Art Deco...The Decadence and Opulence of Yesteryear

Posted by Allen John on October 9th, 2018

When I think of Art Deco, the emotional image which is evoked is one of satisfyingly simple with striking elegance and this statement reflects my view of art and fashion of this era.

Art Deco is an eclectic artistic design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally until the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design including architecture, interior design, fashion and jewelry.

I first became aware of the striking Art Deco period when, as a teenager, I read John Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath' and learned to play and sing stirring folk songs of labour unrest on my Spanish guitar. My imagination was captured by the tale of Jack Dempsey riding as a hobo on the railways and fighting for his supper to eventually become the heavyweight champion of the world. I was fascinated by prohibition, the Wall Street Crash, the FBI, flapper girls and such gangster folk heroes as Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger and Arnold Rothstein, whom I could not help but glamorize and identify with. I have to be honest, their philosophy of take what you want and share with others because society is not going to give it to you, appealed to the rebel and Robin Hood in me.

Art Deco represented elegance, glamour, functionality and modernity. The linear symmetry of Art Deco was a distinct departure from the flowing asymmetrical organic curves of its predecessor style Art Nouveau. Many design movements have political or philosophical beginnings or intentions, Art Deco was no exception even though some see it as having had a purely decorative birth. It has to be acknowledged that the horror of the First World War was a catalyst in creating the desire of people to forget the old and move on into a completely different style of life and art.

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Allen John

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Allen John
Joined: August 30th, 2017
Articles Posted: 36

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