NGV Media Home > Media Kits > Media Kit Article
EXHIBITION STRUCTURE
Art Deco 1910–1939 is divided into a number of sections which explore the development of Art Deco from its beginnings in Europe in the years before the First World War, its highpoint at the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (hereafter referred to as the 1925 Paris Exposition) and its subsequent spread and popularity around the world. A special section at the end of the exhibition explores the major influence of Art Deco in Australia.
The sections of the exhibition are as follows:
The Style and the Age
This first section of the exhibition presents a series of iconic Art Deco objects from around the world which demonstrate the defining characteristics of the style.
Objects in this first room represent different media and range from paintings and fashion to industrial design.
The Sources
Art Deco is an eclectic style and designers drew inspiration from many sources. Artefacts from Ancient Egypt and Greece, Africa, Japan and China all proved influential, contemporary Avant-Garde art and design; Cubism, Orphism, Futurism and Constructivism provided an abstract, geometric language that was quickly assimilated into the Deco style.
The following three sources are explored in Art Deco 1910–1939: Ancient and Exotic, The Avant-Garde and National Traditions.
The 1925 Paris Exposition
The 1925 Paris Exposition was a significant moment for Art Deco and the catalyst for its worldwide dissemination.
Unlike previous world fairs, the 1925 Exposition was dedicated to ‘modern’ decorative arts. Its main purpose was to reassert France’s unsurpassed position as a trendsetter of taste and producer of luxury goods, and Paris as the world centre of fashion, in an international forum.
The Exposition opened in April 1925 and by the time it closed in October of the same year, some 16 million visitors had passed through its gates.
This section of the exhibition, dedicated to the Paris Exposition, marks the high point of the first phase of Art Deco. A highlight of this section is the group of important works exhibited in Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann’s influential Hôtel d’un Collectioneur. It includes Jean Dupas’ famous painting, Les Perruches (The Parrots).
The Exotic
The Exotic section of Art Deco 1910–1939 explores how designers used exotic imagery and materials to create exciting modern design.
Of the many influences absorbed by Art Deco, it was the exotic that was the most widely appropriated. Exotic imagery, motifs and symbols were borrowed from many cultures: lotus flowers, tropical birds and animals, dancing girls and tribal figures soon became commonplace in Deco design.
A highlight of this section is a celebration of Josephine Baker - the ‘it’ girl of the 1920s. Born in America, she moved to Paris where she became a cabaret dancer. She both fascinated and shocked audiences with her exotic, vivid and erotically charged Danse Sauvage. Baker was a prime example of the Art Deco fascination for the exotic, as pictured in Paul Colin’s wonderful illustration depicting Baker bare-chested and wearing her outrageous banana skirt.
The European Moderne
The 1930s saw a change in the character of Art Deco design in Europe. While luxury remained a highpoint, represented in the exhibition by sumptuous Cartier jewellery and beautiful French fashion, the Moderne shows a broadening of the Deco style into the everyday.
A need for inexpensive consumer goods for mass markets saw the rise alongside luxury design of a modern aesthetic that utilised new materials such as Bakelite, plastic, chrome and aluminium. The look of Deco was changed.
The display of original architectural elements from the foyer of the Strand Palace Hotel from London’s West End, rescued by the V&A during the demolition of the foyer space in 1969 forms the centrepiece of this section.
Travel and Transportation
The bold stylisation, intense colours and decorative qualities of travel posters of the Art Deco era have ensured their recognition as some of the most successful and popular posters of the 20th century.
In their depictions of the period’s grand luxury liners, streamlined trains and motor cars and exotic tourist destinations, they reveal the changing dynamics of an urbanised, mass culture and its embrace of a modern world characterised by speed, change and new modes of communication and transportation.
A new generation of ships showcased lavish Art Deco interiors of which the most famous was the Normandie. Fabulous film footage of the Normandie will feature in this section of the exhibition.
A Worldwide Movement: Art Deco in Japan, China and New Zealand
From here, the exhibition explores how Art Deco developed globally and how its glamour appealed to audiences world-wide.
The Art Deco style spread far and wide after its Paris inception in 1925. Fuelled by commerce and capitalism and disseminated through an expanding network of communications including advertising, film and personal travel, the Deco style evolved rapidly and localised itself in regions such as East Asia and countries as far-flung as New Zealand.
This section of Art Deco 1910–1939 explores the style in Japan, China and New Zealand.
A Worldwide Movement: Art Deco in America
Although the United States did not participate in the 1925 Paris Exposition, the impact of the new modern style on America was immediate and extensive, permeating every aspect of art and life.
Art Deco in America came to epitomise the Jazz Age, the modern sophisticated life of the city. The compelling image of the Manhattan skyline and the spectacle of the towering skyscraper became the ultimate iconic symbol of modernity. The huge popularity of Hollywood film did much to promote Art Deco world-wide.
Streamlining was also a distinctive phenomenon of American Art Deco, which was integrated into architecture, interiors, cars and transport design, fashion and product design. It suited the demand for the assembly-line production of household goods and affordable accessories, such as radios, cigarette lighters and jewellery created from new materials such as Bakelite.
A highlight of this section includes the magnificent Cord 812 Westchester Sedan – one of the rarest, but most distinctive vehicles of the Art Deco era, both in form and automotive innovation.
Deco Down Under: The Influence of Art Deco in Australia
Australia embraced Art Deco. Its impact touched all areas of creativity, from distinctive handcrafted items to mass-produced everyday objects.
Drive through almost any Australian city, suburb or country town and the influence of Art Deco is felt everywhere – from the local architecture to examples of household ceramics and glassware adorning the shelves of ‘op’ shops. While Australian Art Deco exhibits unique national characteristics, it also reflects the enthusiasm with which Australia embraced international modernity and responded to the invitation to be part of a global community – all of which is explored in this section of the exhibition.
The Artists and Designers
A wide range of works by leading Art Deco artists and designers are on display throughout the exhibition including works by Edgar Brandt, Harold Cazneaux, Pierre Chareau, Demêtre Chiparus, Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper, Jean Dunand, Jean Dupas, Eileen Gray, André Groult, Edward Hald, Josef Hoffmann, René Lalique, Raymond Loewy, Pierre Legrain, Tamara de Lempicka, Maurice Marinot, Charles Meere, Françoise Pompon, Gio Ponti, Jean Puiforcat, Armand-Albert Rateau, Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, Louis Süe, Walter Dorwin Teague, Christian Waller and Napier Waller.
Print
See more articles
Media releases for this exhibition