The Roaring Twenties – Art Deco Design
Art Deco designs were inspired by the twenties fascination with speed, luxury and opulence.
By Anne B. Mitofsky-Ciron and Laurance B. Citron, Mitofsky Antiques
Demetri Chiparus' Leotard Dancer
Art Deco is indeed a world dominated by the desire for speed, luxury and opulence. It is a world of changing social attitudes where liberated young women drink cocktails, listen to jazz and dance till dawn. Nicknamed the ‘Roaring Twenties’, it is a world where the chains of the past have been thrust aside and all eyes are raised eagerly to the future.
The term ‘Art Deco’ only came to general use in the 1960s, but it refers back to the Great Exhibition of Arts Decoratifs held in Paris in 1925 which presented to the world a dazzling new style that was to be the successor of Art Nouveau, the style of modernism, of the jazz age, ocean liners, cinemas and of sky scrapers.
The Art Deco movement – with its emphasis on up-to-date individuality combined with good taste, fine materials and exquisite workmanship – became all the rage in France.
Other countries including the USA, Britain and Germany produced their own often equally successful versions of the style. In furniture especially, the French predominated: the world had not seen such creative design for 125 years. On the one hand, the virtuoso cabinet-making of Ruhlmann and Primavera, on the other the brilliant originality of Gray and Jean Royere.
The Art Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s saw a clear partnership develop between architects, designers and craftsmen in the production of decorative schemes for the interior of the new Modernist and Art Deco-style buildings and apartments. Interior design employed furniture manufacturers, metal workers, ceramic factories and the textile industry to produce individual items which, when placed together, would create an overall coherent scheme for a room or building.
As in the earlier Art Nouveau period, glass was regarded highly y both connoisseurs and collectors and a very large number of factories were created all producing thousands of items designed by such great names as Galle, Schneider, Baccarat, Rene Lalique, Daum, Joseph-Gabriel Argy-Rousseau, Louis Comfort Tiffany and many others. Like pate-de-verre, the technique of enamelling on glass enjoyed a revival in the Art Deco period. Marcel Goupy (1886-1954) was one of the first to use brightly coloured enamels to decorate his clear glass vases etc., as with Lalique who, as well as cornering the market for perfume bottles made for all the great French houses, invented the cire-perdue (lost wax) process whereby a mould was taken from a wax model after which the wax was melted out and replaced with molten glass. As the mould had to be broken in order to retrieve the glass, each piece was unique. Other countries such as Sweden where Orrefors excelled and Italy where makers such as Vinnin held court were all highly sought after.
The 1925 Paris Exhibition was an important event for manufacturers such as Longwy, Goldschneider, Boch Freres, Rene Buthaud (1886-1987), Lenci Italy and many more, along with the famous Clarice Cliff from England, Sussi Cooper, Carlton Ware, also from the UK. All experimented with new techniques as well as previously unseen designs and textures such as distinctive glass called peau de serpent that imitated the texture of snakeskin. It should be noted that some of the most pioneering works came from the so-called Studio Potters who were more inspired by the desire to discover new and also to explore old glaze techniques and formulas in the pursuit of beauty.
We now turn to one of the most expressional mediums in the whole of the Art Deco period – sculpture. There are numerous publications available dealing solely with this subject – and this article restricts s somewhat for space, we will deal with some of the Master works only – there were many outstanding artists using various materials such as bronze, wood, chrome, spelter, marble etc. and for the collector starting off, the choice can be overpowering, so can the cast amount of fakes which unfortunately are finding their way onto the Irish market, please refer to to ‘Collectors Tips’ which will assist the new enthusiast.
Bruno Zack, Paul Phillippe, Otto Poertzel, Ferdinand Preiss, Marcel Prost, Roland Paris, Gustav Schmidt-Cassels, Alexandre Kelety, Rembrandt Bugatti, are amongst the recognised masters of this category, but one artist stands out for his sheer craft, sense of design and the huge output, he is Demetre Chiparus.
The art forms of silver, metalwork and jewellery also fell victim to ‘The New Look’ and were highly stylised. Using the finest quality materials, artists from the previous Art Nouveau period turned their attentions to the Jazz Age and assisted greatly by the latest technical developments produced dazzling combinations of what now are regarded as masterpieces.
Retailers such as Boucheron, Chaumet, Coulon & Cie and Le Maison Aucoc in Paris who retained their own private workshops, supplied royal households as well as the nouveau riche of the day. It could be noted that the collector starting off need not have to pay large amounts to begin a collection. There was also a huge production of textiles made from wall hangings to carpets.
The Art Deco period also allowed artists to demonstrate their skills utilising cheaper mediums such as graphics and posters, which themselves have turned into highly desirable and collectable art forms in their own right. One of the most well-known artists in this category was Loyuis Icart (1888-1950). A diligent, determined worker, Icart could often complete an etching plate in one day. Most pieces, however, because they did require using various techniques, took about a week to complete. From the outset of his career, Icart knew that the results he wanted were best achieved by employing a variety of medium rather than limited his efforts to drypoint, aquatint or soft-ground etchings exclusively, he would generally employ all these techniques in each work.
Collectors Tips:
- Always buy the best that you can afford.
- Ceramics and glass objects are prone to damage so look for restoration or damage to vulnerable extremities.
- Condition is very important, so look for chips or with furniture, difficult veneers to replace. The cost of restoration can be very high.
- When buying furniture check for ‘cut down’ pieces.
- Collectors should buy what appeals to them and which are of interested to them, rather than simply for investment purposes.
This article originally appeared in The Irish Antique Dealers’ Yearbook 2001-2002.
