Art Deco Furniture

Art Deco Furniture

The "Art Deco" period occurred roughly between the two World Wars, or from 1920 to 1939. Many actually stretch this period from 1900 to the 1950s, but, as with many other art movements, even work of today is still being influenced by the past. The Art Deco period did not just affect architecture, but all of the fine and applied arts. Furniture, sculpture, clothing, jewelry, and graphic design were all influenced by the Art Deco style.

After the First World War there were great social changes which influenced the kinds of furniture required. There was also an emphasis, for those who could afford it, on well-designed decorative furniture which also included a high degree of functionality.

Amongst Art Deco designers there were two clear schools: the first was the direct inheritor of the two earlier movements. These designers concentrated on individual pieces made by highly skilled craftsmen and could only be bought by the very rich. On the other hand, some Art Deco designers sought to take advantage of mass production. These designers also tended towards a severely geometric look which emphasised the functionality of the object.

At the start of the Art Deco Movement, furniture was based on traditional styles but opulence was the keynote. Exotic woods like amboyna were used and decoration incorporated materials like ivory. These were the objects that were designed as objects of fine art as well as for functionality. By the mid 1920s the taste for such flamboyant furniture was waning. Modern materials like chrome were incorporated into the designs and they became more geometric and streamlined. It was at this time that René Lalique was making glass panels to be used in furniture.

Many of the Art Deco furniture designers had distinctive styles of their own and their work is now highly valued and very collectable.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969)
His famous dictum 'less is more' is the perfect description of Mies van der Rohe's work in both his architecture and furniture design. He was born in Aachen, Germany, where his first job was in his family's stone carving business. In 1908 he started work with the architect Peter Behrens, one of the great figures in German Modernism.

Mies van der Rohe's furniture combines a modern, machine made look with a detailed hand-finished approach. The furniture is made from steel and is very simple and elegant in form. One of his most famous pieces, the Barcelona Chair first shown in 1929, is still in production today. This chair's basic form is a distorted X with leather upholstered seat and back. It was only mass produced after the Second World War and so the pre-war examples are worth many times more than the later ones.

Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann (1879-1933)
Ruhlmann is considered to be the outstanding Art Deco furniture designer although some of his best work was done before the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the exhibition in Paris that gave Art Deco its name.

Ruhlmann started as a painter and drew furniture in his father's workshop. His furniture making techniques were flawless. Joints could barely be discerned, giving pieces the impression of being made from a single carved section of wood. He used exotic woods like amboyna, violetwood and macassar ebony but in tasteful and simple designs. Even by the time of his first exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in 1913 his reputation was high. After the First World War he took over his father's company which was renamed Rulhmann et Laurent. He increased the company's scope by employing crafts people skilled in carpentry, upholstery, mirror grinding, veneering and inlaying.

The company never catered for the mass market. Its furniture was exclusive and distinguished by its elegance, long tapering legs and simple use of exotic materials. For all its elegance, the furniture was designed to be used and to be comfortable. Form and design served to enhance the use of the furniture.

Süe and Mare
In 1919 Louis Süe, an artist and architect, and André Mare, also an artist, formed the Compagnie des Arts Français. Its purpose was to make French furniture without foreign influences. They aimed to provide not only furniture but, by the use of outside contractors, a whole range of furnishings.

Their furniture was heavier and more flamboyant than that of Ruhlmann. They used inlays and veneers to create dramatic designs, patterns and pictures on their furniture. Although they were much admired and influential, their technique was no where near as good as Ruhlmann's and much of their furniture has not survived.

Wiener Werkstätte
The Vienna Workshops were established in 1903 in Austria, long before Art Deco was an established movement. Founded by architect, Josef Hoffman, it consisted of a group of innovative artists and craftspeople who were experimenting with new designs and materials. Within ten years of setting up, they had opened branches in a number of foreign cities including Berlin, Zurich and New York.

They based their work upon high standards of design and workmanship, rejecting all mass production. Their work shows ancient Egyptian and Cubist influences and they were also influenced by the Glasgow Four who included Charles Rennie Mackintosh.