The Art Deco style heavily influenced Paris and its region in the 1920s and 1930s.
Through the exhibition "1925, quand l’Art Déco séduit le monde", which takes place at the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine from 16th October 2013 to 17th February 2014, you can discover the secrets of this international artistic movement.
What is the difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco? Confusion is very common between the two; even art lovers are sometimes puzzled. And yet, Art Deco succeeded Art Nouveau and is as different from its predecessor as Fauvism is from Cubism. Art Nouveau is the art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is the art of the Belle Époque, with curves, ornamentation, plants, flowers, extremely detailed decoration, colours and stained glass. Art Deco saw its heyday in the 1920s. It was the art of the Roaring Twenties, opting for modernism, symmetry and simplicity and preferring angular, canted, circular, round and octagonal shapes.
Art Nouveau can be seen at the entrances and exits of the Paris Metro designed by Hector Guimard or the crazy buildings of Gaudi while Art Deco is expressed in the slickness of the Chrysler Building in New York or the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. This style, which takes its name from the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, which took place in Paris in 1925, is the first art movement to have been recognized worldwide, influencing Europe first, then all English speaking countries and several Chinese cities such as Shanghai. Culture and entertainment venues, cinemas, swimming pools, homes, shops, restaurants, gardens... Paris and the Ile-de-France are full of places that are emblematic of this artistic movement!
Take a walk in the streets of the French capital and its region and you will see Art Deco architectural features around the Eiffel Tower (Palais de Chaillot, Palais de Tokyo, etc.), the Grands Boulevards (the Folies Bergère, the Grand Rex, etc.) or in more popular neighbourhoods (the 18th district: the Louxor, the Amiraux swimming pool). Outside Paris, you can admire the ‘Garden Cities’ of Pré-Saint-Gervais, the Palace at Beaumont-sur-Oise, or the Musée des années 1930 in Boulogne-Billancourt. Let yourself be transported and keep your eyes peeled as with Art Deco everything is magical and monumental!
By France.fr
The magazine of the destination unravels an unexpected France that revisits tradition and cultivates creativity. A France far beyond what you can imagine…
