The eclectic, international style now known as Art Deco originally took its name from the 1925 Paris 'Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes'. The style was all-pervasive during the 1920s and 30s, affecting the decorative arts, fine arts and fashion. This is the first book specifically to examine Art Deco painting and to define it as a genre. Edward Lucie-Smith analyses the characteristics of the style, period and history of the movement, explaining its relationship to Classicism, the Symbolists, the Precisionists, Cubism and photography. He discusses the frequent use of classical imagery, the importance of society portraiture and the lure of decorative exoticism. French, American, Russian, British and Italian painters, who are all represented here, were attracted as much to the skyscraper and automobile as they were to the classical nude. The result was a remarkable mix of traditional and modern as seen in this selection by such artists as Tamara de Lempicka, Jean Dupas and Glyn Philpot.
Edward Lucie-Smith is well known as a critic, broadcaster and writer on art. He is the author of Art Today, also published by Phaidon.
