Art Deco Posters – An Art Form
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Art Deco Posters can be brought online. Art Deco replaced Art Nouveau as the major international decorative style after World War I and continued until World War II. Art Deco represented a machine age aesthetic, replacing flowing, floral motifs with streamlined, geometric designs that expressed the speed, power and scale of modern technology. This look also became part of art deco posters as well.
Design influences were many, from the modern art movements of Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism to ancient geometric design elements from the exotic cultures of Egypt, Assyria and Persia. For art deco posters, precursors of Art Deco were the German Plakatstil, the Viennese Secession, the Deutscher Werkbund, and the Parisian fashion design revolution which commenced in 1908.
The name art deco itself comes from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs Industriels et Modernes held in Paris in 1925, which promoted art deco architecture in Europe. This exposition marked the mature phase of Art Deco design, a style that by that point had become very popular and widely recognized. Simplification and abstraction were always hallmarks of Art Deco, This can be seen in the art deco posters although the soft elegance and exoticism of its early days yielded to a more muscular and forceful style in the ’30s. It was often called the “Cassandre Style” after its most famous artist, who enjoyed a one-man show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1936. Cassandre’s sleek designs of towering ships and speeding trains are still considered to be the quintessential Art Deco images.
Although art deco looks ultra-modern, it dates back to the days of Egyptian tombs. Specifically, the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in the 1920′s opened the door to this enticing style. The stark lines, bold colors and zig-zag architectural features were added to objects placed in the tomb to entertain and enlighten the sleeping kings. This style greatly appealed to Americans, who were going through the “roaring 20′s” and loved the eclectic look.
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They saw it as a symbol of decadence and extravagance, qualities their generation embraced. Art, architecture, jewelry and fashion were all heavily influenced by the bold colors and sharp lines of the movement.