Art Deco: Influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France during the 1920s

It was named after an international exhibition held in Paris in 1925, but there are some examples dating back to before the First World War. Art Deco followed another design style, Art Nouveau, which was influenced by organic plant-like forms.

Art Deco was one of the first styles of modern architecture. It was influenced by different styles and movements of the early 20th century, Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, and Futurism. Later Art Deco of the mid to late 1930s is also sometimes called Streamline Moderne.

One idea behind art deco architecture was to apparently streamline buildings the same way you would streamline a car for aerodynamics. The style was much more common in commercial buildings than in houses; many banks, schools, and libraries were built in this style. Most of the public buildings built by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression are in the Art Deco style.

Famous Art Deco buildings include the Chrysler Building in New York City and the Chicago Board of Trade Building in Chicago. Another is Bullock's Wilshire in Los Angeles. Many art deco buildings have elaborate terra cotta or murals inside them. The towers of the Golden Gate Bridge have an art deco design.

 

Antoine Bourdelle, 1910–12, Apollon et sa méditation entourée des 9 muses (The Meditation of Apollo and the Muses), bas-relief, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris. This is one of the earliest examples of Art Deco sculpture

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  Packard sedan, 1941
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  Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive
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  Municipal Auditorium (Kansas City)
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  1937 Cord automobile model 812, 1935
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  U.S. postage stamp commemorating the 1939 New York World's Fair
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  Henryk Kuna, "Rytm" (Rhythm), Warsaw, Poland, 1925
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  Disused Snowdon Theatre, Montreal
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  Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1933
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  Niagara Mohawk Building, Syracuse, New York
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  "Victoire" by René Lalique, 1928
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  New India Assurance Building, 1936, Mumbai, India.
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  Sault Memorial Gardens, 1946/9