Art Deco was a popular international design movement from the mid 1920s until the Second World War which influenced many art and design disciplines like architecture, industrial and interior design, fashion, painting, graphic arts and even film.
This movement was, in a sense, a broad umbrella covering many different artistic styles and movements in the early 20th century such as Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Bauhaus, Art Nouveau, and Futurism. Its popularity peaked in Europe during the so called “Roaring Twenties” and continued strongly in the United States well in to the 1930s Although many design movements have had political or philosophical influences, Art Deco was purely decorative and considered as functional, modern and elegant.
Art Deco is fundamentally based on geometric shapes. Opinons sometimes differ but many considered Art Deco to be a form of elegant and stylish modernism influenced by a variety of sources including so called “primitive” arts of Africa, Ancient Egypt and Mayan designs from Central America. More modern influences included the major technologies of the period like aviation, electric lighting, radio, ocean liners and the skyscraper buildings. Design influences were usually expressed in fractionated, crystalline, faceted forms of decorative Cubism and Futurism. Other popular themes in Art Deco were trapezoidal, zigzagged, geometric, and jumbled shapes, which can be seen in many early pieces.
Although Art Deco fell out of vogue in the 1940s, it has had small subsequent rebirths. Its designs frequently appear in modern architecture, entertainment, and media when a “classic retro” look is sought. In media, such examples are obvious in Batman: The Animated Series from the early 1990s in which the show’s creators used art-deco styling fused with a deliberate darkness to create a variant style often referred to as Dark Deco. Films such as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Dick Tracy, and King Kong featured various art deco elements also.
Today Art Deco design items are a favourite among collectors and interior designers
Dark Emporium has a dedicated Art Deco range of jewellery and home ware called ‘Alchemy Deco Gothique’
Some exquisite pieces of jewellery in this range include the Mort Etoile Droppers Earrings, stunning, stellar-cut Swarovski crystal studs, with dangling Art Deco sun rays studded with tiny skulls.
Also in this ‘Mort Etoile’ range is a stunning ring, ‘The death-star jewel; a stellar-cut Swarovski crystal gem, offset by the subtly doom-laden symbols of mortality.
We also have a matching necklace to complete the set, the stunning Mort Etoile Bijou Pendant, a glittering celebration and homage to the end of everything, featuring a gigantic, stellar-cut Swarovski crystal at it’s centre.
For fans of Art Deco style these pieces of jewellery are a must have
