The glamorous look marked skylines from New York to Shanghai and streamlined everything from film and fashion to jewelry and automobiles
Art Deco was the name given, long after the fact, to the brazenly commercial, streamlined style that emerged in Europe, primarily Paris, prior to World War I. Spreading around the globe, it dominated architecture and decorative arts during the 1920s and '30s. Whereas worshipers of Art Nouveau—the previous stylistic rage—were obsessed with nature and decadent symbolism and filled their designs with arabesques, whiplash curves and tendrils, Art Deco designers embraced machinery and power. Using modern materials such as plastic and chrome, opulent fabrics and precious gems, their designs were replete with geometric patterns-circles, zigzags, squares—classical motifs, bright colors and just about anything that hinted of speed. There is pizzazz and energy in Art Deco, as well as glamour and luxury.
By the end of World War II, Art Deco had come to be seen as too frivolous for a world in shock from death and destruction. But in the past quarter century, critics and scholars have taken up the style and preservationists have saved its buildings from the wrecking ball. Perhaps the most comprehensive exhibition ever of Art Deco artifacts and images is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, through January 9, 2005. First mounted last year by the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London, the show features more than 240 works: diamond and onyx jewelry from Cartier, a 1935 Auburn 851 speedster, evening gowns by a host of French couturiers, travel posters by the Ukrainian-born French designer known as Cassandre, paintings by Polish-born artist Tamara de Lempika and furnishings from the lavishly decorated grand salon of the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, from which Art Deco took its impetus and ultimately its name. The style culminated in the New York World's Fair of 1939 and '40, but its legacy is alive in such landmarks as New York City's Chrysler and Empire State buildings, in restored areas like Miami's South Beach, and in the current exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Теги: Art Science Education
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