Seen as quite a structured style, Art Deco took on a very Gatsby-esque self-indulgence based on the types of works created. Adopting features from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel, The Great Gatsby, the Art Deco style celebrated the flamboyance, frivolity, and decadence that emerged during the 1920s in America. Just as the characters within Fitzgerald’s book were fixated with the glitz and glamour that was synonymous with the lifestyle at the time, Art Deco celebrated everything that was considered to be luxurious and forward-thinking. Chrysler Building lobby on 42nd street entrance, central elevator bank with Art Deco illumination; “Axel Tschentscher”, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Towards the end of the 19 th century, many French artists, architects, and designers who were instrumental in the development of Art Nouveau noticed that the movement had become very outdated. With the 20 th century close approaching, and the effects of the Industrial Revolution coming into play, creatives were inspired to produce a style of art that would scream “tasteful and modern” from the rooftops. The Art Deco period was determined to restore France’s reputation as the first-class creator of decorative arts once again. The presence of a unique Art Deco style helped to return some trust and belief in social progress in America, as the artworks that were created were thought to be an expression of national pride. The American World Fairs in Chicago (1933) and New York City (1939) mainly featured Art Deco designs, as Hollywood adopted the style and made it alluring throughout the country. American Art Deco’s rapid growth created an expression of democracy through its designs, which were made accessible to ordinary citizens.

The modernist Art Deco group criticized the traditional Art Deco style, which they formed was only created to serve the wealthy. Within this traveling cohort, Hoover included important figures from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Institute of Architecture, as well as several individuals from The New York Times. This trip to Europe went on to inspire an almost instantaneous expansion in artistic innovation and creation in the United States. The portrait of Auguste Perret in the Art Deco-style grand staircase of the Palais d’Iéna, Paris, France. The staircase faces the entrance to the conference room, acting as a hinge between the ends of the north and south wings of the Palace. Note that the reinforced concrete columns are tapered down to express “the structural nature of the material”; Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Just like architecture, furniture, the motor industry and the fashion world, publishing embraced Art Deco from around 1915 until the outbreak of World War II. Art Deco cover art can be found in almost every genre from children's fiction to memoirs and countless popular novels. The Book League of America was just one publisher to reprint large quantities of classic novels with Art Deco-styled covers.The polished and streamlined style that was Art Deco grew out of a longing and assertive desire to be free of the past and to welcome the future in all of its manufactured and machine-driven brilliance.

Built in the Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, the Chrysler Building is known for being one of the most striking skyscrapers in the city. This style of architecture proved to be incredibly popular and continued to be used well into the 1960s. This gravity-defying skyscraper, as it was described at the time, featured all of the essential Art Deco building elements as it invoked the modern man versus nature struggle in its architecture. Art Deco-style study of the Maharajah d’Indore Mobiliers by Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, 1932; Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons When it first appeared, the Art Deco style wielded its impact all over the graphic art of the time. This was done in such a way that the impact of Italian Futurism was revealed, as the style’s passion for speed and its devotion to the machine could be seen in the works produced.Art Deco-style glassware, c. 1899-1930; National Library of Norway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons A decorative style of bold geometric shapes and bright colours, it encompassed furniture, textiles, ceramics, sculpture and architecture. The term ‘Arts Decoratifs’ (later shortened to Art Deco in the 1960s) was coined after the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriel Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern and Industrial Decorative Arts) held in Paris in 1925.

Some of the most recognizable buildings in America today represent the Art Deco style and patterns in its architecture. After World War One, Art Deco buildings that made use of steel and reinforced concrete began to appear all over large cities in America and Europe. In America, these buildings were typically used for offices, movie theatres, railroad stations, and government buildings. Postcard of the general or principal view of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris, 1925; Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons At first, the term “Art Deco” was used in a disdainful way by the modernist architect Le Corbusier. Based on this, the Art Deco definition described the movement as one that was made up of bold geometric shapes and strong colors that were used in a variety of art forms, most notably in architecture and objects.While Art Deco emphasized the features of speed, power, and progression, its artworks were contrasted with the lighter and more delicate elements of the previous Art Nouveau movement to create a truly unique style. Art Nouveau, which was a predominant style before the First World War, was heavily inspired by the natural world and incorporated things like winding vines, flower petals, and flowy waves in the artworks created. This celebration of organic shapes differed greatly from the clean and geometric style of Art Deco. Art Deco-style fictional Mars tourism poster commissioned by SpaceX. This poster advertises for Olympus Mons, 2015; SpaceX, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons A postcard of the Chrysler Building, 1932; Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Art Deco, which emerged onto the art scene in the early 1920s, was an art style defined by its fascination with modernity. This idea could be seen through the elements of vibrant colors and bold geometric patterns that were used, as the aim was to create lavish and truly opulent artworks. Art Deco is also most famously known for its contribution to architecture.

Perhaps the most important artist to come from the Art Deco period was American architect William Van Alen, who designed the iconic Chrysler Building in New York City. Born in Brooklyn, Van Alen went on to study architecture in both the United States and Paris before settling on a specific architectural style. In 1910, after returning from Paris, Van Alen displayed his keen interest in the style of modernism, which was said to have been inspired by the early stages of the still-developing Art Deco movement.

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In response to this, he sent a group to France to assess the artworks at the Exposition and to bring home any ideas that could be applied in a modern American artistic and architectural sense.