TOM'S POST ON 1900-1909
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Jacks Art Deco Post 8
Art Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until 1939, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film. At the time, this style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional, and modern.
The movement was a mix of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Nouveau, and Futurism.
Its popularity peaked in Europe during the Roaring Twenties and continued strongly in the United States through the 1930s.
Although many design movements have political or philosophical roots or intentions, Art Deco was purely decorative. Art Deco was an opulent style, and its lavishness is attributed to reaction to the forced austerity imposed by World War I. Its rich, festive character fitted it for "modern" contexts, including the Golden Gate Bridge, interiors of cinema and ocean liners such as the Île de France, the Queen Mary, and Normandie.
Art Deco was employed extensively throughout the United States' train stations in the 1930s, designed to reflect the modernity and efficiency of the train. The first Art Deco train station in the United States was the Union Station in Omaha, Nebraska. Art Deco made use of many distinctive styles, but one of the most significant of its features was its dependence upon a range of ornaments and motifs.
LINKS
Post 10: 1970s - The Swiss Poster Style - Chris Nowlan
In the 1970s, however, Swiss graphic design and poster art began to change -- not in quality but in direction and vision. Designers, critics, and historians of design suggest many factors for the future changes, including changing tastes, rising quality in other countries, the decline of artistic personalities, commercial influence, and so forth.
What is clear, however, is that Swiss poster art remained at a high level of quality and expressive force and continues to attract worldwide attention.
One may view Swiss posters either as street art or as excellent examples of graphic design, showing effective use of form, colour and image to communicate an idea.
Swiss posters are a superb illustration of the ability of design to shape and transform content through formal expression. One should watch for expressions of traditional "Swiss Style" and for the changes that emerge in the tradition.
http://ryan.library.cmu.edu/Home.html
http://www.postershow.com/swiss_poster/poster_art.htm
http://openlibrary.org/b/OL21029388M/Swiss-posters%2C-1970-1980
http://www.swisslegacy.com/index.php/category/poster/page/26/
Monday, June 8, 2009
1940’s-50’s Rene’ Gruau
Rene’ Gruau was born in Italy in 1909 of an aristocratic Italian father and a French mother, Marie Gruau, whose name he took. He settled in Paris in 1924 and embarked on his career as a fashion illustrator. His earliest drawings were published in Italy, Germany and England.
From 1935 to 1939, he worked with FEMINA, MARIE-CLAIRE, L’OFFICIEL, L’ALBUM DU FIGARO and other magazines.
In 1946, he did his first job for INTERNATIONAL TEXTILES, whose covers he designed until1984.
In 1947, his friend Christian DIOR entrusted him with drawing the MISS DIOR advertisement and the famous bar dress .the New Look was born.
In 1948, he left for the United States to work for HARPERS BAZAAR and VOGUE, before becoming the exclusive artist for FLAIR.
In 1949, he devoted his time to advertising: ROUGE BAISER, LIDO, MOULIN ROUGE, BEMBERG, BLIZZARD.
Between 1950 and now, he has worked for the greatest name sin Haute Couture: BALMAIN, FATH, BALENCIAGA, GIVENCHY, ROCHAS. Whilst continuing to produce fashion drawings for ELLE, VOGUE, FRANCE, MADAME FIGARO and L’OFFICIEL DE LA COUTURE.
With his stunning, passionate, figures, his arresting use of color and dramatic, explosive element of line, Rene Gruau developed his distinctive “New Look” in the 1940’s which greatly impacted haute couture, theatre, art, and commercial design. With his trademark use of his powerful minimal line, Gruau’s style combined seductive sophistication with classic beauty, grace and sensual elegance. The quality of the visual appeal of his glamorous and radiant “beautiful people” is at once bold and languid. Internationally Gruau’s artwork is celebrated internationally noted for its exceptional and masterful line, and its timeless, enduring style.
Today Gruau’s works are collected and exhibited by the finest art institutions including the Louvre in Paris. Rene Gruau’s artistic passion, intensity and technical brilliance have left a high-water mark on art history.
http://www.artnet.com/artist/641308/rene-gruau.html
http://www.americanfineartgallery.com/artist_bios/gruau_bio.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1014505/Rene-Gruau
http://www.woodmansterne.co.uk/rene.htm
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