Art Deco lives on in The Cloud

Art Deco style often had classical design and motifs as a starting point. The designs were then simplified or abstracted to create new innovative designs. French designers led the way until the US embraced the new style and made it their own.

The straight lines and geometric forms of Art Deco were often married to the emerging modern International Style. The US Art Deco then went on to influence many other countries around the world.

The Cloud

A set of furniture called ‘The Cloud’ was a classic Art Deco design created in 1929 and became popular in France and England. The original pieces were small scale parlor sets; chairs, sofas and love seats. 

The Cloud design was re-introduced by the Richam Corporation in New York in 1984. The living room suites are still made in the US in a wide range of leathers, fabrics and exotic timbers.    

Designers and decorators found the furniture suitable for commercial use in hotels, waiting rooms as well as for domestic use. They often use the cloud chair for group seating in lobbies. I just love the design. 

Gouda Pottery

Gouda Pottery has a magnificent range of Art Deco pottery produced in Holland (Netherlands). The ceramics were designed at Schoonhoven Pottery and other regions in the 1920’s. Potters like Henri Bredvelt created pottery in vivid colours.

Dutch Gouda Pottery and Delftware in Yorkshire has a website dedicated to this wonderful range of pottery. The site has loads of information, images and links and is well worth a visit http://www.goudadesign.co.uk/

In Ireland when I was growing up dinner sets and other ceramics were often refered to as delf. When we arrived on holiday from England and an Aunty asked us to up the delf on the table we had no idea what she was talking about. I’m not sure if the term is still used today. When I finally get back to Ireland I must remember to check.

Link to Art Deco Quiz

Well this brings me to the end of a look into the Art Deco era. I have had a wonderful time rediscovering this brilliant style.  If you would like to test your knowledge just follow this link and try a fun Art Deco Quiz. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1157_art_deco_quiz/quiz.php?ref=st08a

‘An idea is salvation by imagination’

Frank Lloyd Wright

Aussie, New Zealand & South African Art Deco

As I have spent time looking at the Art Deco period I have had moments of memories flooding my mind. I remember the visits to the Art Deco style Broadway cinema in Belfast when I was a small child.This building was so different from the other luxurious cinemas we usually went to.

Besides the Art Deco fireplace and cabinets my Granny also had the stuffed curved chairs and sofa of the era. (Many’s a time as the Irish say) I was told off for sitting on the arms of the furniture. My Gran was always telling us to act like ladies.

We were not allowed to chew gum, cross one leg over the other at the knees, whistle or speak until spoken to. The same lady my Gran who enforced these restrictions completely changed character on a Saturday night when the whole family would sit around the fire. Each family member told a joke, sang a song or told a ghost story. Granny’s stories and jokes were usually the best.

Next morning Sunday Gran was back to her old self. She would call everyone to get up and go to church. ‘We are not a pack of heathens’ she would say. I smile as I remember her many similar statements. My Gran from her over stuffed bulky chair beside the fire ruled the roost. 

I am so enjoying looking at the Art Deco era I don’t quite know how to end. There is so much still to tell. But I feel I do need to move on. The short Art deco era produced many wonderful buildings and items so I thought I would try and finish the topic by looking at some examples of Art Deco work around the world.        

      

In Australia

Innisfail in Queensland is thought to be the Art Deco capital of Australia. The Chelsea Park guesthouse in the Southern Highlands just south of Sydney is an example of Art Deco in NSW. Many Art Deco buildings exist in Victoria many cinemas and theatres; Art Deco in style. If you follow this link http://www.caths.org.au/ you can find examples of cinemas and theatres (in Victoria) many in Art Deco style.

New Zealand

There are many Art Deco buildings in Hastings, Wellington and Palmerston North

South Africa

Durban has many Art Deco buildings. Prince Edward Street has some fine examples. The South Africa Art Deco style was influenced by the USA Art Deco style. If you go to this link you will find more information and virtual tour http://users.iafrica.com/a/an/andryn/

 I will finish this blog now and complete the study of Art Deco in my next blog.

German and Scandinavian design during Art Deco Era

The Art Deco era was considered a time of luxury, vitality, exuberance and decadence. At the same time  eclectic styles and a move to modernism was evident. Historical sources as a starting point for new designs were diverse. Industrial methods and technological advances were also being used.

The most famous influence on modern design the Bauhaus was opened in Germany by Walter Gropius in 1919. This school of design combined architecture, industrial and graphic art.

The principles of William Morris and the Art and Craft movement were embraced. Fine art and practical craftsmanship were combined and the needs and influence of the modern industrial world were a major consideration. The International Style grew from these beginnings. The new profession of industrial design also developed at this time. Industrial design and Art Deco design led to the streamlined designs of kitchens and bathrooms.

In the Scandinavian countries the ‘Swedish Modern’ and ‘Danish Modern’ styles appeared. Traditional craftsmanship and materials were honored and comfortable interiors and furniture the result. The work tended to be warm and avoided what some thought the cold appearance of modern designs.

Gunnar Asplund’s Senna Chair was designed in 1925 as was Bruno Matheson’s Extension Table. Both examples of Swedish design. Kaare Klint’s furniture and Mogens Koch’s folding furniture are examples of Danish design. The Finnish designer Eliel Saarinen’s interiors and furniture have strong Art Deco links.

Art Deco UK

The fireplace with mottled tiles, brass fire implements and the beautiful curved sideboard I now recognise as Art Deco. As a child I was unaware of how valuable (what I thought old and dated) were the furniture and accessories of my granny’s Irish home. Although the wallpaper and linoleum were often changed the old fireplace and Art Deco furniture and other pieces remained. I disliked the fireplace. This could be due to the fact I often had to clean out the ash, set the fire ready to light and go out into the cold night to get coal. 

I now value the pieces of Art Deco and can appreciate the workmanship and design. My granny would have bought many of these pieces in the first years of her married life yet they were still there when we left Ireland for Australia in the 1970’s.   

  

In the British Art Deco home living rooms had the fireplace surrounded with pink, green or beige mottled matte tiles. Other colours used in the room were creams, eau-de-nil or oyster. The timber furniture tended to be pale and veneered in simple designs. Up lights, frames, mirrors and other items had stepped profiles.

The fabrics used in upholstery were plain or geometric. The linoleum floors had abstract designs or were black and white check. Parquet floors were also popular. In the 1920 UK magazine ‘Idea Home’ had an article on how to make large cushions in luxurious fabrics with tassels. Cushions in this style were the latest craze in the UK the article title; ‘The Indispensible Cushion: How to make them and where to place them’ 

Red and black tiles made by Carter & Co in Dorset England designed with graphic linear motifs based on objects like fans and stylized flowers were also popular. The tiles were mottle matte eggshell glazes with random crackles and star burst effects and used to tile around fireplaces were also used for entire kitchens or bathrooms.

The bold geometric patterns and designs in the Hoover Building is a brilliant example of Art Deco design in the UK. The Hoover factory in Perivale West London was built in 1932 and designed by Wallis Gilbert and Partners and is a well know example of the Art Deco style in Britain.   

 

One of the finest examples of Art Deco in the UK is Eltham Palace. If you go to this link http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/book-and-buy/venue-hire/eltham-palace/ you will find information and details on Eltham Palace built in the 1300’s. 

An Art Deco extension was commissioned in the 1930’s by the owners. The 15^th century Great Hall was also restored. Art Deco the style went into decline about 1935. However there have been revivals in the 1960’s and 1970s.    

Art Deco USA

After the success of the 1925 Paris exhibition the USA was greatly influenced by French Art Deco. The Americans loved the bright surfaces and abstract patterns of the style. The Art deco motifs of the rising sun and the stepped ziggurat became popular. At the 1933 World’s Fair ‘Century of Progress’ in Chicago the shapes and designs of Art Deco were prominent.

The skyscraper designs of the Chrysler building designed by William van Alen in 1930 had sleek aluminum-banded facades, arches and a pointed spire. Donald Deskey designed the interior of Radio City Music Hall built in 1931. The Empire State buildings is another example of this magnificent style. Ely Jacques Kahn designed Art Deco skyscraper entrance lobbies using brilliant colours and luxurious materials with the Art Deco motifs designs and shapes.

Large department stores and theaters had brilliantly coloured carpets with abstract designs. The US embraced the style and made it their own. In the home linoleum in the bold colours and designs of Art Deco ensured it would continue to be popular as did parquet floors. Zebra skin rugs and other animal skin rugs were in vogue and placed over plain wall to wall carpets.

In the USA Art Deco designs became more geometric and linear. This married well with the rise of the minimized modern design. Art Deco items could easily be mass production making the style available to the masses.

Art Deco link 2 King Tut

The term Art Deco was coined to describe a style of interior design, architecture, textiles, ceramics and jewellery. Art Deco came to prominence in Paris at the 1925 Exposition Internationle des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. The Art Deco period started in the early 1920’s and continued to be in fashion well into the 1930’s.

Characteristics of the style include symmetrical design with simple clean lines, sharp edges and stylishness. The words elegant, sophisticated and luxurious are words often used. Strong colours and straight designs were used as a reaction to the gentle pastel colours and flowing curving lines of the Art Nouveau. Chrome, enamel and highly polished stone were hallmarks of the era.

The motifs and patterns

• Straight lines

• Geometric shapes

• Abstract patterns

• Egyptian scarab

• Sun Motifs

• Stepped ziggurat shapes

• Fan shapes

• Aztec symbols

• Stylised flowers

• Sunrise motif

• Egyptian

• Cubism forms

 

Ancient Egyptian, Greek and classical patterns and motifs are also characteristic of Art Deco. The discovery and opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter brought Egyptian themes into vogue. Other influences were the Ballets Russes and Cubism. However designs, motifs and colours did vary between countries and the decades of the era.

The colours 

• Chocolate Brown

• Black

• Cream

• Pale Yellow

• Red

• White on White

• Buff

• Beige

• Coffee

• Pink

• Pastel blue

• Pastel pink

• Pale green

• Exposition des Arts Decoratifs Paris 1925 colours                                                         

Ultramarine

Sea green

Deep blue

Turmeric yellow

Black

Crimson

Burnt orange

Hot pink  

France started out as the center of the Art Deco movement. As mass production of Art Deco objects increased the people of the US embraced the style and became a dominant force and leaders of the Art Deco movement. Art Deco started to declined after 1935 but enjoyed a revival in the 1960s and 1970s. Some say we will see a revival of the Art Deco style in the 2000’s

“Great designs are not accomplished 

without enthusiasm of some sort; 

it is the inspiration of everything great”

Christian Nestell 

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Stood on the Cusp of Art Nouveau and Art Deco

One of my favorite designers Charles Rennie Mackintosh stood on the cusp of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. He was a very influential Scottish architect who had in turn been influenced by the designs of C.F. A. Voysey.

Voysey designed houses, wallpaper, textiles, carpets and furniture in the Art and Craft style. Mackintosh was to follow the same path. Charles had shown his work at the exhibition of 1895 in Paris. He had a great influence on German design particularly August Endell. His influence can been see in the Buntes Theater in Berlin where geometric forms were used.

Rennie Mackintosh was known as an interior designer during his life time. He worked with his wife Margaret Macdonald her sister Frances and Herbert McNair and they became known as The Four. Macintosh created tea rooms for Catherine Cranston in Glasgow. The Buchanan Street Tea Rooms were in the Art and Craft style. The Ingram Street Tea Room was in his own unique style. The furniture was painted white.

His interiors were bold in contrast. In his Main Street dining room he used wrapping paper in dull brown on the walls. The high backed chairs were stained oak. The ceiling and the wall above the picture rail were painted white in stark contrast.

The drawing room had white floor coverings, walls and furniture. He used white enamel paint on the furniture to ensure the joints and grains of the timber did not distract from the sculptural forms of the pieces. The windows were covered with muslin stretched to ensure maximum light and privacy.

What I love about Mackintosh; he worked from the inside out. He spent time with his clients to find out how they lived before he ventured toward creating a design. He followed this method in his design for Hill House (1901) in Helensburgh. White dominates the interior spaces.

He used stencils to create designs of pink roses and used rose coloured glass. Geometric forms were used in the door, window glass and shutters. His furniture was boxlike and linear. The famous Willow Tea Rooms built in 1904 had lead light windows with some mirror glass and he introduced silver high-backed chairs.

One of his greatest achievements; is the Library of the Glasgow School of Design. He suspended the bookshop over the ground floor of the library with steel strips. He did this to provide floor space on the ground floor. Exposed timber beams and lighting were used. The space appears larger than it is due to his great design flare.

The sad irony is Mackintosh was ignored in Britain during his life time. Yet he was admired throughout the rest of Europe as a master of his craft. I have always had a soft spot for Macintosh. My husband and his family lived just up the road from Hill House. His mother told me some wonderful stories about the family who owned the house. She would often visit the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow. I was amazed to find she did not share my admiration for Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

"  Life is the leaves which shape
and nourish a plant, 

but art is the flower 
which embodies its meaning."

Charles Rennie Mackintosh