Description

The period between the two world wars was extreme upheavals in politics, economics, and society. It was also a time of intense artistic creativity, culminating in the great Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925 and the subsequent spread of the celebrated Art Deco style. The radical innovations in Art Deco fashion and interior decoration demanded new textile designs. As the period progressed, fabrics for clothes, upholstery, wallpaper, and rugs increasingly reflected the movement’s modernism, elegance, and vibrancy.

As the French artist Raoul Dufy, himself a brilliant fabric designer, wrote, “Paintings have spilt from their frames and stained our dress and our walls.”

This great new book invites the reader to discover the spectacular world of Art Deco fabrics, with examples by designers such as Delaunay, Ruhlmann, Henry, Marrot, Dufresne, Benedictus, and dozens more. Alain-Rene Hardy, a noted French expert in twentieth-century decorative arts, has searched through museum holdings, manufacturers’ archives, and private collections to find hundreds of examples of both hand- and machine-made textiles, many of them never before published. From the lavish to the minimalist, from luxurious floral patterns to subtle geometric variations in colour and texture, Art Deco textiles continue to enthral us with their originality, complexity, and vivacity. 310 colour illustrations.

Shop Now