In the most comprehensive account of the decorative arts of the Art Deco period ever assembled, Alastair Duncan celebrates the rich variety of form and diverse international roots that have made it a perennial favourite of collectors and a constant source of inspiration for designers.
Straddling two World Wars and the Great Depression, ushering in the Jazz Age and the era of the automobile and skyscraper, 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 its purest forms, it developed from a characteristically French image of luxury and refinement. Later, modernist European and American designers incorporated metal and plastic in styles described as 'Streamline Moderne', but which are now called 'Deco'. Although Paris was the spiritual home of the movement, Art Deco was a truly global style, with designers from every country in Europe and the Americas inspired by a vast international catalogue of artistic and craft traditions.
The guide begins with essays on the major media of the period: Furniture and Interior Decoration; Sculpture; Paintings, Graphics, Posters and Bookbinding; Glass; Ceramics; Lighting; Textiles; Silver, Metal, Lacquer and Enamel; and Jewelry, each followed by lavishly illustrated in-depth biographies of the major designers and artists working in the medium.
The second half of the book is an authoritative illustrated A-Z listing of all significant designers in the Art Deco style, comprising over four hundred entries.
By:
Alastair Duncan
Imprint: Thames & Hudson
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 308mm,
Width: 240mm,
Spine: 50mm
Weight: 3.620kg
ISBN: 9780500238554
ISBN 10: 0500238553
Pages: 544
Publication Date: 21 August 2009
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
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
Reviews for Art Deco Complete: The Definitive Guide to the Decorative Arts of the 1920s and 1930s
'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' - 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' - Art Quarterly 'A sumptuous work' - House & Garden
