ART DECO on display !

Art Deco, whose name is derived from “Art Décoratif” and abbreviated from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925.

The bold lines, geometric shapes and modern aesthetic of Art Deco represented luxury, glamour and technological progress, both during and after the war.

Art Deco was also used in design, particularly in industry, with colossal cruise ships depicted with smooth surfaces reminiscent of chrome and steel.

After the First World War, advertising followed the trend, replacing its floral illustrations with geometric shapes. Bold diagonals and dynamic typography expressed the craze for glamour, power, luxury and strength.

A summary of what was at the origin of the Art Deco “, will first be a way of life that” of the Roaring Twenties”, modernity, speed that will honor the Spring of Art Deco.

So F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of the unforgettable “Gatsby the Magnificent” will summarize it in these terms: “it is the movement of peace found and champagne”, after the first world conflict.

It is the time of rebirth, of reconstruction in the cities, in the countryside, after these terrible years.

Already in the 1910s, geometric shapes and a kind of symmetry emerge that is immiscent in architecture and decorative arts.

In France the movement will be carried by André Mare and Louis Sue, decorators or even by Paul Iribe, designer, the Art Deco will then gradually establish itself, especially in the North of the country very affected by the destruction of the war.

The real founding date of Art Deco would be 1925 with the international opening of decorative and industrial arts in Paris, this event will devote the simple lines, purified in front of the volutes of Art Nouveau.

This style triumphed in architecture, furniture, decorative arts of the 1920s and 1930s and also inspired the field of fashion.

Small posters 1930s depicting festive places of those years, cabarets posters, some promote shows with Mistinguett and Josephine Baker…

It is not a question of promoting cigarettes, but of posting these dazzling advertising posters from the 1930s, concerning various cigarette brands. The woman wanted to be “liberated, equal to the man”, including in this type of choice, more or less recommendable. The gesture was then elegant, the cigarette sometimes accompanied by the “Fume-Cigarette”, was an additional fashion accessory!

The emblematic elegance of Art Deco, so well represented by these posters evoking places, evening outfits full of delicacy, harmony, a deep refinement!

Some iconic posters from the 1920s and 1930s, from the prestigious Vogue magazine. The graphics, the colors, the elegance are beautiful!

An Art Deco poster, illustrating an advertisement for a perfume, singular poster, geometric graphics forming the bottle, with cold and elegant colors.

“Gloves, Perfumery, Lace, Flowers, Stockings, Brushes” – 1934, by Andre Wilquin (1899–2000)

A small anthology through these posters evocative of resorts that represented in these years “Art Deco” a certain prestige. One of these posters evokes California, another Australia, then the Principality of Monaco and finally more broadly, the French Riviera.

Some emblematic posters and also advertising, witnesses of these creative times “The Art Deco years.”:
-An illustrated poster “Normandy”, this prodigious transatlantic whose construction will begin from 1931, this liner will leave the yards of Saint Nazaire and will be put into service on 29 May 1935, it will be able to carry 1971 passengers,1345 people will make up the crew.
This transatlantic will make 139 crossings, but also two cruises between New York and Rio de Janeiro in February 1938 and 1939.
This boat will be burned in 1942 by accident or sabotage (we were then in war period) and will be demolished in October 1946.
-Two other posters highlight a Bugatti, this legendary car, here in its 1930s version, and a Chrysler.

An Art Deco poster, illustrating “Monaco’s Grand Prix automobile” in the 1930s.
This urban circuit was designed in 1929 by Anthony Noghès, son of the President of the automobile Club de Monaco, it is one of the oldest and one of the three most prestigious circuits in the world, its design will be placed under the auspices of Prince Louis II, it was then a challenge: build a circuit (2.5 km long) and organize a competition in the city, on the narrow territory of Monaco at the time.