Emerging in France in the years leading up to the First World War, Art Deco is an artistic style that was to have profound effects on visual arts, design, fashion and architecture of the period. The name art deco was coined from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a Paris exhibition held in 1925. Oozing modernity and luxury, the style influenced the design of planes, ocean liners, trains and automobiles, fashion, jewellery and every day items such as wirelesses and furniture. The angular and linear characteristics of Art Deco were a potent response to the softer natural forms of art nouveaux, a decorative style that preceded Art Deco
Many examples of Art Deco architecture survive in London today and some prime specimens are seen in the postcard above. Moving from the top left of the postcard in a clockwise direction we have the Daily Telegraph building, the OXO Building, Battersea Power Station, the Hoover Building, Broadcasting House and the opulent Eltham Palace. There are many other examples of Art Deco architecture in London - not just buildings, but decoration, such as the famous Eric Gill sculptures adorning London Transport's former HQ above St James's Park tube station, a short walk away from Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace.
The Victoria & Albert Museum houses an extensive collection of Art Deco objects, many of which are on permanent display. The V&A, as it is fondly known, is the world's largest museum of decorative and applied art, holding well over 2 million exhibits. Expect to see Art Deco-inspired examples of printmaking, ceramics and glass, home wares and fashion. Here are works from such famous names as Lalique, Frank Lloyd Wright and Clarice Cliff as well as a host of instantly recognisable design classics, such as Bakelite radios and other goods which brought the style within reach of the man or woman in the street. The museum is located on Cromwell Road, South Kensington and periodically hosts special events on themes connected to Art Deco.
The Tate Modern houses a vast collection of modern art, much of which has its roots in art deco or has had an influence on Art Deco - such as Cubism (Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque) and Bauhaus (e.g. Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee). Not only great pieces of Art Deco inspired art within, the architectural design of the building itself is influenced by art deco and modernism.
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