Art Déco : Valentine's Day

I got out of school relatively early on Valentine's Day so I visited an exposition I had been wanting to see - 1925, quand l'Art Déco séduit le monde (when Art Deco seduced the world). I like Art Deco and it was also a chance to visit a place I hadn't yet seen - La Cité de l'Architecture & du Patrimoine. They stay open until 19h (which is great), I had a good bike ride up there, and it was a great visit.

This was a great poster in the hallway to the expo. I love it when speed is drawn. This Renault must be going 500 km/h. This lithograph was printed by J. de Bas Minot and the car is a 1925 model.

There were several models (which I always like) and this was also in the hallway outside the expo. I though this little building is a perfect summation of Art Déco. Probably fitting to be displayed before entering the exposition.

The Art Déco Motifs...this was on the wall of the expo:

Looking for a new art of fine living in which elegance and simplicity of forms predominated, architects and interior designers decorators reinterpreted volumes and decors.

Definitively turning their back on Art Nouveau, but concerned with tradition, they borrowed motifs from antiquity and earlier centuries that they stripped down going as far as geometrizing them. Columns, reduced to a shaft without a base or capital, no longer served as a suport, unlike in the ancient Greenand Roman orders. They straight line replaced the curve and the "lash of the whip" characteristic of Art Nouveau. The ornament thaken from nature shifted away from realism and the floral repertory limited itself to stylized flowers, intentionally gathered in baskets, contained in well defined frames that percluded any overflowing.

From the 1920s, geometry was the dominant feature of the decor: antique lotuses took the form of triangles, roses, that of spirals. Water jets, molded in glass, sprung up, opened out into round forms and fell in graceful undulating lines imitating waterfalls. Semi-circular shapes, wheels with spokes and gear placed in the background conveyed speed, one of the conquests of the Roaring Twenties.

Another cool model. This is a military airplane which was converted into an airliner. It had much publicity associated with it (and the idea of airliners themselves) in the art déco style.

These were cool. They are old radiator caps - yes there was a time when radiator caps were actually outside the car/hood - and as such, they offered a place for decoration. They're really not different from hood ornaments.  They just moved. I liked the one on the left since she screams speed and who doesn't like the Michelin Man? And this one had goggles!

These pics didn't turn out that well, but I liked the one on the left for a couple of reasons. First, cinemas are cool and I think this one would be great to visit. Second, it reminded me of airbrushing. Airbrushes were first patented in 1876 so the artist (Charles Adda) could have used one. Regardless, it was a cool effect - for the lights and possibly some precipitation. On the right, is one of two females in what looked like an entry to a store.

This was an old tourism center which stood outside the Grand Palais. I really liked that it was all white and the large tower which has no real purpose other than design, impact and hold a clock. Which are sufficient purposes. The architect was Robert_Mallet-Stevens and the building is le Pavillon du Tourisme de l'Exposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industirels modernes de Paris en 1925. It was tricky to find, but here's a web pic.

Another great model on the left - all in paper and with nice detail - of a school on rue Küss On the right is a detail of a much larger poster by Roger-Henri Expert (1882-1955). It is the Palais de la Métropole à l'Exposition coloniale internationale, Paris 1931 : perspective of the porch. I took the close up to show the impressive detail and I thought the massive globe was terrific.

Some more terrific artwork and design. On the right is actually the interior of the first-class lounge on the Normandie ocean liner. Pretty nice. Below is a close up of the people demonstrating some nice watercolor work by Robert-Henri Expert.

A cool gyroplane toy. I would like to have one of these. You spin the gyro with the string which makes the spin around the little pivot point. It'd be a good conversation piece if nothing else. I have always loved posters in the style as on the right. Ships don't really look like that, but it sure makes you want to take a voyage on it. This particular poster is by Louis Süe and André Mare and is a "Seat from the first-class lounge of the Ile de France ocean liner" (1927).

Interesting architect (no pictures) was the 92 year old Liu Jipiao.

I really liked this house and love the style. It is the Villa d'Alexandre Léonard in Shanghai, China. On the right is an electrical transformer by Henri Sauvage. I appreciate how design can be incorporated into things often considered mundane. That's a pretty cool transformer building and it's obvious it has to do with electricity with all the power lines. And I like the warning of death in French.

As I was leaving, I took a picture of the classic metro sign (by bike was parked by it)

and on the right is, of course, my ticket. It was a good outing!

Confused (or curious) about the timeline of architectural styles? Wiki has a great graphic depiction and each style is linked. Wiki is great.