1930's USA

Research Task

1) detailed study of 3 key hollywood films from the 30s

2) analysis of 3 key photos from the dustball programme

3) analysis of 3 key art deco posters looking at political or commercial context with reference to illustration or typography


This period of time was Very glamorous and luxurious but at the same time there was an economic disaster and this is visible throughout the art that was created at this time. The Art deco movement showed The Glamorous side of life in the USA. The Art Deco style was influenced by a few different styles such as cubism, constructivism, and Bauhaus and modernism. This style developed out of the art novae period. Art Deco designs were created for many different things such as advertisement, political campaigns and  even magazines. 

Art deco clothing and product advertisement's were mainly focussed on the glamorous side of  life, and tried to offer an idealised version of life, although there was a lot of poverty and economic hard ship happening across the USA. The illustration in a poster  by Julius Ussy Engelhard shows (Figure 1) the decadence and luxury of the wealthier people of the 1930's usa. 

But in Germany, immediately following the First World War, the development of fashion in the style of art deco had to struggle against the economic hardship caused by the war... Against this backdrop of poverty the fashion journals dreams of the luxury of previous epochs  [1] 

(Figure 1) Julius Ussy Engelhard, poster for Kilda puderquasten, 1927

 As well as commercial use posters were often used for political reasons for example posters would show their industrial developments as a form of showing off. This would make the people feel more optimistic in such a bad economical time. The way that industry was represented was very big and over powering to show dominance. This will have also made the future look brighter as industry created jobs and more money. as well as industry these posters would show other technological advances like transport especially trains as shown in (Figure 2.) These posters showed how much transport has improved and the also glamorised it making it look big and powerful. The typography along the bottom of the page has been composed in a clever way to help represent train routes. 

 ... the real revolution in the field of public transportation had occurred in the nineteenth century, with the creation of the major international shipping routes and railway networks, along with the principle of genuine public transport that was accessible for [2]  

(Figure 2) Cassandre, Nord Express, poster, 1927.

Typography was also a big part of the art deco period as text started being used for more of an illustrative effect. for example in Charles Loupot's poster for paris (figure 3) the typography Is representative of the image portrayed in the poster. The Typography shows orange wavy lines running through it and it could be said that this is symbolic of the steam that is shown within the poster. The poster also shows a political side as the message behind the imagery within poster is showing how decretive arts and industry work in harmony with one another.

his image of a factory with a rose emerging from the smoke was intended to symbolise co-operation between the decretive arts and industry [3] 

(figure 3) Charles Loupotm, Exposition poster, 1925

[1] Wolf N, Art Deco, Prestel, London
[2] Atterbury P, Art Deco 1910-1939, V&A Publications, 2003. p 315.
[3] Ainsley J, Art Deco 1910-1939, V&A Publications, 2003. p 297