Art Deco Interiors: Decoration and Design Classics of the 1920s and 1930s [Paperback]

Patricia Bayer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

By the time of the Paris exhibition of 1925 from which Art Deco took its name, the idea that an interior and its furnishings should form a complete design - a "total look" - dominated the thinking of both designers and their clients. Studios began to emerge to serve the needs of a design and style-conscious middle-class. This text displays the flourishing design ingenuity through contemporary photographs and illustrations of selected interiors complemented with modern photographs of individual pieces. It traces the sylistic evolution and dominant motifs of Deco, the triumph of the 1925 exhibition and the pure "high style" of the Paris ensembliers; the growth of Streamline Moderne offshoots in the US; the international revival of Deco as a decorative style for a new generation of post-modern designers; and the restoration of many Art Deco interiors to their original state.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Highly informative...a book to be relished. -- Traditional Homes

Thorough and intelligent. -- The World of Antiques

About the Author

Patricia Bayer is the author of Art Deco Architecture. She is currently the arts editor of the Encyclopedia Americana, and is writing a collector's guide on Art Nouveau and Art Deco for Sotheby's.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500280207
• ISBN-13: 978-0500280201
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Art Nouveau

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Art Deco book available, March 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Art Deco Interiors: Decoration and Design Classics of the 1920s and 1930s (Paperback)

I searched through all of the Art Deco books and decided on this one. I am decorating my home in the Art Deco style of the 1920s and 1930s and have found a source for unlimited decorating ideas. I haven't found another book with so many great pictures. Not many people realize that true art deco is from the 1920s and 1930s and not the 1950s. It's hard to find a book like this one that focuses only on the true art deco form.

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well Written But Very Disappointing, May 6, 2003

By 

Ann McElroy (Hickory, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art Deco Interiors: Decoration and Design Classics of the 1920s and 1930s (Paperback)

I agree with the reviewer from England who stated she was trying to find inspiration for decorating her home and could not find it in this book. This book is 80% text - extremely well written and researched - but only 20% pictures. Those pictures are many times small, black and white, and sketches - not photos at all. The photos that are here, many are truly stunning. But they are of movie sets, ship interiors, large buildings, etc. I was hoping for a book which would have one full color photographed page of floor lamps, another of wall sconces, ceiling lamps, furniture, hardware for cabinets, etc., each on its own page so I could get some inspiration. A section dedicated to photographs of walls and how they were stenciled so I could see many different designs would have been terrific. If I can, I am going to return the book. It was of no use to me. I would suggest ordering a book or two from Dover, which is far less [money] and might have more colors and designs for inspiration.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't stop looking at it!, March 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Art Deco Interiors: Decoration and Design Classics of the 1920s and 1930s (Paperback)

I loved it!!!! Fantastic, beautiful color photography and the designer's original renderings, beautifully printed and presented---an EYE POPPING cavalcade of art deco interiors, from simple to sublime! Theatres, train stations, restaurants, the bedrooms and baths of famous actors and designers...it is hard to imagine that one can imagine so much! Text is readable and interesting. Highly recommended!