Art Deco Artist- Paul Colin

Paul Colin started as graphic designer in 1925 and became a master of the Art Deco poster.  A war time friend asked Colin if he would like to become the designer for the Theatre des Champs-Elyees in Paris, which he did. “ He often placed a figure or object centrally before a colored background and type or lettering above and or below it. These strong central images are animated by a variety of techniques: creating a double image, often with different drawing techniques and scale changes; using the transparency of overlapping images as a means to make two things into one; adding color and shapes or bands behind ot to the side of the central figure to counteract its static placement. Vibrant color, informal compositions, and energetic linear drawings expressed joys in life.”

He is best known for his poster for La Revue Nègre. “His designs contain elements of jazz, bold striking colors, and influences from both Cubism and Surrealism.  Highly stylized, or caricatured human forms are oddly juxtaposed with geometric overlapping objects like a Cubist collage. He was the most prolific and enduring French designer of his generation.

Jean Carlu- Art Deco Artist

Jean Carlu was a French graphic designer, specialised in posters. He made posters during World War II to “promote an increase in American production.”From 1919 until 1921 he served as an illustrator, after which he worked at an agency that designed advertisements. In that period he designed his first poster in art deco style (for The Kid by Charlie Chaplin). He was attracted by cubism and by the works of Juan Gris and Albert Gleizes. He was one of the first who realized that to fix a trademark in the minds of consumers a process needs to be gone through in which schematic forms and expressive colors are applied. These are the characteristics that give his posters and other works their distinguishable quality.

The fame of Carlu rests mainly on two posters: for Monsavon and for the Théâtre Pigalle. He also designed a pioneering label for the 1924 vintage of Château Mouton-Rothschild.

A.M. Cassandre- Art Deco Artist

A.M. Cassandre, was born Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron in the Ukraine in 1901. He relocated to Paris and studied Art at the École des Beaux Arts and the Acadaèmie Julian. He won the Grand Prize at the 1925 Paris Exposition for his work, Bûcheron, a wood cutter cutting down a tree with an ax.

“His work is striking for its simplicity, its stark outlines and his very plain, unadorned typefaces.  He integrated the text into the overall design of the poster, one of the first graphic designers to do this. Cassandre developed original typefaces: in 1929: Bifur; in 1935, the sans serif Acier Noir, and in 1937 an all-purpose font called Peignot. He drew  inspiration from cubism and surrealism.”

He is most known for travel posters-  his Dubonnet piece, done for a wine company, was one of the first posters designed to be seen in a moving car. “The sleek, architectonic styles of Art Deco are observed in his works. In fact, Cassandre’s work of art possesses traces of futurist inspiration with their energy and dynamism. Such innovative style and technique can be witnessed in his 1927 Nord Express poster. In his final years, Cassandre suffered from bouts of depression and eventually ended up committing suicide in 1968.

 

 

 

Edward McKnight Kauffer- Art Deco Artist

Edward McKnight Kauffer, was born in Great Falls, Montana;While studying at the Chicago Art Institute, he saw the famous Armory Show, which traveled from New York to Chicago. He moved to Europe at age 22, and was living in London when the war broke out. In his piece, the Daily Herald poster, “although flawed somewhat by the type choice and placement, showed how the formal idiom of cubism and futurism could make a strong communications impact in graphic designs.”

He designed posters for the London Underground Transport, which promoted “weekend pleasure travel to rural areas at the end of the lines. He achieved visual impact with landscape subjects on posters by reductive design, editing complex environments into interlocking shapes.” He returned to America, where he worked until his death in 1954.

Art Deco- what exactly is it?

Art Deco- what exactly is it and how did it come about?

Coined by the British Art Historian Bevis Hillier in the 1960s, it derives from the title of the Exposition Internale des Art Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a major design exhibition held in Paris in 1925. Art Deco refers to an era, as well as a style.  According to Meggs' History of Graphic Design, Art Deco is a term used to" identify popular geometric works of the 1920s and 1930s. It signifies a major aesthetic sensibility in graphics, architecture and product design between the two world wars. There are influences of cubism, the Bauhaus, and the Vienna Secession commingled with De Stijl and suprematism as well as a penchant for Egyptian, Aztec, and Assyrian motifs."  Coined by the British Art Historian Bevis Hillier in the 1960s, derives from the title of the Exposition Internale des Art Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a major design exhibition held in Paris in 1925.

Unlike any other design fad in American history, the geometric forms and indigenous symbols of overseas cultures were dispersed across the nation in not only the residential and commercial realm, but in ocean liners and Hollywood movies, creating a lavish and luxurious image in society which resulted in distinctive American Art Deco opulence. This style combined motifs from autochthonous cultures with representations from the mechanical and automotive industries that were prospering throughout 1930s culture. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate through images the comparison between the forms of rediscovered, ancient cultures and the architectural characteristics of American Art Deco.” (Poole)

Works Cited

Pool, Rachel1, rfp26@nau.ed. EBSCOhost, doi:10.18848/2154-8560/CGP/v09i02/37-53. Accessed 29 Oct. 2018.

“Cassandre | Biography, Designs and Facts.” Famous Graphic Designers, 2018, www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/cassandre.

        Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Wiley, 2016.