The History Of Art Deco Antiques
February 28th, 2010
The history of Art Deco is a mystery in itself.
Most say that the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industrie
ls Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Art) held in Paris in 1925 heralded the beginning of art deco.
Others say the Exhibition of TutanKhamoun’s tomb in 1922 was the beginning of the art deco period.
Another theory is that art deco has been around since 1900 but was not recognised until the Exhibition in 1925.
No matter which you believe to be true it was the Paris Exhibition in 1925 that truly opened the public’s eyes to the beaty of art deco.
The end of the art deco period was said to have happened in the late 30’s in Europe and early 40’s in America.
I believe the art deco period never actually ended.
Because art deco was a mixture of many different styles such as Neoclassical, Cubism, Modernism, Constructivism, Art Nouveau and Futurism it adapted well to its surroundings. Subsequent styles hold features of art deco right up to today’s modern styles.
Modern art deco styles incorporate pastel shades into their designs where the original art deco style was based around varying shades of brown, black and white like zebraskin and silver materials like stainless steel.
Serpentine swirls mixed with Geometrical patterns also ensured that the art deco style was noticed.
The term Art Deco was not used until the 1960’s when Bevis Hilier released a book entitled Art Deco of the 20’s and 30’s.
The book gave art deco a bit of a revival during the sixties but it was not until the eighties that art deco made a big comeback.
Television seemed to play a major part in both the comeback of art deco and the rise in price of art deco antiques.
The production of numerous programs relating to antiques helped build the popularity of the art deco style.
It was the work of Clarice Cliff which seemed to spearhead the revival of art deco. Clarice Cliff pottery became more collectable and of course this increased the price of Clarice Cliff pottery.
Most original art deco antiques is out of the price range of many people but there is a large amount of reproduction art deco which is available at a fraction of the price.
If your looking to create an art deco room or just want to add a bit of elegance to your room then the reproduction art deco pieces help to achieve this.
Art deco can be found all over the world, many famous structures and buildings were built using the art deco style. These incl
ude the Golden Gate Bridge and the Queen Mary cruise liner as well as buildings in major cities around the world.
The art deco style even reached Hollywood and many films of the 20’s and 30’s were themed with art deco, the most famous art deco piece being the naked lady lamp which is an icon of the art deco style.
