Whatever your leanings towards Art Deco - and beyond its being a handy shortcut for conjuring up the perceived glamour and gratuitous excess of the F. Scott Fitzgerald-documented jazz age - few decorating styles have had such impact over the last century. An expansively inclusive modern movement that, contrary to modernism, saw merit in decorative flourishes, this year marks its centenary. It was the 1925 French-hosted International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts that popularised its elegant columns, gleaming curves, and glossy stylised patterns in monochrome tones. But while historians tend to date Art Deco’s demise to 1939 and the outbreak of World War II, the truth, as anyone au fait with contemporary interiors knows, is that it’s still widely referenced today – and can still feel fresh.
There are myriad collections that can confirm that: Francis Sultana’s ‘Homage to the Art Deco’ furniture, de Gournay’s ‘Deco’ hand-painted wall coverings, Campbell Rey’s Jean Dunand-inspired trays for The Lacquer Company, and Bryan O’Sullivan’s designs for Claridge’s Restaurant. More than frivolity and free-flowing champagne, “Art Deco embodies the idea that design can be both functional and transformative – and it’s a reminder that beauty, precision and craftsmanship should have a place in our everyday lives,” explains Bryan, of its contemporary appeal.
Returning to 1925, the exhibition was world fair-like in its size, covering 72 acres of central Paris with 15,000 exhibitors from 20 different countries. ‘Reproductions’ and ‘imitations of ancient styles’ were forbidden – the aim was to highlight the new, forward-looking style of architecture, interior decoration, and decorative arts, (this directive caused the then U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, to refuse the invitation to exhibit, on account of there being “no modern art in America.”) With a wide scope, there was variation in the recognisable formative influences. This included, in the broad gesture and fine detail, Art Nouveau, the Ballets Russes, Ancient Egypt, the Classical Civilisations, American Indian, Folk Art, Cubism, and nature, all of which were reinterpreted by way of clean lines and strong contrast, and imbued with the idealistic promise of a beautiful future.
One of the centrepieces was a striking fountain designed by René Lalique, built using caryatids (sculpted female figure pillars) in moulded glass, which lit up at night. The exhibition was split into pavilions designed by architects, each incorporating their country’s own interpretation of modern design using new materials and structural forms. The British pavilion resembled a cathedral, and Belgium’s was designed by the renowned art nouveau architect Victor Horta, who broke with his usual florid style and instead created a structure of rectilinear forms. France had multiple pavilions, the most acclaimed was a showcase for the decorator and furniture designer Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, and consisted of a suite of luxuriously furnished rooms, titled ‘House of the Collector.’ “The way he considered the whole space from the architecture to the fabrics and accessories – it hadn’t really been done before,” says Francis Sultana, of what was, essentially, a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art). Another French pavilion was co-conceived by Le Corbusier, made of concrete, steel, and glass with no ornament at all, but the organisers were so horrified by this Modernist opposition to the Art Deco style that they tried to hide it behind a fence. “It was a turning of time,” says Will Fisher of Jamb, of the exhibition as a whole.
Behind the show was hard, and necessary, commercial intent. The exhibition had been postponed due to the Great War, and then again in 1922 due to a lack of available construction materials in the wake of European post-war recovery, and it was decided that its 1925 mounting should specifically honour the Allied countries (Germany wasn’t invited). With this, it embraced both hand-crafted luxury and mass production. The major French department stores Galeries Lafayette, Le Bon Marché and Printemps, each also had a pavilion, their wares more affordable than Ruhlmann’s. The range was gladly welcomed by a global population craving a new look and in need of an optimistic view, and there were 16 million visitors over the seven month run. For context, Disneyland Paris (the most popular theme park in Europe) currently averages 12 million visitors over a whole year, and the Louvre (the most visited museum in the world) has 9 million.
The following years saw Art Deco flourish and spread across continents, disciplines and mediums, evolving in each iteration. In London there are surviving examples in the Carlton Cinema in Islington, the Carreras Cigarette Factory in Camden, and the Hoover Building just off the A40 in Perivale (named for the vacuum cleaner, not the US Secretary of Commerce). There’s Claridge’s, which was transformed in the 1920s and 30s, with particular Art Deco influence in the foyer, the ballroom, and the Painter’s Room. And Eltham Palace, in southeast London, proved you can install total-look Art Deco interiors even in a medieval building. The style was also applied to ocean liners, cars, and trains, as the increasingly affordable opportunities for travel added to buoyant spirits. René Lalique designed for, among others, Bentley, Bugatti, and Rolls Royce, and his glass panels for the Côte d’Azur Pullman Express are now installed in the Orient Express.
Fast forward and today’s embracing of the style differs in that we generally approach it from a less full-look perspective. Indeed the key, advises Bryan O’Sullivan, is “restraint – using Deco-inspired elements to enhance a space’s character without overpowering it.” This might be in integrating mirroring, or bringing in particular materials: metallics, marble, velvet, silk, and exotic woods. The ideal is to “create moments of interest; a single stand out piece, perhaps a geometric light fixture, or a piece of furniture with sculptural curves, can set the tone,” continues Bryan. He praises the “tactile purity and elegance” that Art Deco can bring to a scheme – along with “a voluptuousness, a richness that invites interaction and evokes emotion.”
Will Fisher sees its influence in Jamb’s Astor Fireplace, “with its strict linear design and crafted in the grey onyx of that era,” and Jamb also has an in-the-manner-of-Ruhlmann table. Then there’s Louis Barthélemy’s Egyptomania tiles for Balineum, certain carpets by Edition 1.6.9. and Knots Rugs, while Marc Larminaux, creative director of Lalique, reveals that archival Art Deco designs are “a source of creativity for the house.” In this vein, and to note for the scallop and wave-loving, is that a contemporary Deco twist can revive them, for they were popular motifs in the primary iteration of the style.
And importantly, Art Deco’s original ideals still hold, especially “as we continue to explore the potential for beauty within a world of mass mechanical production,” points out Ben Houston, Sales Director at antiquarian book dealer Peter Harrington, who will be taking a rare Art Deco portfolio to this year’s European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) fair in March. Arguably, we’re still in need of optimism, too. The good news is that there’s plenty more opportunity over this coming year to reexamine original designs. Brussels is hosting an Art Nouveau and Art Deco Festival over three weekends in March, during which buildings usually closed will be open for the public to explore and admire. The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston is having a show devoted to Tamara de Lempicka. And, excitingly, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris is mounting an exhibition of work by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, whose designs caused such a stir all those years ago – and perhaps still will.
