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What is the "Art Deco" movement?
Decorative art is a very special design movement in France, America and Britain in the 1920s and 1930s. Because this movement occurred and developed almost at the same time as the modernist movement in Europe, the "Decorative Art" movement was greatly influenced by the modernist movement, and the traces of this influence can be clearly seen from the use of materials and the form of design. But from the background of ideological development, from the ideological point of view, the democratic color and socialist background of modernism movement have never happened in the "decorative arts" movement. "Art Deco", especially the French "Art Deco" movement, is still a traditional design movement to a great extent. Although there are new and modern contents in modeling, color and decoration motivation, its service targets are still the upper class and a few bourgeois dignitaries, which is quite different from the modernist position that emphasizes the democratization of design and the social effect of design. Therefore, although these two movements occurred almost at the same time and influenced each other, especially the influence of modernism on the "decorative art" movement in form and material, they belong to two different categories and have their own development laws.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of artists and designers were keenly aware of the inevitability of the new era. They no longer avoid mechanical forms or new materials (such as steel and glass). They believe that the British "Arts and Crafts" and "Art Nouveau" movements, which originated in France and influenced western countries, have a fatal flaw, that is, they categorically deny the forms of modernization and industrialization. Times have changed, and the forms of modernization and industrialization are unstoppable. It is better to adapt than to escape. The adoption of a large number of new decorative motives makes the mechanical form and modern features more natural and luxurious, which can be used as a new way of exploration. This kind of understanding generally exists among some designers in France, the United States and Britain, especially in the 1920s, when the West flourished and the United States developed at a high speed, creating new markets and providing opportunities for the survival and development of new designs and artistic styles. This historical condition prompted the emergence of new experiments, and the result was another important design movement in the early 20th century-"Decorative Art" movement.

The name of "Art Deco" movement comes from 1925, a large-scale exhibition held in Paris: Art Deco Expo. This exhibition aims to show an architectural and decorative style after the "Art Nouveau" movement. The name of an exhibition is usually used to refer to a special design style and a specific design development stage. However, the word "decorative art" actually refers to more than a simple design style. Like Art Nouveau, it covers a wide range, from the colorful so-called Jass pattern in the 1920s to the streamlined design style in the 1930s, from the simple British cosmetics packaging to the building of Rockefeller Center in new york, USA. Although they have a * * * relationship, they have stronger personalities. Therefore, it is inappropriate to regard "decorative art" as a unified design style.

From the ideological and ideological point of view, the Art Deco movement is a reaction to the pretentious Art Nouveau movement. "New Art" emphasizes medieval, Gothic and natural decoration, emphasizes the beauty of handicrafts, and denies the characteristics of the mechanized era; The "decorative arts" movement is precisely to oppose the trend of classicism, nature (especially organic forms) and pure handicrafts, and advocate the beauty of mechanization. Therefore, the "decorative art" style has more positive significance of the times. On the other hand, the period of "Art Deco" movement is the period of modernism. Therefore, no matter how much the movement emphasizes the effect of decoration-decoration is one of the main design contents opposed by modernism-design is still greatly influenced by modernism. Whether in the use of materials, the choice of design themes, or even the characteristics of design itself, these two design movements have many internal relations. In the past, "decorative art" was often regarded as a design movement opposed to modernism, but now the research shows that they are inextricably linked, especially the industrial design in the United States and the "decorative art" movement, which is sometimes difficult to completely separate. For example, the "Office of Industrial Designers" designed by American designer Raymond Loewy for the new york World Expo (KLOC-0/937) can hardly be said to be pure modernism or "Art Deco" style; The furniture designed by French modernist master le corbusier in the mid-1920s also has both styles. All these show that the relationship between "decorative art" and "modernism" is not completely contradictory, but they are close and complicated in formal characteristics.

As for the difference between them, it mainly lies in their motives and the ideology they represent. "Decorative art" inherits the long-standing traditional design position of European and American countries centered on France: it serves the wealthy upper class, so it is still designed for the rich and powerful, and the object is the bourgeoisie; The "Modernism" movement emphasizes that design serves the public, especially the low-income proletariat, so it is left-leaning, idealistic and utopian for small intellectuals.

Some western design theorists call the Art Deco movement "popular modernism" or "popular modernism" because its style is used to design some popular products, such as mass-produced steel pipe furniture, cars and skyscrapers. This title is easy to be misunderstood, because the main service target of "decorative art" style is still the dignitaries in society, not the public.

Since the 1960s, more and more design theorists have regarded the Art Deco movement as the extension and development of the British Arts and Crafts Movement and the Art Nouveau Movement in Europe and America. From the perspective of decoration motivation, or from the service direction it emphasizes, this view is of course understandable. But the complexity is that the main development period of this movement is between World War I and World War II, and this is also the main stage of the development of modernist movement, so chaos often occurs. From the name, there is also some confusion. For example, in France, some people call this movement and design style "modernism", and others call it jazz modernism, because one of the factors that affect this style is American jazz music and performance. However, from the ideological point of view, there is still a clear line between the position of the "decorative arts" movement that emphasizes serving the powerful and the socialist position of the modernist movement that emphasizes serving the masses.

The sports style of Art Deco is influenced by the following very special factors:

L) Practical reference for ancient decorative styles such as Egypt.

The "Arts and Crafts" movement in Britain and the "Art Nouveau" movement originated in France both seek nutrition from the medieval style, especially the Gothic style, and the Japanese decoration and natural style, while the "decorative art" seeks reference from the luxurious decorative features of ancient Egypt. The previous two design campaigns were centered on organic, flat and harmonious colors, which basically denied the simple geometric form and the so-called mechanical color-black and white series. 1922, British archaeologist howard carter discovered an ancient imperial tomb-Tutankhamun's tomb, which was completely undisturbed in Egypt. A large number of unearthed cultural relics show a gorgeous classical art world, which shocked the cutting-edge designers in Europe. Those 3,300-year-old antiquities, especially Tutankhamun's huge gold face, have simple geometric figures, and use metallic color series and black and white series, but they have reached a high degree of decoration, which gives designers a strong inspiration. The very common architectural decorative patterns in ancient Egypt, such as the blooming papyrus stigma (the cylindrical design of Luso Palace in BC 1250) and the stigma interwoven with papyrus and lotus flowers (the royal architecture of Filak Island in BC 106), are all simple and vivid geometric patterns abstracted from nature, which are quite spectacular. These design motives are another important external influence since Japanese style was introduced into Europe.

2) the influence of primitive art

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the influence of primitive art, especially primitive tribal art from Africa and South America, has exerted a great influence on the avant-garde art circles in Europe. Picasso's Maiden of avignon was influenced by African primitive art; Norwegian artist edvard munch is deeply influenced by the primitive tribal culture in South America. This influence is also deeply reflected in the field of design. The symbolism and exaggeration of African tribal dance masks, as well as the lightness and simplicity of African sculptures, especially wood carvings, have greatly inspired western artists and designers.

3) Simple geometry

Since the "Arts and Crafts" movement in the middle of19th century, most of the design exploration is to find the motivation of decoration from the organic natural form. Therefore, simple geometric shapes, which are closely related to large-scale industrial production and have strong characteristics of the times, naturally became the center of designers' keen research in the 1920s. The source of these geometric motives is still the ancient Indian culture of classical Egypt, Central America and South America (such as Maya, Aztec and Inca culture), and the commonly used geometric patterns are sunshine, lightning, zigzag, overlapping arrows, starlight, Aztec radiation and so on.

4) the influence of stage art

At the beginning of the 20th century, dance, especially ballet, began to undergo a major reform out of tradition. This reform was developed in Russia, which is one of the important centers of ballet. The contents of the reform are embodied in music, choreography, stage design, costume design and so on. Ballets russes's performances abroad also brought the influence of this reform abroad. For western countries, the influence mainly comes from the Russian ballet Russes in the early 20th century. The reform of Russian ballet was not perfect at that time. After the ballet came to Paris, it was influenced by the atmosphere of the great reform of western modern art, which accelerated the change, and this change was reflected in the design, which led to the emergence of new design styles. This ballets russes, led by Diakirev, the head of the delegation, came to Paris to perform at around 1902 and took Paris as the base. From 65438 to 0909, the troupe performed a series of very avant-garde ballet, including Stravinsky's Firebird, Sacrifice to Spring, Peter Roska and South of the Snake. The stage design and costume design of these ballets are very avant-garde, with a large number of metallic colors and strong color planning. For example, "Snake Dance" directed by Giselle, the stage costume was designed by the costume designer of this ballet company. The clothing is compact and close-fitting, bronzed, and has a strong effect. Leon Baxter, the chief designer of ballets russes, not only influenced designers all over the world, but also led to the beginning of French fashion design: Paul Brett, the first French fashion designer, was inspired by his stage design and fashion design, and Brett became the most important fashion design in France 19 15 to 1925. In fact, the individual characteristics of French fashion design, especially the design of Bou Oualett, also had a very strong influence on the "Art Deco" movement.

Another influential stage art style is American jazz. The 1920s and 1930s were the peak periods of American black jazz. This strong, distinctive and special American folk music and its expression are extremely fresh and infectious to designers. Therefore, its sense of rhythm and special sense of rhythm, its strong color, are reflected through design.

5) The influence of cars

Around 1898, the automobile was invented and soon became an important means of transportation. At the beginning of the 20th century, cars were regarded as the symbol of the future by many avant-garde, and the sense of speed was the sense of the times. Especially after the First World War, the love for dry cars became very popular among designers. From the 1920s to 1930s, many posters and advertisements focused on automobile races, with bright colors, bright composition and strong sense of the times. Automobile, as a new symbol of civilization in the 20th century, has inspired the designers of Art Deco movement to boldly adopt the achievements of modern industrial civilization as their design power, which has a very important enlightening role in form and thought.

6) Form your own unique color series.

"Decorative art" has distinct and strong color characteristics, which is quite different from the previous color plans that pay attention to elegance in various design styles. Under the influence of the above factors, it has formed its own unique color scheme, paying special attention to strong primary colors and metallic colors, including bright red, bright yellow, bright blue, orange red and metallic colors (including bronze, gold, silver and other colors).

Art Deco is an international design movement, in which many European and American countries participate, especially France, Britain and the United States. It also influenced many European countries, from about 19 10 years ago to about 1935 years ago. This is a lasting design movement in the 20th century.

The "Art Deco" movement is a link between the preceding and the following. It not only expresses the opposition to the natural decoration of the "Arts and Crafts" movement and the "Art Nouveau" movement and the medieval retro, but also criticizes the monotonous industrial style. Therefore, although there are similarities with the previous two movements in the decoration trend, it is hard to say that it is their continuation from the perspective of acknowledging industrialization; Because it emphasizes decoration, it is also very different from modernism initiated in Germany at the same time. It is a connection between the "Art Nouveau" movement and the modernist movement, both of which have their own characteristics, but they are not simply repeated or reproduced. The decorative features of "decorative art" were re-recognized in the 1980s, and were once again taken seriously in the post-modern style.

The "Art Deco" movement originated in Paris, France, mainly focusing on luxury products and artistic design works, such as furniture, textiles, metal products, glassware, ceramics, decorative sculptures, paintings, graphic design, posters and jewelry design.

However, after this style was introduced into the United States, it was widely used in large-scale public projects such as architectural design and interior design. Starting from new york, it gradually spread to the Midwest and West Coast, which had a great influence on American design in the 1920s and 1930s, covering many design fields such as automobile design, industrial product design, graphic design, stage design, film design and so on.

The development of "Art Deco" movement in other European countries is relatively weak, and it has failed to produce its comprehensive influence in France and the United States. Because the styles of "decorative arts" in different countries are different, it is necessary to introduce the sports development and style distribution in different countries in order to have a general understanding of them. The following is a detailed description of the countries participating in this design movement.

summary

The Art Deco movement rose in the 1920s, and became an international popular design style in the 1930s, which influenced almost all aspects of architectural design, interior design, furniture design, industrial product design, graphic design, textile design, clothing design and so on. It is a very important design movement in this century. Although the main developing countries are only France, the United States and Britain, this style has become a popular style in the world. Even in Shanghai in the Far East, you can find "Art Deco" style architecture and interior design, which shows its popularity. In contrast, although the Art Nouveau movement is also spread all over Europe and America, it is extremely regional in terms of its influence scope, and it is only the exploration of the design community to a large extent, so it is difficult to become a relatively unified fashion style. It can be seen that the study of "decorative art" style is of great significance.

One of the reasons why the "Art Deco" style is so popular is that its eclectic position provides the possibility for mass production. It is impossible for the "Art Nouveau" movement to be widely popularized, and it is precisely because of its curve and non-geometric shape that it can only be made by hand, but not by mechanical mass production. Since the 20th century, people have noticed that if a certain style is to be popularized and become a popular style, the consideration of mass production is an important factor that cannot be ignored.

The "Art Deco" movement was the last attempt of the decorative movement in the early 20th century. It adopts the dual characteristics of handicraft industry and industrialization, and adopts a compromise position in design, trying to combine luxurious handicraft production with industrialization characteristics representing the future, thus creating a new style that can be developed. This movement happened almost at the same time as the modernist design movement in the world, and also ended in the European continent in the late 1930s. Therefore, it is obviously influenced by modernism in all aspects. However, because it mainly emphasizes the starting point of serving upper-class customers, it has a completely different ideological position from modernism. Because of this, the "Art Deco" movement failed to develop after the Second World War, and basically became a historical relic. Only modernism became a real worldwide design movement.

The "Decorative Art" movement provides us with many important materials for reference in decoration and design techniques from the application of materials, the motivation of decoration and the surface treatment technology of products. No matter from which aspect, this style has a lot to learn from, and its attempts to combine East and West, humanization and mechanization are all important research centers in the post-modernism period in the 1980s. Formally, the style of this design movement in the 1920s and 1930s is inextricably linked with the post-modernism style in the 1980s, and ideologically, there are also similarities. Therefore, it is more important to understand and study it.