ART DECO PATTERNS : A Design Source

Art Deco, originally coined to describe the objects either exhibited at or influenced by the 'Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs" of 1925, is now a convenient term of reference for art and design between the World Wars. Easily recognizable and familiar as a style, Art Deco is none the less hard to define, encompassing as it does, so many decorative elements drawn from so many countries and cultures. A remarkable feature of the Art Deco period was the importance of color-printed pattern books, many of which were issued in France during the 1920s by artists as diverse as Sonia Delaunay, Edouard Benedictus and Serge Gladky. These books or folios, with their sheets of dynamic patterns of both abstract and stylized natural forms, have now become the handbooks of the period. These pattern books are vital to students of the history of design and to anyone attracted by Art Deco in its many forms. Through ART DECO PATTERNS - A DESIGN SOURCE BOOK it is possible to trace the development of Art Deco from its fine art roots into one of the most consciously decorative and evocative styles of all time. The author, Paul Atterbury, is a trained art historian in the decorative arts of the 19th and 20th centuries.