I chose to do the Art Deco Era for 2 reasons: one being my fascination for the style of art. The bright, vivid color combinations, and the use of cubism and geometric shapes displayed the times of the era. During the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, Art Deco came about and thus helped people to escape from their everyday troubles. The people of the time turned to art, and it is clearly present. (http://allsands.com/Fashion/artdeco_rmo_gn.htm)

The second reason being that after doing some research, I learned of the various forms of art that influenced Deco Art, as well as the influence it had on the future of art, as we know it today. This makes me understand just how much of an impact this era really had on America. It also shows you how important art was then, and still is now. What better example to explain that art is everywhere?

The Art Deco Era is one of the most exciting chapters in the history of Art. It influenced all aspects of art and architecture, as well as the decorative, graphic, and industrial arts. It’s style is like no other- with its influence from cubism and futurism, Art Deco has become one of the most preferred decorating styles. (http://www.a

Born Tamara Gorska in 1898 Warsaw, she was part of a wealthy aristocratic family. In 1911, she faked illness so she could travel to Italy with her grandmother. It was there in the Florence and Rome art galleries that her passion for painting began. Returning from her trip to Italy and having sat for a portrait, she was very confidant about herself and her talents. Knowing she can do better than the artists, she started to paint her siblings’ portraits. (http://magtal.tripod.com/tamara/tdl_biography.html)

In 1960, she changed her style to abstract art, creating works with a spatula. After her husband died, she moved to Mexico, and she died in 1980. (http://www.bibl.uszeged.hu/cgfa/lempicka/lempicka_bio.htm)

According to the dictionary, the Art Deco is defined as a style of decorative art developed originally in the 1920s with a revival in the 1960s, marked chiefly by geometric motifs, curvilinear forms, sharply defined outlines, often bold colors, and the use of synthetic materials, as plastics. (http://205.180.85.40/w/pc.cgi?mid=16572&sid=12030)

I also feel that de Lempicka used the feminist theory. She felt abandoned by her husband, and tried to make a living for herself and her daughter- by showing the world that she could do it on her own- as an independent woman.

In 1967, the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased some 200 of Erte’s works, followed by various shows in London, increasing Erte’s success and popularity. The London Sunday Times art critic John Russell (later of the New York Times) wrote, "If Michelangelo were to come back from the dead he could hardly have greater or more eulogious publicity than has been accorded to Erte.” (http://www.artfull.com/erte-bio.htm)

He wanted more than anything to become a fashion illustrator, so in 1912 he moved to Paris to fulfill his dream. Little did he know, what lied ahead was what would make him famous. Soon after he was hired by Harper’s Bazaar, where he designed over 200 covers in the 22 years that he worked there. It was here that the Art Deco style emerged. He spent some time in Hollywood in 1925, where he designed some silent films with MGM (Metro-Goldwyn Mayer) studio, at the invitation of Louis B.Mayer. After this, Erte left Harper’s Bazaar. (http://www.erte.com/default-old.htm) "In inviting Erte to Hollywood Louis B. May

Some topics in this essay:
Art Deco, Tadeusz Lempicki, Modern Art, St Petersburg, Deco Era, Institute Art, Florence Rome, Scandal York, York Times, Louis Mayer, art deco, passion designing age, designing age 5, bright vivid color, abandoned husband, vivid color, tamara de, st petersburg, de lempicka, harper’s bazaar, art deco style, metropolitan museum, age 5, art influenced, art deco era,