Art Deco draws from several avant-garde artistic movements including Cubism, Viennese Secessionism, the Bauhaus and Constructivism. Interestingly, the term “Art Deco” was never used to describe the style during the 1920s and 30s, but rather was coined in the 1960s to retroactively describe modern design of the period. “Art Deco” takes its name from the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, with participants exhibiting modern design from several countries. The 1925 Paris Exposition wasn’t the only international-level event to help promote Art Deco design, and additional fairs took place around the world throughout the next fifteen years, including those in Chicago (1933-34), Tel Aviv (1934), Brussels (1935), Paris (1937), San Francisco (1939) and New York (1939). These expositions drew visitors, designers and merchandisers from everywhere. Additionally, films and magazines grew in circulation during this time. These important communication tools combined to further the style’s reach around the world.

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The Art Deco period covers over two decades, so it is only natural that the style evolved quite a bit over that time. As the style emerged in Europe after World War I, it flourished with a need to rebuild as well as with the post-war economic exuberance of the 1920s. These early examples are typically highly ornamented. As the style evolves in the 1930s, the ornament is selectively pared down and design is streamlined, expressing movement, speed, and efficiency. This simplification was brought on somewhat by necessity with the stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent depression that gripped much of the world.

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Art Deco is closely linked to a new profession that emerged in the early twentieth century: Industrial Design. The industrial revolution led to mass production of consumer goods, and while increased efficiencies introduced through machine production lowered prices, little attention was paid to aesthetics. The artistic community responded, promoting the idea that art should be applied to the design of everyday objects. Additionally, manufacturers found it necessary to embrace good design as a way of distinguishing their products in increasingly competitive markets. One-of-a-kind, hand-crafted items were replaced by mass-produced, machine-made goods. Industrial designers became key figures in this evolution, developing approachable and visually appealing designs that celebrated elegance and ease of use.

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The breadth and variety of Art Deco is exemplified with myriad other names one may encounter when exploring the style, including High Deco, Zig Zag Modern, and Moderne, to name just a few. The evolution is also not perfectly linear or pure, and there are plenty of examples that blend and overlap highly ornamental motifs with streamlined sensibilities to be discovered.