Deco vs Nouveau

[Espee]

Not real close to the topic, but I'm reminded of a Bob and Ray routine where Wally Ballou tours an Antique Factory, which specializes in the George Washington Period.
His guide tells him, "We make those the right size and shape to be a TV cabinet, but we tell people the colonists stored dishes in them."

 

[tonyb]

Well, that's kinda on topic, Espee. I mean, a TV cabinet made to resemble an antique cupboard isn't so far in spirit removed from a linoleum floor covering made to look like a Persian rug. Nor, for that matter, from a Tudor revival house in the American Desert Southwest. Nor a 1930s-esque Nouveau/Deco/Moderne/Whatever interior scheme put together in 2012. I assume you were thinkin' along those lines?

Me, I'm cool with all that stuff. Good design is good design, no matter what it's called. And I've heard it said there's really no such thing as a bad material, only bad applications. (I don't know that I'm in lockstep agreement with that, but the point is well taken.)

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.

James Oviatt's penthouse in the then-new Oviatt Building, Los Angeles, as it looked in 1928. All furniture and furnishings were imported from France.


(The penthouse still exists, but nearly all of its original 1928 furniture and furnishings were sold off in 1974.)

 

[dhermann1]

Well, clearly Chinese deco rugs, velvet upholstery, and a lot of very zaftig naked ladies on the walls are required. That reminds me, I need a lot more naked ladies on my walls.
And a lot of throw pillows with as wildly varied designs as possible. Would that we could see the colors. I'll bet the colors are deep and vivid and dramatic.
And a lot of parallel lines in things, either vertical or horiziontal.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'll bet the colors are deep and vivid and dramatic. ... And a lot of parallel lines in things, either vertical or horizontal.

You ain't kiddin'. The living room's walls were covered in mauve-colored silk. That's right: mauve. And note how the living room's rugs and sofas were set at diagonal angles.

 

[dhermann1]

That's one of the big things we forget about the Deco era. Since we have almost all black and white photos, we have a hard time visualizing the colors. And they had some really lush vibrant complex colors in those days.