Miss Delite: Art Deco Posters

2/19/2010

Art Deco Posters

ART DECO replaced Art Nouveau as the major international decorative style after World War I and continued until World War II. Art Deco represented a machine age aesthetic, replacing flowing, floral motifs with streamlined, geometric designs that expressed the speed, power and scale of modern technology.

Design influences were many, from the modern art movements of Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism to ancient geometric design elements from the exotic cultures of Egypt, Assyria and Persia. In poster art, precursors of Art Deco were the German Plakatstil, the Viennese Secession, the Deutscher Werkbund, and the Parisian fashion design revolution which commenced in 1908. MORE...

Kestos lingerie__1930s

Candee__c.1927

1927 represented a high water mark, so to speak, in the world of fashion. It was the first time that female skirts revealed the knee. An attractive rainboot became more essential than ever, and Benito highlighted them in red for this delightful poster for Candee, a Swiss manufacturer associated with Bally. His model, outfitted in chic tailored suit, cloche, fur stole and accompanied by frisky terrier (a common fashion accessory in the ‘20s) represents the taut, streamlined ideal of the Roaring ‘20s.

Castle Beer__1930

Nitrolian__c.1929

This poster for a quick drying paint is ingenious. The product dries so fast that the stairs can be painted moments before a lady walks down them. Cappiello has taken a very prosaic product and made it a very stylish and totally memorable classic. He finishes off the poster with a wonderful touch. The paint can itself contains a "poster within a poster": we see a miniature woman stepping down the newly painted steps.