There is in Art Deco a synthesis of elements that are intrinsically pleasing to the human eye and spirit. Its curves and angles, sleekness and opulence, vivid colors paired with the shine of metals and transparency of glass appeal to the imagination and the senses. Art Deco is a visual confection.
Art Deco is visually pleasing but it was used in some cases to substitute style for quality. I can tell you that the quality of American furniture degraded overall in the Art Deco period with veneers replacing solid wood furniture. Thin slices of expensive wood can be arranged in an interesting design while the wood beneath is of a cheap, inferior quality. The "sleek" Art Deco design of buildings also meant cheaper construction costs because "sleek" can be construed as "uncomplicated" and easy to construct. Compare the intricate detail of a Medieval cathedral with a "sleek" modern high rise that is devoid of detail. Overall, less ornamental detail = cheaper construction costs. You see that trend in a lot of Art Deco architecture. Fine art merged with business needs in the late 19th Century to produce Art Nouveau, a prototype of graphic ats. That part of the History of Art became a harlot of Capitalism intended to persuade people to buy what they would not otherwise buy. Art Deco continued that tradition of art prostituting itself to business but not just in advertisement but in the design of the products that the advertisements were selling as well. ... jkulik919@gmail.com
As a former NYC tour guide, I really admire your appreciation for Art Deco. Besides the Chrysler Building, I would also suggest checking out the General Electric Building, the Fred F. French Building, and the Fuller Building, which are all lesser known- but equally as magnificent- Art Deco masterpieces (assuming you weren't already aware of them.) Also, the two spires atop the Waldorf Astoria Hotel are assumed to be directly influenced by the architecture in the film, Metropolis. The stainless steel, winged, zeppelin mooring mast atop the Empire State Building is an often overlooked Art Deco detail as well. And then there's the paintings and sculptures that adorn the Rockefeller Center buildings. (Nit-picky note: The photo of the building under construction at 4:52 in your video is actually the Woolworth Building completed in 1913. It pre-dates Art Deco with its Neo-Gothic edifice, and held the title of the world's tallest habitable structure until the Chrysler Building succeeded it about 17 years later.) Anyway, nice job!
@@gregmilliken5538 No. GE building was first 'RCA Victor' during construction, and is 1931 by Cross and Cross architects. There is only one FLW highrise in existence, in BARTLESVILLE, Oklahoma.
Art Deco was the height of design style. We've gone downhill ever since. Disclaimer: I'm a fan of pretty much all movements since, but none of them compares.
I feel the same, although I see Art Deco’s precursor Art Nouveau as the birth of this true height of design. No other art style compares. That is for certain.
I love Art Nouveau and Art Deco. When we compare them with the styles of today; the simply appalling architecture being designed....society has become visually bland.
I love Art Deco as well as Art Nouveau with its curves, arches and sleek style as well as spikes. There was an Art Deco cinema near where we lived that was torn down for a block of flats. It's hideous. The cinema was a little jewel box. It broke my heart.
For somebody who made a point of telling us he is not an "expert", the narrator did an excellent job at analyzing the Art Deco style. His background info was accurate and well explained - but most of all I am impressed by the narrator's personal interpretations of the style - he shows great perceptiveness and sensitivity to this period style.
I don't think Art Deco went out of style. It got eclipsed by the war, and after the war there was a new world to design and rebuild, with different needs and desires. Excellent vid but. Call y'self an amateur but this is well researched and depicted and delivered.
Well by the mid 1930s art deco was already morphing into something new, the streamlined modernist aesthetic. By the 1940s streamline had pretty much taken full hold. It was far less angular, featuring rounded curves and often a sort of stretched out and skewed look to give the appearance of speed. Look at the Duchess of Hamilton train, or the 1948 Buick Streamliner car, or the Blytheville Greyhound Bus Station, to see what I mean. You can see how that curvy, futuristic, look morphed later on into the googie aesthetic in the 1950s (many today would call it "retro-futuristic" if they didn't know the name was googie) which by that point was quite far removed from art deco. Googie was thought to be a bit too kitsch after a while, so a tamer modernist style and brutalist style became dominant in architecture and decor from then on.
@@LaylaVaughan Very interesting. Never heard of 'googie ' before. I get what you're saying. I have Pic of a tram in Wellington nz 1960 and looks very retrofuturistic. Tram could be late 40s 50s. I know art deco is a variety of styles and I see now how that changed through the 40s as well. Thanks for the thoughtful and helpful reply.
@@LaylaVaughan I looked it up. "Googie". I geddit. Makes sense. I've long thought of it as 'space age' or 'American futurism'. Now I understand it's got its own name. Thanks.
@@markcarey8426 Yeah, art deco, streamline moderne, and googie all were very forward looking styles. Googie is pretty disconnected aesthetically despite being a natural extension of streamline moderne. But that makes sense, art deco and streamline were all about progress, especially, technological progress and industry. With the advent of the atomic age in the 1950s, the possibilities of science and technology seemed endless. There was talk of one day making it to outer space. UFOs were fresh in the popular imagination. The newfangled atomic power seemed to have great potential. So, the googie style was a natural reflection of that quantum leap in technological progress just as streamline moderne's sheared curves reflected the increased speed of cars and trains. Anyway, sorry for rambling, I just love these styles! They encapsulate periods of social and technological change and hope while remaining utitilitarian. Later styles just feel either boringly utilitiarian or just odd for the sake of being odd (postmodern) and feel disconnected from anything meaningful that I connect with.
@@LaylaVaughan Great ramble. You make good observations. Love the comment about " even one day go to outer space". I see the continuity now. Didn't actually get stopped by the war, morphed. Though the optimism of speed and machinery did come with some sub clauses after the use of 'speed and machinery" during that war. But then space and atomic power were the next bright spots on the horizon. And then of course you don't want to get too close to some of those 'bright spots'. I agree about some postmodernism style. A lot of it seems more like playing with engineering.
The 1920s is, in my opinion the most fascinating time in American, and European history. The movie Metropolis is somehow prophetic of the political trends of Germany a decade later. I love your videos. They are crisp and full of information and I think, very accurate. Keep up the good work from a new subscriber.
Not prophetic, but propaganda to shape opinion towards art deco and away from the rural social view. It was to change the country from conservative rural toward city view.
I love art deco. Some years back, I inherited a diamond wedding ring. Since I am no longer married, I had it remounted into a custom art deco mounting. The diamonds look like long rectangles side by side in varying lengths. It turned out really nice.
There are many design aesthetics I appreciate, but Art Nouveau and Art Deco evoke unique feelings: Excitement, splendor, grandeur - and as you mentioned, sophistication and elegance. Those two design styles are usually associated with cities and wealth - which I believe is why Art Deco is so enthralling. Many design styles of preceding decades are associated with nobility - but Art Deco was accessible to aspiring sophisticates. Step into a Deco theater and you immediately feel as though you’re swept up in something separate from the ordinary ...you feel special and elevated and immediately refined. What other design can do that for someone? None I can think of!!!
I always loved movies from the 1920's and 30's, sometimes not for the storylines, but for the set decors and the fashions. I have a "fantasy/daydream" of winning the lottery and building and furnishing a house in the art deco style. Oh well, we can all dream, right?
I love the speaker's humility and enthusiasm! There is a refreshing honesty in a world with too little of it. And I find every one of this channel's programs fascinating! Thank you!
You are a natural art historian. I love your enthusiasm, and I, too, am an admirer of Art Deco. There is so much to explore in that design period! Thank you for sharing your insights and keep up the good work.
Art deco is making a comeback. I saw an exhibit of early art deco pieces from the actual exhibition. It was shockingly futuristic but as you say, drawing on all the elements, forms and artisanal skill of earlier styles.
Im somewhat of an artsy-farts guy & have always been intrigued by Art Deco. I find myself now starting to research it’s history and style and am constantly amazed at the intricacy of some designs in these buildings all over the country & world. Thanks! You did an awesome job!!!
I loved this, thanks! A tip for all fans of the Marx Brothers' movie "Duck Soup" from 1933: The long scene in the expensive mansion (which includes the famous mirror sequence) contains a truly remarkable Art Deco set. In fact, nearly the whole movie is in Art Deco style. It's well worth rewatching!
Well, Kiddo, you did a good job researching for this video. I love art deco and art nouveau EVERYTHING. Buildings, clothes, the fabulous jewellery of those times. The Chrysler Building is amazing, but I also love the Woolworth Building in New York. When it was an office, it was PERFECTION. Absolutely stunning!! Of course, buildings of that nature seem to not be able to carry their own weight, as it were, and many are turned into condos and apartments. But the Woolworth Building in its heyday was really the best of its time and a total work of art. (There are Gothic elements to the building, mostly outside, but the interiors were beyond the beyonds!!) Such a shame these buildings cannot stay as they were. Anyhow, as I said, good job on this video. It's a thumbs up from me!! :)
I don't usually comment on videos but this film intrigued me so much that I watched it fully focused and I didn't even realized that it went so quickly! A huge congratulations to the author
art deco designs are so interesting.i am verynfond of the colours as well, pink rose creamy yellow sesfoam greens, peach shades with fawn snd beige etc Thank you
When I think of Art Deco I immediately think of Josephine Baker, she was an amazing Black American dancer well known in Paris, France as well as other parts of Europe even though she was born in America. Her most famous performance was the infamous 'banana dance' she performed onstage in Paris. She will be forever etched in time as being one of the most outstanding performers of the Art Deco period. RIP Josephine Baker.
As a non American, i always find it interesting how Americans always put the country after the name of the city. "Paris, France". Other English speakers outside of America would just say "Paris". It's very doubtful that you'd be speaking about anywhere else but the one in France.
@@zeddeka ...Beg to differ, we have Paris, Michigan in America. We also have Paris, Texas in America and the list goes on to be exact we have 22 cities in America named Paris.
@@zeddeka Most US states have many cities or towns named after the great cities of the world, as well as municipalities of all sizes that were commonly where the colonist/immigrant who named the place came from. For example, there are 16 cities named Athens* in the US (as well as one in Canada), and 23 named Manchester* in the US (and one in Jamaica). To prevent confusion, we developed the habit of automatically including enough information to accurately identify the place we're mentioning. "Other English speakers outside of America" live in more limited geographic contexts. *Figures per Wikivoyage.
Continued... Descriptions were spot-on. If you're interested in fsshion check out Erte, the best designer of the period. I was honored to meet him when he was 90. Love your channel! Shows your interests in all aspects of the period.
One point that is worth making is that if you had used the name "Art Deco" in the 1920s, nobody would have known what you were talking about. The phrase was first coined retrospectively in the 1960's. During the time when the style was actually in use, it was usually called "l' Art Moderne"
It came from the term Arts Décoratifs in 1925 in France at the art exhibition. Art Deco is just a shorted phrase of that. But yes, Art Moderne or Streamline Moderne is also what was common tongue in the 20s and 30s
@@pbower4378 I know where it came from but the term "art deco" was not actually used before 1966 when it was used by the art historian, Bevis Hillier, as the title of an exhibition on the subject at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris ("Les Années 25 : Art déco, Bauhaus, Stijl, Esprit nouveau") The term was later used by Hillier as the title of a book published by Studio Vista in 1968 and the phrase only became popularly known as such after this date. Before that it had only been used by Le Corbusier with an s (Expo: Arts Deco) as shorthand for the exhibition itself rather than the style.
What I find interesting about Art Deco is the degree to which it almost came out of nowhere and intensely permeated architecture...especially in New York. It was almost as though “everyone” was doing it...and doing it quite well...even at the scale of large civil engineering projects such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam and...one of my favorites...The Lincoln Tunnel and it’s magnificent ventilation towers. There was so much design talent out there that had totally absorbed the style, not to mention craftsmen and fabricators of everything from brick to metalwork to glass and cabinetry. When some post-modern architects tried to emulate the style in the 1980s, the magic was gone. There was a decorative arts sensibility that couldn’t be reanimated 50 years later. It really belonged to a 20 year (1920 - 1940) period and lost through the colossal cultural upheavals of WW2.
This channel is absolutely amazing. I've loved this stuff ever since I was a kid. How wonderful to see others interested as well and loving it as much as myself. Many thank and the very best to you💜💜
Love the Art Deco period from Erte to Maxfield Parrish and all the rest. it was an incredible time that seems lost at this point. thanks for looking at it with wonder
Chrysler building my favourite building. You forgot the Normandie, what a beautiful ship with a tragic unnecessary ending. The dinning room doors I believe are in the MOMA.
I was born and raised in Queens N.Y. In my travels and when working in the city, (Manhattan) I was always awe struck by the Art Deco architecture in different parts of the city. And not just the facades but extending to the interior as well. Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, visually and emotionally stimulating works of art. Impressive to say the least.
Great production. Really enjoyed what you put forward here. One important detail of early Deco interiors that is forgotten, is the love of nature and tribal patterns. This is quite the opposite of what the everyday person's take on it since we are all pretty much trained by the repetitive playing of old Hollywood movies that produced there own take on it. Hollywood Art Deco was more simplified, clean, and mechanical in a very elegant way, so different from the original that designers coined a new term for it "Hollywood Regency" Just one good example of the old style is the "Waterfall" furniture. They use the striping of wood grains to create patterns mixed with blocking of contrasting natural colors. Something till this time was unheard of nor ever seen. I guess you can tell...i love everything Art Deco ! Thanks for creating ❣
Someone asked me to use an "art deco" style for a digital painting assignment and I've never actually studied art deco. This video was a very helpful starting point. Well done, succinct and easy to understand.
Well, for someone who purports not to be an art deco expert, you certainly did an excellent job with this video. Very good images, script, and narrative. May I also point out the deco influence in the Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, the 1934 Chicago World's Fair, the 1939 NY World's Fair. Anyway, just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your video - and don't forget the Neo-Deco movement of the 1980s.
Art deco is the birth of minimalism and it drew its inspiration from The archaeology and the discoveries of Carter in egypt and many people like him. A very good video and you have done some excellent research.
Huge Art Deco fan here! I really believe not enough is said regarding the music from that time period also influencing the popularity and appeal of the style. I think the music played a huge role in Art Deco’s massive popularity. It’s really the backbone of the entire aesthetic, imo.
Art Deco my favourite architecture style period. Games like Bioshock and fictional cities like Gotham made me fall in love with Art Deco. Now I own $600 worth of Art Deco antiques and furniture hahaha. I love Art Deco!
I appreciate the affinity and respect that you have for this nostalgic era. You did a great job with this video. I really enjoy art deco as well as many other aspects of the early 20th century. Thank you for your work.
You did a great job on this...one thing to note the Chrysler building top was to represent stylized hubcaps in the Art Deco form. That makes it more impressive that they put that thought into the design.
Thank you for the video. Art Deco is my favorite style. The Chrysler Building my favorite structure. I also share a birthday with it , not the year but the date. My guest room at home is done in the style with lots of NYC pics, many of the Chrysler Building
I think this is my fav video of yours. I'd love to see another video of this aspect. Perhaps a video focused specifically art deco in architecture and what examples do or don't still exist today. If no longer exist what happened to them? Or maybe examples of art deco in silent moving pictures. It's seen everywhere in 1930s talkies. Much much more often than in the 20s films. And why is that? Just throwing some stuff out there. Love your channel btw. For me, your channel sets the standard for UA-cam channels 💜
The movie "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge" saw parts of it filmed inside the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City MO. It's a fabulous example of Art Deco, and I had the privilege of working across the street on the day of filming. It's definitely worth a visit!
Thank you for this interesting video. A very neat topic, and you did a good job! I have done a lot of 1920s music in my live performances over the years. And, I still do these songs in my recordings and broadcasts that I make now, during pandemic times. There is something very wonderful about this decade. I have lived in many 1920s apartments. Everything, from chandeliers to light switch covers and drawer pulls, reflects a heightened sense of aesthetic, which was present in the 1920s . Liked, shared and subscribed. :-)
You did am amazing job here. Your honest reaction was spot on and very touching. You revealed the truth about Art Deco without pretense. Thank you for explaining and showing the beauty.
Excellent video. Would be great if you would do a follow-up on the influence of Art Deco in works of fiction like Bioshock, Batman/Superman The Animated Series, A Cure for Wellness, etc.
I heard that part of what drove art deco was the advent of the Great Depression. The inexpensive geometric design aspect of art deco became preferable to ornate sculpting. BTW great video. I much prefer the view of someone who actually appreciates the art form over some pretentious, artsy fartsy reviewer.
as a furniture maker I imitated art deco in ways. Art deco is also a reflection of Industrial design . early moulding in the first plastics (Bacolite ) It is easily moulded and shaped in Metal ,wood ,glass etc.
Two things, 1) I have the radio that is featured in the 1929 add for Allied Radio in my living room. 2) The pinnacle of Art Deco architecture is the Chicago Board of Trade building completed in 1929 before the crash. It was the last Art Deco sky scraper built. I had worked in that building and never tired of the Art Deco styling.
I live like in the 1920s. Fashion, music, movies, interior... Everything (ok, accept a car from the 1920s). I love this lifestyle since I was a little girl. Thank you for your video, absolutely great!
The city of Leavenworth Kansas has a working artdeco theater. It was refurbished to its original 1920 style in the early 2oth century. The local arts and community theater now use the building. Inside, on the second floor is where the lounge is. That's where it all comes together in style! It's even said to have had some super natural history too!
Thank you very much for your really good documentary! A fine research, which shows us Europeans the impact of Art Deco to the American lifestyle. (I've never seen the interior of the Chrysler Building!) VERY GOOD JOB!👍💐🏅🏆🎉🎊😃❣️
This is so helpful, I can't express it in words! I've been wanting to find out how to decorate for my 1920s style dinner party and this is the video I needed!
There is a huge art deco revival in New York's new skyscrapers. One in Brooklyn being built now, and a few in Manhattan. They're starting to abandon the glass buildings and going back to art deco form and materials. I'm so excited!
Architecture from the early 1900s till about 1930 truly was something else. It was so beautiful and looked such.. ALIVE. It was creative. It's really unfortunate that no one today would be able to even compare to the architecture back then. In Nebraska, I went through an old town that had a bunch of buildings from the 1920s. They looked so lively and beautiful. It saddens me that now we use boring colors and every work building/ office or hotel is just a rectangle, or they'll maybe get a little more 'creative' and add another rectangle.
Cool video. I think what makes Art Deco attractive is that in addition to being stylish it's also optimistic. The future doesn't have to be all dark and pessimistic; it can be cool and sleek. Art Deco was a celebration of the modern age. If you ever get a chance to visit Hoover Dam, check out the memorial sculpture next to the parking area. There is a marble slab with a tribute to the engineers who built the dam flanked by two of those really stylized Art Deco angel figures with their wings held vertically, and on the ground in stone is a circle that represents the precession of the earth's axis in space over the next 26,000 years, measured out by the surveyors. You can see it on google maps street view. I found it very moving as it showed an optimism that science and reason can lead to a better future, and ever since I've found Art Deco to be inspiring.
Nice video - great job! I see in a number of comments, "Let's bring back Art Deco", let's, but if we bring it back without the quality and craftsmanship inherent in Deco , it will just be Modern Disappointment.
I absolutely love the Art Deco style! I stayed at a hotel in Columbus, Ohio about thirty years ago that was Art Deco inside. I am sorry that I can’t recall the Hotel’s name today, but it was elegant and quite beautiful! Somehow it took me back to the more formal styles of the 1940’s in dress and taste.
To me, Art-Deco still screams "new" or "futuristic" to me, even outside of the 1920's context. It feels very functional but not in a soulless way.
Art Deco is so elegant and smooth.
Art Deco and gothic style always put my mind at ease.
There is in Art Deco a synthesis of elements that are intrinsically pleasing to the human eye and spirit. Its curves and angles, sleekness and opulence, vivid colors paired with the shine of metals and transparency of glass appeal to the imagination and the senses. Art Deco is a visual confection.
I'm not much of a fan of art but when it comes to anything Art Deco it makes me stop and admire it. Like your comment.
Art Deco is visually pleasing but it was used in some cases to substitute style for quality. I can tell you that the quality of American furniture degraded overall in the Art Deco period with veneers replacing solid wood furniture. Thin slices of expensive wood can be arranged in an interesting design while the wood beneath is of a cheap, inferior quality. The "sleek" Art Deco design of buildings also meant cheaper construction costs because "sleek" can be construed as "uncomplicated" and easy to construct. Compare the intricate detail of a Medieval cathedral with a "sleek" modern high rise that is devoid of detail. Overall, less ornamental detail = cheaper construction costs. You see that trend in a lot of Art Deco architecture. Fine art merged with business needs in the late 19th Century to produce Art Nouveau, a prototype of graphic ats. That part of the History of Art became a harlot of Capitalism intended to persuade people to buy what they would not otherwise buy. Art Deco continued that tradition of art prostituting itself to business but not just in advertisement but in the design of the products that the advertisements were selling as well. ... jkulik919@gmail.com
Seems like in the past they paid more attention to aesthetics. Now almost everything looks utilitarian.
Beautiful comment.
💖🌝💐💎🏆
visual confection. perfect.
As a former NYC tour guide, I really admire your appreciation for Art Deco. Besides the Chrysler Building, I would also suggest checking out the General Electric Building, the Fred F. French Building, and the Fuller Building, which are all lesser known- but equally as magnificent- Art Deco masterpieces (assuming you weren't already aware of them.) Also, the two spires atop the Waldorf Astoria Hotel are assumed to be directly influenced by the architecture in the film, Metropolis. The stainless steel, winged, zeppelin mooring mast atop the Empire State Building is an often overlooked Art Deco detail as well. And then there's the paintings and sculptures that adorn the Rockefeller Center buildings. (Nit-picky note: The photo of the building under construction at 4:52 in your video is actually the Woolworth Building completed in 1913. It pre-dates Art Deco with its Neo-Gothic edifice, and held the title of the world's tallest habitable structure until the Chrysler Building succeeded it about 17 years later.) Anyway, nice job!
Thanks for that. As a Canadian I wasn't aware of some of the buildings you listed. I'm off to google the lot!
I think the General Electric Building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, he added his own twist to Art Deco.
@@gregmilliken5538 No. GE building was first 'RCA Victor' during construction, and is 1931 by Cross and Cross architects. There is only one FLW highrise in existence, in BARTLESVILLE, Oklahoma.
Art Deco was the height of design style. We've gone downhill ever since.
Disclaimer: I'm a fan of pretty much all movements since, but none of them compares.
I feel the same, although I see Art Deco’s precursor Art Nouveau as the birth of this true height of design. No other art style compares. That is for certain.
I love Art Nouveau and Art Deco. When we compare them with the styles of today; the simply appalling architecture being designed....society has become visually bland.
that's right
Googie was fun but deco speaks to your soul
@@danialhowe9814 the funny cousin of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne
I think I fell in love with art deco because I really like geometric shapes and this style captures them so elegantly
A lot of old Hollywood theatres were built in art deco style and had names like "The Egyptian", etc.
The Chinese Theather.
This trait is due to the fact King Tut's tomb was discovered in 1920.
@ Gloria Hanes. I was going to say the same except 1922. In the Valley of the Kings, King Guy's tomb was undisturbed a sensational find. -Virginia
Similar thing for San Antonio with the Aztec and Majestic, more so the former
@@gloriahanes6490 explain the connection
LET'S BRING BACK ART DECO. ITS THE 20'S AGAIN ANYWAY. 🥰
Yes, i think the same
Yep, bring back the 20's art
...
...like Biedermeier, or Rococo, or Baroque, or Mannerism 😄
Hell yeah.
Very astute observation , Ol' Chap !
Yes, I will start on my bedroom make-over
I love Art Deco as well as Art Nouveau with its curves, arches and sleek style as well as spikes. There was an Art Deco cinema near where we lived that was torn down for a block of flats. It's hideous. The cinema was a little jewel box. It broke my heart.
u live in the hague?
The jackboots of greed....
i like Art Deco so much, my master is entitled "Art Deco and its impact on interior design",,,this style is the best
Mina Emad So cool! What are you studying?
Olinda Torres probably architecture
Agreed
@@macoli6493 thanks, i'm studying interior design (interior architecture) but i like anything related to art and design
@@brookuth2212 yeah, interior design (interior architecture) but my master discussed the relation between all kinds of art in Art Deco
For somebody who made a point of telling us he is not an "expert", the narrator did an excellent job at analyzing the Art Deco style. His background info was accurate and well explained - but most of all I am impressed by the narrator's personal interpretations of the style - he shows great perceptiveness and sensitivity to this period style.
The Batman cartoon in the 90s made me love this style
Well see!
Same here lol
I would love to live in Tim Burton’s Gotham.
It was beautifully illustrated.
I don't think Art Deco went out of style. It got eclipsed by the war, and after the war there was a new world to design and rebuild, with different needs and desires.
Excellent vid but. Call y'self an amateur but this is well researched and depicted and delivered.
Well by the mid 1930s art deco was already morphing into something new, the streamlined modernist aesthetic. By the 1940s streamline had pretty much taken full hold. It was far less angular, featuring rounded curves and often a sort of stretched out and skewed look to give the appearance of speed. Look at the Duchess of Hamilton train, or the 1948 Buick Streamliner car, or the Blytheville Greyhound Bus Station, to see what I mean. You can see how that curvy, futuristic, look morphed later on into the googie aesthetic in the 1950s (many today would call it "retro-futuristic" if they didn't know the name was googie) which by that point was quite far removed from art deco. Googie was thought to be a bit too kitsch after a while, so a tamer modernist style and brutalist style became dominant in architecture and decor from then on.
@@LaylaVaughan Very interesting. Never heard of 'googie ' before. I get what you're saying. I have Pic of a tram in Wellington nz 1960 and looks very retrofuturistic. Tram could be late 40s 50s. I know art deco is a variety of styles and I see now how that changed through the 40s as well.
Thanks for the thoughtful and helpful reply.
@@LaylaVaughan I looked it up. "Googie". I geddit. Makes sense. I've long thought of it as 'space age' or 'American futurism'. Now I understand it's got its own name. Thanks.
@@markcarey8426 Yeah, art deco, streamline moderne, and googie all were very forward looking styles. Googie is pretty disconnected aesthetically despite being a natural extension of streamline moderne. But that makes sense, art deco and streamline were all about progress, especially, technological progress and industry. With the advent of the atomic age in the 1950s, the possibilities of science and technology seemed endless. There was talk of one day making it to outer space. UFOs were fresh in the popular imagination. The newfangled atomic power seemed to have great potential. So, the googie style was a natural reflection of that quantum leap in technological progress just as streamline moderne's sheared curves reflected the increased speed of cars and trains.
Anyway, sorry for rambling, I just love these styles! They encapsulate periods of social and technological change and hope while remaining utitilitarian. Later styles just feel either boringly utilitiarian or just odd for the sake of being odd (postmodern) and feel disconnected from anything meaningful that I connect with.
@@LaylaVaughan Great ramble. You make good observations. Love the comment about " even one day go to outer space". I see the continuity now. Didn't actually get stopped by the war, morphed. Though the optimism of speed and machinery did come with some sub clauses after the use of 'speed and machinery" during that war. But then space and atomic power were the next bright spots on the horizon. And then of course you don't want to get too close to some of those 'bright spots'.
I agree about some postmodernism style. A lot of it seems more like playing with engineering.
Art Deco makes me think streamline, sleek, yet elegant.
Brilliant style
Streamline is more part of the International style than it is Art Deco.
Streamline is an american style derived from Art Deco.
@@agomodern streamline moderne was popular in the US during the 30s and 40s. It stemmed from Art Deco/Art Moderne
The 1920s is, in my opinion the most fascinating time in American, and European history. The movie Metropolis is somehow prophetic of the political trends of Germany a decade later. I love your videos. They are crisp and full of information and I think, very accurate. Keep up the good work from a new subscriber.
Not prophetic, but propaganda to shape opinion towards art deco and away from the rural social view. It was to change the country from conservative rural toward city view.
I love art deco. Some years back, I inherited a diamond wedding ring. Since I am no longer married, I had it remounted into a custom art deco mounting. The diamonds look like long rectangles side by side in varying lengths. It turned out really nice.
That sounds really nice! 👍👍
to me ART DECO stands out for one reason only - it is TIMELESS!
There are many design aesthetics I appreciate, but Art Nouveau and Art Deco evoke unique feelings: Excitement, splendor, grandeur - and as you mentioned, sophistication and elegance. Those two design styles are usually associated with cities and wealth - which I believe is why Art Deco is so enthralling.
Many design styles of preceding decades are associated with nobility - but Art Deco was accessible to aspiring sophisticates. Step into a Deco theater and you immediately feel as though you’re swept up in something separate from the ordinary ...you feel special and elevated and immediately refined. What other design can do that for someone? None I can think of!!!
Egyptian influence due to the discovery in the early 1920's of the undisturbed tomb of the young King Tut. Virginia
I always loved movies from the 1920's and 30's, sometimes not for the storylines, but for the set decors and the fashions. I have a "fantasy/daydream" of winning the lottery and building and furnishing a house in the art deco style. Oh well, we can all dream, right?
I HAVE THE SAME DREAM.👍
Nouveau styles evolved into the Deco styles during depression era years. You can see them blended together in a lot of the architecture of that era. 🌻
I want art deco inside of a castle/chateau. So I can have both. If I'm lucky I'll do it separately. 🎶Dream on Dream until your dreams come true. 🎶
I love the speaker's humility and enthusiasm! There is a refreshing honesty in a world with too little of it. And I find every one of this channel's programs fascinating! Thank you!
You are a natural art historian. I love your enthusiasm, and I, too, am an admirer of Art Deco. There is so much to explore in that design period! Thank you for sharing your insights and keep up the good work.
Great video. I love hearing other people's takes on art deco. I've been really captivated by this lately.
yes,the same here,,my master is about Art Deco, and it's interesting to hear how other people are seeing it
Art deco is making a comeback. I saw an exhibit of early art deco pieces from the actual exhibition. It was shockingly futuristic but as you say, drawing on all the elements, forms and artisanal skill of earlier styles.
Im somewhat of an artsy-farts guy & have always been intrigued by Art Deco. I find myself now starting to research it’s history and style and am constantly amazed at the intricacy of some designs in these buildings all over the country & world. Thanks! You did an awesome job!!!
I loved this, thanks! A tip for all fans of the Marx Brothers' movie "Duck Soup" from 1933: The long scene in the expensive mansion (which includes the famous mirror sequence) contains a truly remarkable Art Deco set. In fact, nearly the whole movie is in Art Deco style. It's well worth rewatching!
Well, Kiddo, you did a good job researching for this video. I love art deco and art nouveau EVERYTHING. Buildings, clothes, the fabulous jewellery of those times. The Chrysler Building is amazing, but I also love the Woolworth Building in New York. When it was an office, it was PERFECTION. Absolutely stunning!! Of course, buildings of that nature seem to not be able to carry their own weight, as it were, and many are turned into condos and apartments. But the Woolworth Building in its heyday was really the best of its time and a total work of art. (There are Gothic elements to the building, mostly outside, but the interiors were beyond the beyonds!!) Such a shame these buildings cannot stay as they were. Anyhow, as I said, good job on this video. It's a thumbs up from me!! :)
Both the Chrysler and the Woolworth Building were the tallest in the world when they were built.
I don't usually comment on videos but this film intrigued me so much that I watched it fully focused and I didn't even realized that it went so quickly! A huge congratulations to the author
art deco designs are so interesting.i am verynfond of the colours as well, pink rose creamy yellow sesfoam greens, peach shades with fawn snd beige etc Thank you
When I think of Art Deco I immediately think of Josephine Baker, she was an amazing Black American dancer well known in Paris, France as well as other parts of Europe even though she was born in America. Her most famous performance was the infamous 'banana dance' she performed onstage in Paris. She will be forever etched in time as being one of the most outstanding performers of the Art Deco period. RIP Josephine Baker.
As a non American, i always find it interesting how Americans always put the country after the name of the city. "Paris, France". Other English speakers outside of America would just say "Paris". It's very doubtful that you'd be speaking about anywhere else but the one in France.
@@zeddeka ...Beg to differ, we have Paris, Michigan in America. We also have Paris, Texas in America and the list goes on to be exact we have 22 cities in America named Paris.
Ms Baker should also be remembered for her tireless love & care for children forced to exist
in a landscape of war & poverty. She adopted 12 kids...
@@zeddeka Most US states have many cities or towns named after the great cities of the world, as well as municipalities of all sizes that were commonly where the colonist/immigrant who named the place came from. For example, there are 16 cities named Athens* in the US (as well as one in Canada), and 23 named Manchester* in the US (and one in Jamaica). To prevent confusion, we developed the habit of automatically including enough information to accurately identify the place we're mentioning. "Other English speakers outside of America" live in more limited geographic contexts.
*Figures per Wikivoyage.
If you can find a copy of lost horizons about the hidden valley in the Himalayas called Shrangli La the building there was exquisite Art Deco.
Excellent video! I fell in love with Art Deco in the 1970's revival (best thing about the 70's!). Your descriptions of the geometry and
Continued...
Descriptions were spot-on.
If you're interested in fsshion check out Erte, the best designer of the period. I was honored to meet him when he was 90.
Love your channel! Shows your interests in all aspects of the period.
One point that is worth making is that if you had used the name "Art Deco" in the 1920s, nobody would have known what you were talking about. The phrase was first coined retrospectively in the 1960's. During the time when the style was actually in use, it was usually called "l' Art Moderne"
It came from the term Arts Décoratifs in 1925 in France at the art exhibition. Art Deco is just a shorted phrase of that. But yes, Art Moderne or Streamline Moderne is also what was common tongue in the 20s and 30s
@@pbower4378 I know where it came from but the term "art deco" was not actually used before 1966 when it was used by the art historian, Bevis Hillier, as the title of an exhibition on the subject at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris ("Les Années 25 : Art déco, Bauhaus, Stijl, Esprit nouveau") The term was later used by Hillier as the title of a book published by Studio Vista in 1968 and the phrase only became popularly known as such after this date.
Before that it had only been used by Le Corbusier with an s (Expo: Arts Deco) as shorthand for the exhibition itself rather than the style.
You have quite an interesting take on art Deco. The video was well done. Thank you
I absolutely enjoyed your video. A nice way to spend 8 minutes and get my mind onto something I also like, the 20s, and art deco. 😊
I enjoy all styles of art, but you did a great job and displayed some incredible pieces of art deco!
Thanks!
What I find interesting about Art Deco is the degree to which it almost came out of nowhere and intensely permeated architecture...especially in New York. It was almost as though “everyone” was doing it...and doing it quite well...even at the scale of large civil engineering projects such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam and...one of my favorites...The Lincoln Tunnel and it’s magnificent ventilation towers. There was so much design talent out there that had totally absorbed the style, not to mention craftsmen and fabricators of everything from brick to metalwork to glass and cabinetry.
When some post-modern architects tried to emulate the style in the 1980s, the magic was gone. There was a decorative arts sensibility that couldn’t be reanimated 50 years later. It really belonged to a 20 year (1920 - 1940) period and lost through the colossal cultural upheavals of WW2.
This channel is absolutely amazing. I've loved this stuff ever since I was a kid. How wonderful to see others interested as well and loving it as much as myself.
Many thank and the very best to you💜💜
Thanks so much. I'm glad you enjoy my videos!
Love the Art Deco period from Erte to Maxfield Parrish and all the rest. it was an incredible time that seems lost at this point. thanks for looking at it with wonder
Chrysler building my favourite building. You forgot the Normandie, what a beautiful ship with a tragic unnecessary ending. The dinning room doors I believe are in the MOMA.
Very nice video on such a stunning period but I must comment that Art Deco has never faded ,it continues to be reflected in current art and styles.
Nice overview for many of the newer generation knowing little about this iconic chic style. Thank you for posting! 🎬
Glad you liked it :)
@@The1920sChannel there was a European version called Euro deco
mainly posters
the guy with the top hat in the monopoly game is Euro deco
I think your interest in this beautiful and fascinating period of design is refreshing! Well done sir.
4:54 That’s actually the neo gothic Woolworth Building under construction, not the Chrysler!
Well spotted !
In the world of video games
*Art Deco = Bioshock*
and to some extent = Dishonored 1 + 2
Close to the sun also
@@tropicalhorizongaming5459 Yes, I didn't know about it before.
@@beedykh2235 all those games are unique in that way, not many ones tend to go for the art deco-
Oh yeah and prey(2017)
Prey (2017) is also art deco, but even better because it is in space 😏
That makes me wish for "decopunk" games. Like cyberpunk, but with art deco aesthetics instead of 80s.
I was born and raised in Queens N.Y. In my travels and when working in the city, (Manhattan) I was always awe struck by the Art Deco architecture in different parts of the city. And not just the facades but extending to the interior as well. Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, visually and emotionally stimulating works of art. Impressive to say the least.
When I was a kid I used to love seeing the Deco building lobbies in Chicago's downtown. Thanks for an interesting video.
A fresh view of one of the best art styles of the 20th century. Most excellent!
Very good video. Nice of you to say that you are not an expert, that is honesty I miss all too often on the internet.
Great production. Really enjoyed what you put forward here. One important detail of early Deco interiors that is forgotten, is the love of nature and tribal patterns. This is quite the opposite of what the everyday person's take on it since we are all pretty much trained by the repetitive playing of old Hollywood movies that produced there own take on it. Hollywood Art Deco was more simplified, clean, and mechanical in a very elegant way, so different from the original that designers coined a new term for it "Hollywood Regency" Just one good example of the old style is the "Waterfall" furniture. They use the striping of wood grains to create patterns mixed with blocking of contrasting natural colors. Something till this time was unheard of nor ever seen. I guess you can tell...i love everything Art Deco ! Thanks for creating ❣
Just found your vlogs and there Awesome! Nice work
Someone asked me to use an "art deco" style for a digital painting assignment and I've never actually studied art deco. This video was a very helpful starting point. Well done, succinct and easy to understand.
"actually"
@@jamesmcinnis208 what does that mean James
@@AladdinLeeGrantRutledgeCollar You've never studied Art Deco. What is the meaning of "actually"?
@@jamesmcinnis208 It feels like kind of a gaping hole in my art education
@@jamesmcinnis208I intended the word for emphasis, but I can see how you'd be confused without more context about me.
Well, for someone who purports not to be an art deco expert, you certainly did an excellent job with this video. Very good images, script, and narrative. May I also point out the deco influence in the Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, the 1934 Chicago World's Fair, the 1939 NY World's Fair. Anyway, just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your video - and don't forget the Neo-Deco movement of the 1980s.
Love to see a video specifically on Art Deco home decor, like wallpaper, furniture, etc... You're video was awesome!
Art deco is the birth of minimalism and it drew its inspiration from The archaeology and the discoveries of Carter in egypt and many people like him. A very good video and you have done some excellent research.
Huge Art Deco fan here! I really believe not enough is said regarding the music from that time period also influencing the popularity and appeal of the style. I think the music played a huge role in Art Deco’s massive popularity. It’s really the backbone of the entire aesthetic, imo.
Special recognition for using Bix Beiderbecke as your background music!
Wow! For someone new to art & design, you did a great job!!
Thorough, insightful, and observant …… you have the “eye”! Keep up the fine work!
Your enthusiasm for presenting Art Deco added to the telling of the story. Thank you
Art Deco my favourite architecture style period. Games like Bioshock and fictional cities like Gotham made me fall in love with Art Deco. Now I own $600 worth of Art Deco antiques and furniture hahaha. I love Art Deco!
I appreciate the affinity and respect that you have for this nostalgic era. You did a great job with this video. I really enjoy art deco as well as many other aspects of the early 20th century. Thank you for your work.
You did a great job on this...one thing to note the Chrysler building top was to represent stylized hubcaps in the Art Deco form. That makes it more impressive that they put that thought into the design.
I am thinking from time to time, how can I live in that time again.
Thank you for the video. Art Deco is my favorite style. The Chrysler Building my favorite structure. I also share a birthday with it , not the year but the date. My guest room at home is done in the style with lots of NYC pics, many of the Chrysler Building
I think this is my fav video of yours. I'd love to see another video of this aspect. Perhaps a video focused specifically art deco in architecture and what examples do or don't still exist today. If no longer exist what happened to them?
Or maybe examples of art deco in silent moving pictures. It's seen everywhere in 1930s talkies. Much much more often than in the 20s films. And why is that?
Just throwing some stuff out there. Love your channel btw. For me, your channel sets the standard for UA-cam channels 💜
Thumbs up for your modest humble introduction so refreshing!! Great doco you have made.
Your post is so well done both visually and narratively. You don't need to offer any disclaimers on your behalf! Wonderful presentation all around.
Great video--and I love the background music you chose. The syncopated rhythms of 1920's big band jazz really suits the Art Deco aesthetic!
I love everything about art deco. I loved this video it gave it to us in a nutshell.
Very enjoyable. When I renovated my apartment I added deco 5 stepped skirting boards and architraves. I never get bored with it
The movie "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge" saw parts of it filmed inside the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City MO. It's a fabulous example of Art Deco, and I had the privilege of working across the street on the day of filming. It's definitely worth a visit!
Thank you for this interesting video. A very neat topic, and you did a good job! I have done a lot of 1920s music in my live performances over the years. And, I still do these songs in my recordings and broadcasts that I make now, during pandemic times. There is something very wonderful about this decade. I have lived in many 1920s apartments. Everything, from chandeliers to light switch covers and drawer pulls, reflects a heightened sense of aesthetic, which was present in the 1920s . Liked, shared and subscribed. :-)
Aloha, thank you for this beautiful and informative video. Very well presented.
You did am amazing job here. Your honest reaction was spot on and very touching. You revealed the truth about Art Deco without pretense. Thank you for explaining and showing the beauty.
Excellent video. Would be great if you would do a follow-up on the influence of Art Deco in works of fiction like Bioshock, Batman/Superman The Animated Series, A Cure for Wellness, etc.
Agreed.
I heard that part of what drove art deco was the advent of the Great Depression. The inexpensive geometric design aspect of art deco became preferable to ornate sculpting. BTW great video. I much prefer the view of someone who actually appreciates the art form over some pretentious, artsy fartsy reviewer.
as a furniture maker I imitated art deco in ways. Art deco is also a reflection of Industrial design . early moulding in the first plastics (Bacolite ) It is easily moulded and shaped in Metal ,wood ,glass etc.
Two things, 1) I have the radio that is featured in the 1929 add for Allied Radio in my living room. 2) The pinnacle of Art Deco architecture is the Chicago Board of Trade building completed in 1929 before the crash. It was the last Art Deco sky scraper built. I had worked in that building and never tired of the Art Deco styling.
You have a good eye. I've always loved art deco and I agree with your assessments.
My most favorite form of art and architecture, it's timeless and and beautiful.
Thank you for making this. You have a wonderful speaking voice! I wish you the best in your video ventures. 💕
Thank you so much!
I live like in the 1920s. Fashion, music, movies, interior... Everything (ok, accept a car from the 1920s). I love this lifestyle since I was a little girl. Thank you for your video, absolutely great!
Very well and nicely presented with really good illustrations
Thanks for more great content, I really dig your work!
Thanks for watching!
The bioshock game got me into Art Deco
Love your narration, so elegant and informative!!
The city of Leavenworth Kansas has a working artdeco theater. It was refurbished to its original 1920 style in the early 2oth century.
The local arts and community theater now use the building. Inside, on the second floor is where the lounge is. That's where it all comes together in style! It's even said to have had some super natural history too!
Thank you very much for your really good documentary! A fine research, which shows us Europeans the impact of Art Deco to the American lifestyle.
(I've never seen the interior of the Chrysler Building!)
VERY GOOD JOB!👍💐🏅🏆🎉🎊😃❣️
i think you have quite a keen observation and it's well described. i say this a good work.
This is so helpful, I can't express it in words! I've been wanting to find out how to decorate for my 1920s style dinner party and this is the video I needed!
I love this style. Really fascinating.
Thank you very much for great research. You show other people that there are limitless interesting things around us to dig.
Great video and education. I just love learning about Art Deco!!! Something I m very passionate about. Thanks for sharing.
There is a huge art deco revival in New York's new skyscrapers. One in Brooklyn being built now, and a few in Manhattan. They're starting to abandon the glass buildings and going back to art deco form and materials. I'm so excited!
Architecture from the early 1900s till about 1930 truly was something else. It was so beautiful and looked such.. ALIVE. It was creative. It's really unfortunate that no one today would be able to even compare to the architecture back then. In Nebraska, I went through an old town that had a bunch of buildings from the 1920s. They looked so lively and beautiful. It saddens me that now we use boring colors and every work building/ office or hotel is just a rectangle, or they'll maybe get a little more 'creative' and add another rectangle.
Gotta hand it to you: Great video! ✨
I love Deco, as well as your channel!
Cool video. I think what makes Art Deco attractive is that in addition to being stylish it's also optimistic. The future doesn't have to be all dark and pessimistic; it can be cool and sleek. Art Deco was a celebration of the modern age. If you ever get a chance to visit Hoover Dam, check out the memorial sculpture next to the parking area. There is a marble slab with a tribute to the engineers who built the dam flanked by two of those really stylized Art Deco angel figures with their wings held vertically, and on the ground in stone is a circle that represents the precession of the earth's axis in space over the next 26,000 years, measured out by the surveyors. You can see it on google maps street view. I found it very moving as it showed an optimism that science and reason can lead to a better future, and ever since I've found Art Deco to be inspiring.
Great job!!!!! Terrific observations!!!
Nice video - great job! I see in a number of comments, "Let's bring back Art Deco", let's, but if we bring it back without the quality and craftsmanship inherent in Deco , it will just be Modern Disappointment.
I absolutely love the Art Deco style! I stayed at a hotel in Columbus, Ohio about thirty years ago that was Art Deco inside. I am sorry that I can’t recall the Hotel’s name today, but it was elegant and quite beautiful! Somehow it took me back to the more formal styles of the 1940’s in dress and taste.