Art Deco and streamlining
The glamour of the interwar years: geometry, exotic materials, speed and shine, from Paris 1925 to New York's skyscrapers and America's streamlined refrigerators.
Art Deco takes its name from the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes in Paris in 1925, although the term only came into use in the 1960s. The style was a luxurious, modern continuation of the French decorative-arts tradition: furniture in macassar and ivory by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, lacquer by Jean Dunand, silver by Jean Puiforcat, glass by René Lalique.
Its language took up the geometry of Cubism and Futurism, the colours of the Ballets Russes, Egyptian finds after Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 and African art. Sunbursts, zigzags, stepped forms and stylised flowers became common motifs. The style spread quickly to cinemas, ocean liners, jewellery and fashion.
In the United States Art Deco became the style of skyscrapers and advertising. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929 a new profession, industrial designers such as Raymond Loewy, Henry Dreyfuss and Norman Bel Geddes, created streamlining: rounded, gleaming forms meant to make everything from trains to pencil sharpeners look modern and fast – and sell better.