Cubism and its influence on Art Deco Design
Although Cubism as a movement didn't last very long, virtually ending at the outbreak of WWI, it had a lasting influence on the Decorative Arts from fashion to interior design throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The seeds of Cubism were sown by the Cézanne exhibition in Paris in 1907 and Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon (also 1907) which was inspired by African masks. Cézanne believed nature could be reduced to sculptural forms such as cylinders, spheres and cones and had developed a flat, two dimensional view of the landscape. The old rules of adhering to perspective had gone by the wayside. Time, space and movement were more important and artists wished to represent many different viewpoints of the same object at the same time. This led to the two dimensional geometric style associated with the Cubists and which filtered into the design of Art Deco posters, Art Deco fashion, Art Deco jewellery, interior design and architecture. The small group of artists which banded together in Montmartre, Paris and formed the Cubist movement were led by Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris. Fernard Léger, Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger were dubbed the "Salon Cubists" as they exhibited at the tolerant Salon d'Automne and Salon des Indépendants. The brothers Raymond and Marcel Duchamp and Jacques Villon formed another group in the arrondisment of Puteaux, and linked
the Cubists
to the changes happening in the technological world of the Machine Age. Marcel Duchamp later became one the the leaders of the anarchic Dadaist movement and stopped painting to create his world famous "ready mades" - everyday objects renamed to undermine the very notion of "artistic" invention.
Several of the Cubist artists, Picasso, Braque, Robert and Sonia Delaunay among others crossed over to the world of theatre and designed sets for the Ballet Russes, which were enormously influencial in the world of Art Deco fashion and jewellery. Their geometric shapes and forms were taken up by designers of everything: from functional homewares to decorative objects, from furniture to architecture. There was huge boom in advertising in the 1920s and 1930s and the design of everything from magazine ads to posters also reflected the influence of the flat, two dimensional and geometric forms of Cubism. Have a look at my favourites from the great range of Cubist posters to decorate your home on Art.com
Return from Cubism to Art Deco Artists Return from Cubism to Art Deco Cubist influence on Art Deco Posters A Few More Important Art Deco Poster Artists |
