ART HISTORY - ART DECO

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGEStyle of visual arts that appeared inFrance just before WWIIt influenced the design of buildings,cars, furniture, jewellery andeveryday objectsIt combined modern styles with finecraftsmanship and rich materialsIt was influenced by the geometricforms of Cubism and the brightcolours of FauvismThe Chrysler Building and manyothers in the New York skyline areexamples of Art Deco architectureArt Deco is one of the first trulyinternational stylesIt's dominance ended at the start ofWWII and the rise of more functionalstyles

'I WAS THE FIRSTWOMAN TO PAINT

CLEANLY, AND THATWAS THE BASIS OF

MY SUCCESS. FROMA HUNDRED

PICTURES, MINEWILL ALWAYS

STAND OUT.'

Tamara de Lempicka

KEY ARTISTS AND IDEAS

Tamara de Lempicka Lee Lawrie Georges Barbier

TAMARA DE LEMPICKA

LEE LAWRIE

GEORGES BARBIER

Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is bestknown for her polished Art Deco portraits of aristocrats and the wealthy, and for herhighly stylized paintings of nudes.

A key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II. Over his long career ofmore than 300 commissions Lawrie's style evolved through Modern Gothic, to Beaux-Arts, Classicism, and, finally, into Moderne or Art Deco.

Barbier was 29 years old when he mounted his first exhibition and was subsequentlyswept to the forefront of his profession with commissions to design theatre and balletcostumes, to illustrate books, and to produce haute couture fashion illustrations.

CONTEMPORARY DESIGNER - GIO TIROTTOItalian designerNever liked the 'excessive repetition and lack of a designmessage' in Art DecoCalls his work 'Neo Deco'Produces work with a high level of craftsmanshipEmbraces modern methods such as laser cuttingLikes the way technology enables him to make objects thatare highly detailed