a. a style of interior decoration, jewellery, architecture, etc, at its height in the 1930s and characterized by geometrical shapes, stylized natural forms, and symmetrical utilitarian designs adapted to mass production
b. (as modifier): an Art-Deco carpet.
[C20: shortened from art décoratif, after the Exposition des arts décoratifs held in Paris in 1925]
(often caps.) a style of decorative art developed orig. in the 1920s and marked chiefly by geometric motifs, curvilinear forms, and sharply defined outlines.
[1965–70; < French Art Déco, shortened from (Exposition Internationale des) Arts Décoratifs]
A decorative arts and architectural style emanating from Paris in 1925 and common in both Europe and America. Stylized and modernist, it reconciled methods of massproduction and manufactured materials (such as bakelite) as well as using luxury items. Furniture included metalwork designs.
The tracery of metal gates, grates, screens, furniture, and hardware that ornaments many Southern California houses from earlier eras - in styles ranging from Arts and Crafts to zigzag moderne - illustrates a rich tradition.
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