Christie's Art Deco [Hardcover]

Manson & Woods Christie's International Group; Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

Treasured Art Deco objects are showcased in this superb guide to a fascinating movement that flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, reaching into every sphere of decorative arts design throughout Europe and the United States. Gleaned from precious private collections and the archives of the world-famous Christie's auction house, the objects surveyed range from posh furniture, sleek sculpture, and bold architectural detailing to imaginative ceramics, luxurious jewelry, innovative metalwork, and powerful posters. For decorative arts enthusiasts, collectors, designers, and students, this introductory overview and ongoing reference source opens the door to one of the most influential design periods of the twentieth century. Each chapter's thematic approach considers a particular decorative art and focuses on key players in that field: Lalique and his extraordinarily sinuous glassware and Clarice Cliff and her distinctively shaped and colored ceramics are two of the many notable artists who set standards for design excellence that endure to this day. The author's scholarly text traces the development of Art Deco in each design area and within the broader historical context of an era marked by the quest for a lifestyle filled with speed and opulence.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Fiona Gallagher, the author of Christie's Art Nouveau, is an authority in the field of decorative arts, with special expertise in twentieth-century movements. She lives in South London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill; First edition. edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823006433
• ISBN-13: 978-0823006434
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 10.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,178,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book on Art Deco, January 4, 2001

By 

Deborah Abernethy (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christie's Art Deco (Hardcover)

Christie's Art Deco, edited by Fiona Gallagher, is an excellent overview of the Art Deco period with highlights of the major designers of each category with innovations in the respective fields of design. It is written in a scholarly narrative text. Categories included are architectural detailing, furniture, glass, ceramics, silver and metalware, jewelry, sculpture, and graphics/posters. It has 192 pages with approximately 120 color photographs and an excellent bibliography given for further research. It is an excellent choice for a wide range of readers with an interest in the decorative arts.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Quality; Questionable Photo Arrangement, October 25, 2003

By 

C. Michael Massey "litterateur" (St. Louis, Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christie's Art Deco (Hardcover)

Overall, I thought this was an enormously attractive, informative book. The many crisply-photographed images seem to have been selected with care, myriad interesting and attractive Art Deco pieces. The text covered a great deal of specific Art Deco-era designers and their works with great comprehensiveness. Expect primer, not only on major artists and key pieces, but also on the companies for which these artists worked, the expositions at which they exhibited, and the schools to which they belonged (as well as a bit about the related political and social climates of the time.)

My only problem with the book arises from the selection and arrangement of its images. Although there are lots of wonderful photos, only a handful of them seem to actually be mentioned in the text (the rest I assume are of pieces that have been in Christie's possession over the years.) The few images that ARE mentioned in the book are seldom anywhere near the place in the text where they're mentioned, so I had read well over a quarter of the book before I realized that I had the opportunity to actually SEE some of the things being talked about. Even a note telling the reader where a photo of the object could be located would have been useful.

Nevertheless, it's a wonderful book that I highly recommend for both the casual and serious Deco enthusiast alike. Knowing that there are some images of a few of the objects mentioned in the text, however, will enrich your reading experience noticeably.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captures the dynamic essence of an art style, February 17, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christie's Art Deco (Hardcover)

In 1930, William Van Alen (architect of New York's Chrysler Building) invented his Art Deco design to embody the spirit of his age when art was expected to be higher, faster, and more dynamic than was to be found in any prior age. Superbly illustrated with images drawn from the Christie's archives, and enhanced with commentaries by Michael Jeffery, Simon Andrews, and Nicolette White, Christie's Art Deco is an informative as it is beautiful, complete capturing the dynamic essence of an art style that defined an era with everything from Japanese ceramics to Swiss poster designs to French glass to American architect, and more. Highly recommended for art history students, art deco collectors and connoisseurs, as well as anyone with an eye for enduring beauty, Christie's Art Deco is enriched with collector's tips, a glossary, museum addresses, Christie's addresses, a select bibliography for further study, and a very helpful index.