Art Deco is the popular name for the design movement that flourished from the 1920s through the early 1940s. The style encompasses architecture, fashion, industrial design, and fine and decorative art. This page’s header graphic, designed by Stephan for ADSC’s 3rd annual Art Deco Preservation Ball, is an illustration of this style.
While the origins of Art Deco were primarily European, its impact spread all over the globe, finding an enthusiastic home in America. Designers pulled from many ethnic influences including Mayan, Asian, Latin, and Egyptian - particularly after the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1923.
Wisdom, Rockefeller Center, NYC
Palmetto Restaurant in Oakland, CA, formerly the Oakland Floral Depot
Designers adapted Art Deco to new materials like aluminum, bakelite, fiberglass, and neon to create a new 20th century look. The style suggests speed, power, and opulence, and includes geometric patterns, streamlined shapes, and heroic human forms. Art Deco expresses a fundamental belief in progress, human improvement, futurism, and the beneficial relationship between man and machine.
Art Deco is a marvelously modern, glamorous, not-so-remote part of American history that is well-worth preserving, and the Art Deco Society of California aims to do just this. Learn more.