ART DECO
Art Deco is a movement that was based around decorative arts and architecture during the 1920s. It really took off in western Europe and America, it also was known as "style moderne". It ranged from luxury crafted items to mass produced items, such as ornaments like animal models and various sculptures. Characteristics of art deco would be very well crafted luxury items that have intricate patterns and are of the highest quality. In my final blog out of the 5, this one focuses on the art deco movement. I will take a past, older artwork from the movement and compare and discuss it to a modern one with similar characteristics.
Dragonfly corsage designed by René Lalique, 1897–98; in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon.© Art Media
Rene Lalique- Dragonfly Women Corsage
The above ornament is a dragonfly corsage created by Rene Lalique is a good example of art deco. It was first presented at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900 and worn by someone at the exhibition. It is an extremely realistic figure of an enamel dragon fly incasted in a slender woman's body. The entirity is encased in gold and the large wings have a glass pattern on it. The body of the dragonfly is encrusted with diamonds, enamel and stones. It has been declared one of the most spectacular pieces of jewelry during the movement of art deco.
Jaguar Hood Ornament
The above ornament is from the hood of the luxury sports car company, Jaguar. I chose this example because it's the best comparrison to the intricate jewelry of Rene Lalique's. The reason why this ornament is so intricate is because Jaguar is not a typcial car bought by everyday people, it is a luxury sports car and you need to be considerably wealthy to be able to buy/ own a Jaguar so it is fitting to have a ornament of the Jaguar on the hood. It is a well crafted jaguar ornmanet, and can be found on every single hood of a Jaguar car. The ornament itself doesn't only embody the brand of Jaguar, but also the luxury status of the car and the level of wealth one must have in order to own the car.
Bibliography
Anon., 2019. Calouste Gulbenkian Musuem. [Online]
Available at: https://gulbenkian.pt/museu/en/works_museu/dragonfly-broach/
[Accessed 9 August 2020].
Available at: https://gulbenkian.pt/museu/en/works_museu/dragonfly-broach/
[Accessed 9 August 2020].
