, has a wonderful anecdote about Josephine and Chiquita. One very hot July, Diana Vreeland had gone to a Montmartre film theatre to see a film, L'Atlantique, about lost Foreign Legion soldiers in a desert oasis. The delirious soldiers dreamed of the beautiful Queen of the Lost Continent who was surrounded by a fountain of champagne with basking cheetahs. When the lights went up in the theatre, Diana Vreeland was shocked and delighted to find she was sitting next to Chiquita. Josephine had brought the beautiful animal for an outing to see the cheetahs in the film. Outside the hot theatre, an enormous white and silver Rolls Royce was waiting for Josephine Baker and Chiquita. Diana Vreeland describes how the driver opened the car door, Josephine let go of the cheetah's lead, Chiquita whooped and took one elongated leap into the back of the Rolls Royce, with Josephine Baker in her couture Vionnet dress leaping in behind. And then they were off with such speed and style; together the very zeitgeist of the Deco years.

Art Deco Study Guide

Detail of dress fabric, from "Art, Got, Beaut: Feuillets d`lgance Feminine", English edition; published by ditions d'Art, printed by Imprimerie Spciale des Succrs. d'Albert Godde, Bedin et Cie.; Paris, France, 192133.

What is Art Deco?

The term 'Art Deco' was coined in 1926, following a retrospective exhibition entitled Les Annes '25, held at the Muse des Arts Dcoratifs in Paris. This commemorated the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes. Originally planned for 1915, but postponed on account of World War I (191418), the 1925 Exposition was distinctive from previous international exhibitions for two reasons. For the first time, the decorative and applied arts held centre stage. The criteria for inclusion in the Exposition also emphasised the modern, to the extent that well-established decorative artists might be excluded because they were seen as representative of a previous generation. The architecture and decorative arts shown at the 1925 Exposition embodied a whole range of unconnected styles and sources, including a modern interpretation of the 18th-century style of Louis XVI (reigned 1643 1715), seen as the golden era of the French decorative arts, and references to the avant-garde art movements of the time, such as Cubism and the Bauhaus. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and exotic and ancient cultures such as ancient Egyptian (following the discovery of the Pyramid tombs) and Mayan civilisations, and the art of Japan and Africa, also had an impact on the style. Unlike Modernist art movements, with their social philosophies and manifestos, Art Deco was purely decorative. A modern style, responding to the machine and to new materials such as plastic, Art Deco in its 1925 context was also sumptuous, a luxury style, characterised by individually produced luxury goods for wealthy connoisseurs. The 1925 Exposition had a major influence on the decorative arts in America. Although the United States was not represented, many Americans visited the exhibition. In 1926 the Metropolitan Museum of Art held a retrospective exhibition to which original contributors were asked to send material. The American contribution to Art Deco is known as Streamlining and is characterised by clean lines and strong curves. It was applied to the design of cars, architecture and furniture. It was also applied to new mass-produced goods such as refrigerators and radios. In their attempt to reach new consumers from around 1930, manufacturers took iconic elements of the Art Deco styles and simplified them for mass production. Married to modern machine age materials such as bakelite and chrome, this style heralded an era of 'modern' design for mass consumption of affordable consumer goods.

How to find out about Art Deco in the National Art Library
The National Art Library has a wealth of material for studying Art Deco in its various forms, including general works on Art Deco, catalogues of the International exhibitions, Salon and other exhibition catalogues, trade literature, sales catalogues and periodicals. The Library also houses original treasures such as fine bindings, beautifully printed and illustrated books, and printed books of designs, a selection of which is included in this guide.

General books on Art Deco

A list has been provided below of general books on Art Deco in its various media. Many of these provide brief details about the large number of artists who contributed to the 1925 exhibition or produced work that could be considered Art Deco in style. Some of these quickly became involved in the modern art movements, but there are others whose names have become synonymous with Art Deco. Prominent names include mile-Jacques Ruhlmann (furniture and interiors), Jean Dunand (lacquerware), Edward McKnightKauffer (graphics), Franois-Louis Schmied (luxury printed books), Paul Bonet (book bindings), Pierre

Legrain (book bindings, furniture and interiors), Rose Adler (furniture and interiors, bindings), Paul Colin (graphics), Paul Poiret (fashion), Sonia Delaunay (fashion), Ren Lalique (glass, jewellery), Edgar Brandt (metalwork), Ert, Jean Puiforcat (silverware), Maurice Marinot (glass), and Demetre Chiparus (sculpture).

International exhibitions
The best sources for finding out what was considered new or representative of a particular time are the International or Colonial exhibitions, which were conceived as international trade showcases, and, following the 1851 Great Exhibition, were held at increasingly frequent intervals. The best way to access the catalogues of these is to search under the Author Keyword for the main words of the exhibition name. Sources include official catalogues and commissioners' reports, guides and reminiscences of these exhibitions. For Art Deco, the most important international exhibition was the Exposition Internationale des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes (1925: Paris). The Library has the 12 volume reprint of the original Encyclopdie des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes au XXme (Garland: New York, 1977). A documentary record of the 1925 exhibition. Volumes are arranged by subject category; check the computer catalogue for individual volume titles. Also of interest is the Exposition Coloniale Internationale de Paris (1931). For the US and later Art Deco style, look at the Century of Progress International Exposition (19334: Chicago), the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940: San Francisco) and the New York World's Fair (193940). The Exposition Internationale (1937: Paris) is more relevant for Modernism, which, with its emphasis on the machine and mass production, took hold in Europe from around 1930. The colonial exhibitions and other international exhibitions held in the 1920s and 1930s are also useful sources. To find out about what exhibitions were held, look in:

Greenhalgh, Paul, Ephemeral vistas: the Expositions Universelles, Great Exhibitions and
World's Fairs, 18511939, Manchester University Press, 1988

Neuberg, Hans, Internationale Ausstellungsgestaltung; Conception internationale

d'expositions; Conceptions of international exhibitions, ABC-Verlag, 1969

Mattie, Erik, World's fairs, Princeton Architectural Press, 1998. Findling, John E, Historical dictionary of world's fairs and expositions, 18511988, Greenwood
Press, 1990.

Salon and other exhibitions

Exhibitions, usually held annually, were important for making the work of an artist known. It was at the main Salons where the work of artists was brought together. For decorative artists the main Salons were Socit des artistes dcorateurs, Socit des artistes independants, Salon d'automne and Socit des artistes franais. Good biographies or catalogue raisonns will usually detail or list the exhibitions to which an individual artist contributed throughout their career. Catalogues in the National Art Library can be searched using the Author A-Z or Title Keyword search for gallery or Salon names. Note that many exhibition catalogues are still currently not catalogued on computer. The blue microfiches list all catalogues acquired up to 1987 and are organised alphabetically by city and gallery name, then in exhibition date order.

Trade literature
Many artists ran their own workshops that issued catalogues and other advertising material. These include the fashion designer Paul Poiret (Atelier Martine), glassware and lighting designer Rn Lalique and furniture and interior designers Se et Mare (Compagnie des Arts Francais). Others designed for established manufacturing companies, such as Daum (glass) and Svres (porcelain) or for studios of the major department stores, such as Primavera (Printemps), Le Sylve (Le Bucheron), La Matrise (Galeries Lafayette), and Pomone (Bon March). Names of these companies can be gleaned from reading about individual artists. Many of these companies had pavilions or small displays at the international exhibitions and may be mentioned in the reports and guides to these (see above under International exhibitions). The National Art Library actively collects examples of trade catalogues past and present. For more details about trade literature see Trade Catalogues in the National Art Library. Included in the library holdings is the EKCO collection of around 1000 catalogues and trade ephemera collected by the EKCO Radio Co. between 1935 and 1940, although it also includes some examples from later. Library holdings for known companies can be searched using the Author A-Z or Author Keyword searches. To search for trade catalogues relating to a specific product type, such as car manufacture, try a Subject Keyword search, for example 'Trade catalogues - automobiles'. Note however, that not everything is fully catalogued to include subject headings, so this search on its own will yield incomplete results. A useful source for product and company names are advertisements found in lifestyle magazines of the time. Catalogues in the EKCO Collection are not individually listed. The collection can be found by typing EKCO using the Author A-Z search.

Sales catalogues
Sales catalogues are a good source for tracing and finding out general information and information about specific objects. There is a guide to sales catalogues in the National Art Library available in the reading room, and on the Auction House Sale Catalogues page. In the computer catalogue under the Sales catalogues menu, a Title Keyword search for the term 'Art Deco' or an individual artist's name will bring up a large number of hits. Note that not all of the international sales catalogues have been catalogued online. To see if the Library has a catalogue for a sale where the city and date is known, the pre-1987 red microfiches (organised by city and then by date of sale) may still need to be checked. There is also an owners microfiche for searches under the name of the original owner of a collection.

Periodicals
The National Art Library has a large number of periodicals and subscribes to indexes which will help the researcher find articles on particular subjects. A few of the fine art and graphics periodicals published at the time highlighted the work of some of the better known decorative artists, and they could also include articles by and about important collectors, which provide insights into the fashions of the art market at the time. They also reviewed exhibitions and sales, including the international exhibitions. A selection of some of these is listed below. Fashion and lifestyle magazines published at the time are a useful source not only for showing trends in fashion but also commercial advertising graphics. A few of the ones to look out for are also listed.

Art periodicals: a selection of the most useful published during the Art Deco period
Apollo - the arts for collectors and connoisseurs; features articles on artists and collectors Art et Dcoration - a contemporary review for modern art, often featuring articles about individual
designers and collectors, and illustrations of interiors LArt et les Artistes Art Work - international arts and crafts The Book-collectors Quarterly "Byblis", miroir des arts du livre et de l'estampe - devoted to the art of the book and printing Commercial Art, Commercial Art and Industry, Art and Industry (title varies) - commercial graphics Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration - a contemporary review for art and interiors Gazette des Beaux Arts Gebrauchsgraphik: International Advertising Art Innen-dekoration - devoted to interior decoration Mobilier et Dcoration - often featuring articles about individual designers and collectors Penrose Annual - a yearly review of the graphic arts Publicit - advertising graphics

Fashion magazines from the Art Deco period

The Library has selective holdings of fashion magazines from the period, including:

Art, got beaut Falbalas et fanfreluches Gazette du bon ton Guirlande des mois almanach Modes et manires d'Aujourd'hui

All of the French fashion periodicals listed above are beautifully illustrated with pochoir prints, produced by some of the best known artists of the day. Gazette du bon ton is considered the most innovative illustrated fashion magazine of the period.

Femina - published first in France, with a subsequent British edition Harpers bazaar - originally published in America, with a subsequent British edition Vanity fair - published in America, a lifestyle magazine Vogue - originally published in America, and subsequently in other countries

Original Art Deco works in the National Art Library collection

The National Art Library also collects original fine bindings, luxury printed editions and illustrated books, popular fiction for its illustrations or dust jackets and other works which are considered important visual records of an artists work. A selection is listed below. Pattern design Benedictus, Edouard, Variations : quatre-vingt-six motifs dcoratifs en vingt planches par Benedictus, A Levy, [1924?]

 Benedictus, Edouard, Nouvelles variations : soixante-quinze motifs dcoratifs en vingt

planches par Benedictus, A Levy, 1929. Benedictus, Edouard, Relais, 1930: quinze planches donnant quarante-deux motifs dcoratifs, enluminure de lart de J. Saud, Vincent, 1930. Delaunay, Sonia, Compositions, couleurs, idees, ditions d'art Charles Moreau, [1930?] Interiors from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris, 1925

Dufrne, Maurice, Les intrieurs franais; ou, Salon des artistes dcorateurs en 1926,
prsents par Maurice Dufrne, Charles Moreau, 1926

Exposition internationale des arts dcoratifs et industriels modernes, Paris, 1925. Une
ambassade franaise organise par la Socit des artistes dcorateurs, Charles Moreau, 1925

Intrieurs en couleurs, France: cinquante planches en couleurs, A. Lvy, 1926

Illustrations of modern fashion and lifestyle Art, got, beaut: feuillets d'lgance feminine, ditions d'Art, 192133

Barbier, George, Falbalas & fanfreluches: almanach des modes prsentes passes & futures
pour, Jules Meynial, 19226 Barbier, George, Guirlande des mois almanach Jules Meynial, 191721

Barbier, George,Vingt-cinq costumes pour le thtre, Camille Bloch & Jules Meynial, 1927 Colin, Paul, Le tumulte noir, ditions dArt, [19--?] Gazette du bon ton : arts, modes et frivolites, Librairie centrale des beaux-arts, 191225 Iribe, Paul, Les robes de Paul Poiret, Paul Poiret, 1908 Lepape, Georges, Les choses de Paul Poiret, Maquet, 1911 Modes et manires d'Aujourd'hui, Corrard, 191422

Luxury editions, printed or illustrated by Franois-Louis Schmied Le Cantique des Cantiques, translated by Ernest Renan, F.-L. Schmied, 1925

Chateaubriand, Franois-Ren, vicomte de, Les aventures du dernier Abencrage, Les

Bibliophiles de l'Amrique Latine, 1930 Graux, Lucien, Le tapis de prires, published 'Pour les amis du docteur Lucien-Graux', 1938 Mardrus, J. C, Histoire charmante de l'adolescente, Sucre d'Amour : grand conte oriental indit, F.L. Schmied, 1927 Literature with interesting illustrations or dustjackets

Delaunay, Sonia, illustration for Blaise Cendrars, La Prose du Transibrien et la Petite Jehanne
de France, (Paris: Editions des Hommes Nouveaux, 1913). Gouache on paper. French, 1913 Restricted access; this work can be studied in Sidoti, Antoine, La prose du Transsibrien et de la Petite Jehanne de France: Blaise Cendrars,Sonia Delaunay, novembre-dcembre 1912-juin 1914: gense et dossier d'une polmique, Lettres modernes, 1987 Vassos, John, Contempo: This American tempo. Creations by John Vassos, E.P. Dutton, 1929

Vassos, John, illustrations for Wilde, Oscar, The harlot's house: and other poems, E.P. Dutton,
1929 For examples of more dustjackets see later under Archive of Art and Design. Luxury bindings

 Anonymous. Binding (1926) for France, Anatole, Balthasar, Ferroud, 1926 Creuzevault, Louis, binding (1925) for a de luxe edition of Le Cantique des Cantiques, translated
by Ernest Renan, F.-L. Schmied, 1925 Bonfils, Robert, binding (1919) for Rgnier, Henri de, Les rencontres de M. de Brot; roman, ditions Rn Kieffer, 1919 Kohn, Madeleine, binding (about 1923) for Jammes, Francis, Pomme d'Anis, Emile-Paul Frres, 1923 Kohn, Madeleine, binding (1924) for Morand, Paul, Tendres Stocks, Emile-Paul Frres, 1924

Legrain, Pierre, binding (1914) for Toussaint, Franz, Le jardin des caresses, H. Piazza, 1914 Legrain, Jacques-Antoine and Legrain, Pierre, binding (1950 to an earlier design by Pierre Legrain)
for Nodier, Charles, Histoire du chien Brisquet, Pelletan, 1900 Pye, Sybil, binding (1926) for Flaubert, Gustave, La lgende de Saint Julien l'hospitalier, Eragny press, 1900 Pye, Sybil, binding on a dummy book (1927) for Apuleius, Lucius, The marriage of Cupid and PsycheVale Press, 1897 Pye, Sybil, binding (1934) for The Apocrypha, Nonesuch Press, Dial Press, 1924

Related material in the Victoria and Albert Museum

The Prints & Drawings study room Works, such as prints, designs, posters, advertisement and trade cards and photographs, can be seen at the . Holdings of Art Deco material include posters by such artists as Edward McKnight Kauffer, Paul Colin and A.M. Cassandre, the fashion designs of Paul Poiret and designs for the Houses of Worth and Paquin, designs for interiors, and work by the photographers Edward Steichen, Cecil Beaton, Florence Henri and Man Ray. Collections can be searched using the printed catalogues in the Print Room. Catalogues include those for Posters, Prints, Photographs, Wallpaper and Decorative Papers, and Drawings and Watercolours. There are also subject and topographic catalogues. The Print Room also has access to the museum-wide online collections database. The Prints & Drawings Study Room can be contacted on +44 (0)20 7942 2563 or Contact us online. The Archive of Art and Design A large collection of mainly British book jackets from this period is held at the Archive Art and Design. These are interesting as examples of commercial graphic art and were often designed by well known poster artists. Some of the book jackets are Art Deco in design and include work by Edward McKnight Kauffer, Theyre Lee-Elliott and Eugene Thurston (Gen). See item 33 in Lomas, Elizabeth Guide to the Archive of Art and Design, Victoria & Albert Museum (London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, c2001). A detailed inventory is in the process of being compiled and there is also a brief listing of some of the designers' names. Access to the Archive is by appointment. For further information or an appointment please contact the Archive on +44 (0)20 7603 7493 or Contact us online General books on Art Deco

The following is a list of some of the most useful sources covering Art Deco in general. It includes books about individual media but does not include books about individual artists. General works

Arwas, Victor, Art Deco. Abradale Press, 1992 & 2000 - a substantial reference book, well
illustrated with biographies of artists. Library has both editions. Bayer, Patricia. Art deco sourcebook. Phaidon, 1988 - an introduction to the subject Bouillon, Jean-Paul, Art Deco, 1903-1940, Editions d'art Albert Skira, 1989 - an introduction to all aspects of the style with a substantial bibliography Duncan, Alastair, The encyclopedia of art deco, Grange Books, 2000 - an introduction to the subject Duncan, Alastair, Art Deco, Thames & Hudson, 1988 - an introduction to the subject

Hillier, Bevi, Art deco of the 20s and 30s, Studio Vista, 1968 & 1973 - the original book that
defined and named the style. Library has both editions. Hillier, Bevis & Escritt, Stephen, Art deco style, Phaidon, 1997 - an overview of the style, bringing the previous work up-to-date Morgan, Sarah M, Art deco: the European style, Dorset Press, 1990 - well illustrated essays covering different media Sternau, Susan A, Art deco: flights of artistic fancy, Todtri, 1997 - a general introduction with short essays on many aspects of the style Individual countries Berents, Catharina, Art deco in Deutschland: das moderne Ornament. Anabas-Verlag, 1998

Duncan, Alastair, American Art Deco, Thames & Hudson, 1986 Dybdahl, Lars, Dansk design: 1910-1945: art deco & funktionalisme, Danske
kunstindustrimuseum, 1997 Czech art deco, 1918-1938, exhibition at Obecn dum (Municipal House), Prague, 1998

Peres Rojas, Javier, Art deco en Espana, Ctedra, 1990 Haln, Widar, Art deco, funkis, Scandinavian design, Orfens Forlag, 1996

Hornekov, Jana, Art Deco: Boemia 1918-1938, (In Italian), Electa, 1996 Krzyztofowicz-Kozakowska, Stefania, Art Deco w Polsce + Art deco in Poland, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, 1993 Individual media - architecture and interiors

Bayer, Patricia, Art deco architecture: design, decoration and detail from the twenties and
thirties, Thames & Hudson, 1992 - covers architecture world wide in its various Art Deco forms

Bayer, Patricia, Art deco interiors: decoration and design classics from the 1920s and 1930s,
Thames & Hudson, 1990 - essays on the 1925 Paris Exposition, Paris, the rest of the world and Streamline Moderne and public places, as well as the Art Deco revival and restoration of interiors, well illustrated with a good bibliography and a list of museums with collections Cerwinske, Laura, Tropical deco: the architecture and design of old Miami beach, Rizzoli, 1981 - with very good colour illustrations and essays on different details and aspects of the subject, such as facades, doors and imagery Dufrene, Maurcie, Authentic art deco interiors from the 1925 Paris exhibition, Antique Collectors Club, 1989 & 2002 - illustrations of original photographs with a descriptive background essay by Alastair Duncan. Library has both editions. Duncan, Alastair, Art deco furniture: the French designers, Thames & Hudson, 1984 - an indepth study with biographies of the designers

 Duncan, Alastair, Art nouveau and art deco lighting, Thames & Hudson, 1978 - essays on
different designers, black and white illustrations Vlack, Don, Art deco architecture in New York, 1920-1940, Harper & Row 1974 - useful essays dealing with specifics, such as decorative motifs, materials, function, geometrics, black and white illustrations but includes a useful list of buildings and architects also organised by location Kjellberg, Pierre, Art deco: les maitres du mobilier, le dcor des paquebots, Amateur, 1998 - a substantial book providing a general introduction with biographies of artists and a section on different cruise liners of the period, well illustrated with a good bibliography Bookbinding and book arts

Duncan, Alastair and de Bartha, Georges, Art nouveau and art deco bookbinding: the French
masterpieces, Thames & Hudson, 1989 - a useful introduction to the main names and background to art deco, includes biographies of the artists Lucius, Wulf D von, Bucherlust: Buchkunst und Bucherluxus im 20 Jahrhundert : Beispiel aus einer Stuttgarter Sammlung, Wrttenburgische Landesbibliothek, 1998 - beautifully illustrated, with the first chapter covering some of the most sumptuous books from this period, including fashion periodicals Ceramics

McCready, Karen, Art deco and modernist ceramics, Thames & Hudson, 1995 - an overview of
the subject with biographies of the artists, well illustrated Stevenson, Greg, Art deco ceramics, Shire, 1998 - concentrating on British ceramics and covering the main designers and makers, well illustrated Glass

Arwas, Victor, The art of glass: art nouveau to art deco, Andreas Papadakis Publishing, 1996 includes biographies of the artists, beautifully illustrated and includes a glossary

Graphic design Ercoli, Giuliano, Art deco prints, Phaidon; Christies, 1989 - deals mainly with pochoir fashion printing, very well illustrated. Heller, Steven & Fili, Louise have written a number of works on art deco commercial graphics relating to individual countries, France, America, Holland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Britain, which provide a useful background to the subject. (Chronicle Books, 1993-8). Check the computer catalogue under the authors' names. Kery, Patiricia Frantz, Art deco graphics, Thames & Hudson, 1986 - a generously illustrated book, with sections on poster, magazine, book and commercial graphics such as packaging and wallpaper Kery, Patiricia Frantz, Great magazine covers of the world, Abbeville Press, 1982 - a substantial book which covers all eras, includes an essay on the history of magazines and their covers Powers, Alan, Front Cover : Great Book Jacket and Cover Design, Mitchell Beazley, 2001 - an overview of the subject covering a wider period than Art Deco Tolmer, Alfred, Mise en page: the theory and practice of lay-out, The Studio, W.E. Rudge, 1931 - an illustrated example from the era Jewellery

 Gabardi, Melissa, Art deco jewellery 1920-1949, Antique Collectors Club, 1989 - a well-illustrated
book with essays on the background to the applied arts, the 1925 exhibition and jewellery aesthetics Raulet, Sylvie, Art deco jewelry, Thames & Hudson, 2002 - includes essays on the high fashion Paris designers, the 1930s and 1940s Weber, Christianne, Art Deco Schmuck: die internationale Schmuckszene der 20er, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 2000 - an in-depth study, profusely illustrated Painting

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Art deco painting, Phaidon, 1990 - essays on different themes and genres
such as portraiture, the portrayal of everyday life, cubism, good colour illustrations, includes biographies of artists Sculpture

Arwas, Victor, Art deco sculpture, Academy Editions; St Martin's Press, 1992 - an in-depth
coverage of the subject with biographies of the main artists, very well illustrated Textiles and fashion Battersby, Martin, Art deco fashion: French designers 19081925, Academy; St Martin's Press, 1974 Bowman, Sara, A fashion for extravagance: art deco fabrics and fashions,, Bell & Hyman, 1985 - with essays on the main designers of the period French art deco fashions in pochoir prints from the 1920s, Schiffer, 1998 - illustrations from the fashion journals of the era, with a commentary Day, Susan, Art deco and modernist carpets, Thames & Hudson, 2002 - in-depth and well illustrated