Art Deco Complete: The Definitive Guide to the Decorative Arts of the 1920s and 1930s - Hardcover

Duncan, Alastair

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500238553 ISBN 13: 9780500238554

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2009

Synopsis

Straddling two World Wars and the Great Depression, ushering in the Jazz Age and the era of the automobile and skyscraper, fomenting in the great cities of Europe and America and shaping everything from the Golden Gate Bridge to the humble desk lamp, the story of Art Deco is the story of our modern world. In this book, the most comprehensive account of the decorative arts of the Art Deco period ever assembled, Alastair Duncan celebrates the style’s rich variety of form and its diverse international roots as the very factors that make it a perennial favourite of modern collectors and designers. Sumptuously illustrated and written by one of the world’s leading experts, Art Deco Complete will be the definitive work on the subject for many years to come.

Table of Contents

Introduction · Media and Masters: Furniture and Interior Decoration Sculpture · Paintings, Graphics, Posters, Bookbinding · Glass Ceramics · Lighting · Textiles · Silver, Metal, Lacquer and Enamel Jewelry · A–Z of Artists, Designers and Manufacturers

About this title

Review

'The most luscious, lavish book ever to appear on the subject ... If it weren't unhygienic, I'd call this a book to drool over. Drool, Britannia!' --The Spectator

'Alastair Duncan has put what seems like every art deco object ever made inside this book ... A serious A-Z section on 500 designers makes the work definitive' --The Sunday Telegraph

'The sheer sumptuousness of the images will surely appeal to those specialists, collectors and the general public who fuel the constant stream of glossy new Art Deco titles' --The Art Quarterly

'The ultimate dream reference guide' --Sunday Post England and Ireland

'Now everything you ever wanted to know about Art Deco is wrapped up in this beautifully produced book ... It is a triumph'
--RA Magazine

'A sumptuous work'
--House & Garden

`Quite rightly known as the definitive guide to the decorative arts of the 1920s and 1930s ...This is close to being a perfect book'
--Eastern Eye

Synopsis

The Art Deco style of the early 1930s can be seen as domesticated Cubism. As with cubist paintings, the elements of design were reduced to their minimal essence and applied to everyday items for public consumption. Here Bakelite plastic jewellery and boxes are studied as reflections of this style. The book is a visual garden of Deco design, with hundreds of items photographed in colour and described with their useful purposes, materials, and current values. Bakelite is collected because it is different and fun. This book is important because it demonstrates how the new Art Deco style provided the Depression-ridden world with colour and style in a form most people could afford.

Edition details

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0500238553
• ISBN 13: 9780500238554
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 544