Young Woman in Green, about 1927, by Tamara de Lempicka.

CIt was one of the most influential art movements ever, in part because it was international in every sense, touching most continents and all aspects of life. From furniture to clothing, from teapots to ashtrays, from Denmark to Japan, Art Deco changed the way a generation looked at the world, giving the masses glimpses of an elegance that brought a glamorous, exciting life within reach.

The true beginning of what we now call Deco was the Paris Exhibition for Decorative Arts in 1925. The show was created to showcase French luxury goods, to establish the country as the centre of elite shopping and with luck, dominate that market around the world. The exhibition was also, as curator Ghislaine Wood puts it, part of an aesthetic and commercial culture war. France wanted to ward off "the German threat to decorative arts." Contributing a third of all the exhibits to the 1925 show, France not only dominated but established the primacy of 'le style Moderne.'

Clock by Goulden View more images

By the 20s, the art world was knee deep in art movements: Impressionism, Cubism, Futurism, and Modernism, all pushing different beliefs about the nature of art and creativity's place in the contemporary world. Ironically, Modernist architect Le Courbusier invented the phrase 'art deco' in an essay that dismissed the style as merely decorative. Yet, that aim to please was central to its appeal and its impact.

Deco's strength came from its rejection of dogma or principles. Wood says Modernism "rejected decoration," so Deco provided "a much easier transition" to modern life. Deco's appeal is nicely summed up by a contemporary motto for the movement: "no modernity without tradition and no tradition without modernity."

The story of Deco has been called one of the central artistic narratives of the twentieth century, partly because the movies embraced it. Out of this style came the glamour of Hollywood; it is Greta Garbo clutching her cigarette holder; Myrna Loy and William Powell drinking martinis from a stylized shaker; Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing in deco interiors. It was the embodiment of fast opulent fun.

Photo of Doris Lane View more images

The Chrysler building, the interior of ocean liners and streamlined trains attest to the omnipresent influence of Deco, which was much more than cigarette lighters in the shape of a stylized wave, geometrically shaped teapots, and highly stylized bedroom furniture. One of the movement's most beautiful embodiements, the entrance foyer of The Strand Palace Hotel in London built in the 30s, with its cut glass and gleaming chrome gloriously intact, could have easily been in Tokyo. Faster planes and trains made it possible for more and more people to visit places such as Japan, and they came home with ideas. This show demonstrates brilliantly how the Deco style took fashionable trends from around the world, and in a modern, multicultural mode, used the latest technology to re-invent and redistribute it.

The craze for all things Egyptian proves the point. The discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922 had a profound influence on Deco artists. The Egyptian style (flat patterning of palms, shallow carving, a strong gold color) shapes the figures on Deco buildings such as Rockefeller Plaza in New York. The appeal of Aztec culture can be seen in the keystone patterning of a flapper dress. The lacquered furniture decorated with stylized flowers of Japan became a central theme in Deco. Folk art patterns from Norway re-appear as patterns for household pottery. Elongated table lamps echo the new interest in African sculpture. A Chinese jade snuff bottle is the basis for the color and style of a Mauboussin bracelet.

For Enoch Boulton, a traditional ginger jar becomes a flash of colors and is called 'Jazz.' The women in Tamara de Lempicka's paintings are as stylized and sculpted as the Boatail Speedster cars made 10 years later. One of the show's best examples of direct cross pollination is the display of a lovely Japanese cloth which depicts cranes along side the almost identical birds in the brass bas relief of an elevator door at Selfridges, a popular London department store.

1935 Auburn 851 Speedster View more images

International influences, combined with contemporary production techniques and materials (such as Bakelite, various new plastics, and chrome) made consumer items into art objects. Flanges, fins, wings and chrome finials appeared on everything, including radios and vacuum cleaners. From Raymond Loewy's pencil sharpeners to Jean Goulden's clocks, the designs all seem to refer to speed, progress, and space travel.

In the grim face of World War II lighthearted Deco fizzled but it didn't really die. Wood argues that Deco continues to resonate with today's designers. She cites Alessi and Starck as "exploring decoration in a modern style" and celebrating the enduringly popular themes of Deco: "commerce, drama, adventure, high style and fashion."

"Art Deco: 1910-1939" is at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA through January 9, 2005

MORE ARTS HEADLINES

	Curtains for Boston Costume			"So Much, So Fast"
	Anything But Ordinary			Roller Rink on Thin Ice

		Arts Features Films at the Gate Photos See photos of kung-fu movies and former Boston Chinatown movie theater locations. Guerrilla Art See photos of local artist Matthew Hincman's bench-like sculpture. "O" is for Original Local artist "Danny O" portrays whimsical scenes of summer in Boston. Multimedia Singer at 100 An exclusive online special explores the controversial work and life of Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer. Gauguin's Tahiti Paintings Take a multimedia tour of Paul Gauguin's Tahiti paintings, including the famous painting, "Where Are We From." Hawthorne at 200 View a multimedia celebration of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 200th birthday.