Art deco

Art deco was a popular movement between the two World Wars. This movement affected all types of art,it combined many different styles and movements like neoclassical, constructivism, cubism, modernism, art nouveau and futurism.

Style

• geometric and angular shapes
• chrome, glass, shiny fabrics, mirrors and mirror tiles
• stylised images of aeroplanes, cars, cruise liners, skyscrapers
• nature motifs - shells, sunrises, flowers
• theatrical contrasts - highly polished wood and glossy black lacquer mixed with satin and furs

Influences

• art nouveau - deco kept the nature motifs of its predecessor but discarded its flowing organic shapes and pastels for bolder materials and colours such as chrome and black
• cubism -painters such as Picasso were experimenting with space, angles and geometry
• early Hollywood - the glamorous world of the silver screen filtered through to design using shiny fabrics, subdued lighting, and mirrors. Cocktail cabinets and smoking paraphernalia became highly fashionable

The names

• Eileen Gray - furniture
• Raymond Templier - jewellery
• Clarice Cliff - china
• René Lalique - glass and jewellery

At the time

• 1912 RMS Titanic sails
• 1922 Tutankhamun's tomb is discovered
• 1922 Ulysses by James Joyce is published
• 1931 Empire State Building is completed
• Film stars - Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
• The charleston and tango are the latest dance crazes, jazz is born and the singer Josephine Baker thrills Paris

Get the look

• Furniture - choose strong, streamlined shapes for furniture and in single pieces rather than suites.
• Fabrics - stick to plain or geometric fabrics and add highlights with cushions also in one solid block of colour.
• Floors - plain polished parquet is perfect for floors. Linoleum in abstract designs or black and white chequerboard vinyl tiles are also typical.
• Rugs - floors would have been overlaid with a large rug in geometric patterns. These were often handmade by artists such as Duncan Grant (of Bloomsbury Group fame).
• Fireplaces - fireplaces should be rectangular and bold. Surrounds were often tiled in pink, green or beige. They were made of concrete and not many survive today.
• Colour - halls suit bold colour schemes such as silver, black, chrome, yellow and red. Creams, greens and beige, or oyster and eau-de-nil suit living rooms and bedrooms.
• Cupboards - cabinets, wardrobes, etc should be in pale veneered wood and simple shapes in keeping with the light, airy feel.
• Design - the stepped profile is the epitome of the art deco shape, found everywhere from uplighters to picture surrounds. Also look for zigzags, chevrons and lightning bolts.
• Lighting - lights featuring female figures holding the ball of the lamp are typical and good reproductions abound. Also look for chrome, a brand new material at the time, and glass. Glass would have been etched, sandblasted or enamelled rather than coloured.

What to invest in

• ceramics by Susie Cooper and Clarice Cliff
• original art deco rugs
• original posters featuring Bugatti cars etc

Where to see it

• Hoover factory, Middlesex
• The Savoy, London
• Burgh Island Hotel, Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon
• Eltham Palace, London
• Miami Beach, Florida

Further reading

• Art Deco Interiors: Decoration and Design Classics of the 1920s and 1930s by Patricia Bayer (Thames & Hudson)
• Art Deco: Flights of Fancy by Susan A Sternau (Tiger Books International)
• The Antiques Checklist: Art Deco by Eric Knowles (Mitchell Beazley)

Art Nouveau

Art nouveau

Art nouveau is the french term of new art. It is a colourful movement in the arts that captivated Europe during the transition from 19th century to the 20th century. In italy they called it "stile liberty" and In germany they either called it "jugendstil" or "youth style".

 

 

Style

• sinuous, elongated, curvy lines
• the whiplash line
• vertical lines and height
• stylised flowers, leaves, roots, buds and seedpods
• the female form - in a pre-Raphaelite pose with long, flowing hair
• exotic woods, marquetry, iridescent glass, silver and semi-precious stones

Influences

• arts and crafts - art nouveau shared the same belief in quality goods and fine craftsmanship but was happy with mass production
• rococo style
• botanical research

The names

• Charles Rennie Mackintosh - architect and designer of furniture and jewellery
• Alphonse Mucha - posters
• Aubrey Beardsley - book illustrations
• Louis Comfort Tiffany - lighting
• René Lalique - glass and jewellery
• Emile Galle - ceramics, glass and furniture
• Victor Horta - architect

At the time

• 1859 The Origin of the Species is written by Charles Darwin
• 1865 War and Peace is written by Tolstoy
• 1867 Disraeli is prime minister
• 1899 aspirin is first marketed
• 1901 Marconi transmits first radio signals across the Atlantic

Get the look

• Floors - are parquet and should be stained and varnished.
• Colour schemes - are quite muted and sombre and became known as 'greenery yallery' - mustard, sage green, olive green, and brown. Team these with lilac, violet and purple, peacock blue. Mackintosh experimented with all-white interiors.
• Walls - can either be painted in one of the colours of the palette or off-white, or papered.
• Wallpaper - designs are highly stylised flowers, particularly poppies, water lilies and wisteria; branches, tendrils, leaves, stems, thistles, pomegranates; peacock feathers, birds and dragonflies.
• Tiles - use in panels and intersperse patterned ones with white. A technique called tube lining was used to make the design stand out from the surface - think of piping icing on a cake.
• Furniture - Mackintosh is renowned for extremely high-backed chairs in glossy black lacquer. If that's not your style go for curvy shapes upholstered in a stylised floral fabric.
• Stained glass - panels went in doors as well as furniture - wardrobe doors, cabinets, mirrors etc, with curved leading for the stalks and leaves, ending in a flower made from pearly enamels or semi-precious stones such as amethysts.
• Door handles - beaten metal for door handles and light fittings are perfect for that handmade finish.
• Lighting - you've got to have a Tiffany lamp - the beautiful umbrella-shape rainbow of favrile glass with bronze and metal latticework. Original ones cost the earth but most of the high streets stores produce very good imitations.
• Fireplaces - look for cast iron hoods with the raised sinuous curves of flowers growing up each side and tiles. Many original ones can be picked up in salvage yards but make sure you know whether you're buying a repro or an original. If you're unsure whether a salvaged item is art nouveau, study the design carefully: it should grow from the ground upwards with a continuous organic movement.
• Ornaments - in silver, pewter and glass. There are hundreds of outlets selling Mackintosh-style clocks, frames, jewellery boxes etc. Typical art nouveau glass is iridescent with patterns of liquid oil. Lalique glass is usually a pearly opaque with etched designs.
• Flowers - and peacock feathers are the epitome of art nouveau style.

What to invest in

Due to mass production, many art nouveau items are not valuable although still highly desirable. However, if the pieces is by a known designer, the price soars.

• Original Tiffany lamps - have a marked pad on the shade.
• Emile Galle glassware - usually have a cameo or signature.
• Posters - especially ones by Alphonse Mucha, Jules Cheret and J M Cassandre. To see whether they're reproductions, feel the quality of the paper. Reproductions will be on thick, modern paper. Use a magnifying glass: if you can see tiny dots making up the colour it's probably a reproduction. Genuine ones have flat areas of colour.
• Glassware by the Daum Freres - look for the marking Daum Nancy.
• Silverware - pill boxes etc, particularly anything marked Liberty & Co.

Where to see it

• The Hill House, Upper Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh, Nr Glasgow - designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
• Glasgow School of Art - also by Mackintosh
• tiles in the food hall in Harrods
• Paris metro - some of the station entrances still have the signs designed by Hector Guimard
• Musée D'Orsay, Paris - has a large collection of art nouveau
• Criterion Brasserie, London
• Victoria and Albert Museum

Further reading

• Essential Art Nouveau by Paul Greenhalgh (V&A Publications)
• The Life and Works of Rennie Mackintosh by Nathaniel Harris (Parragon)
• Art Nouveau Architecture & Furniture by Trewin Copplestone (Grange Books)
• Art Nouveau Glass & Ceramics by Trewin Copplestone (Grange Books)
• Art Nouveau Jewellery & Metalwork by Trewin Copplestone (Grange Books)
• Turn of the Century Style (Middlesex University Press)

Pop art

POP ART

Andy Warhol
Born: August 6, 1928
Died: Febuary 22, 1987
Movement: Pop art

Andy Warhol is a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His work explores the relationship between artist expression, celebrity culture and advertisment that flourished by the 1960,s. 

Pre-Raphaelites

Pre-Raphaelites

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, group of young British painters who banded together in 1848 in reaction against what they conceived to be the unimaginative and artificial historical painting of the Royal Academy and who purportedly sought to express a new moral seriousness and sincerity in their works. They were inspired by Italian art of the 14th and 15th centuries, and their adoption of the name Pre-Raphaelite expressed their admiration for what they saw as the direct and uncomplicated depiction of nature typical of Italian painting before the High Renaissance and, particularly, before the time of Raphael. Although the Brotherhood’s active life lasted not quite five years, its influence on painting in Britain, and ultimately on the decorative arts and interior design, was profound.

Artists:

Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Beloved ('The Bride') 1865-6

Margaret MacDonald

Artist: Margaret macdonald
5 November 1865- 10 January 1933
Movement: Art nouvea, glasgow style, symbolism
Influenced by: Aubrey Beardsley, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Walter Crane, Pre-Raphaelitism

I found Margaret Macdonald's work during art nouveau amazing, so beaiutiful. Her work gives out an elegent and relaxing feel. The ways she uses different materials to create something so peacefull is brilliant.