Art Deco

During the time of Postcubist Pictorial Modernism, images were man-made, machinery was accepted, and the Allies won World War I. Edward McKnight Kauffer was an artist who incorporated cubism in his work. He made many posters, including underground posters. At first, he focused on making landscapes the destination point for the travelers; he eventually moved on to Art Deco. Art Deco came between the two world wars and got its name from a major design exhibition. It was influenced by many art movements, including: Cubism, Bauhaus, Vienna Succession, De Stijl, and Suprematism. Zigzags and decorative geometry were a part of the Art Deco work. Aesthetics were seen in architecture, design of products, and graphics. Decoration was desired. Jean Carlu was committed to helping his France community; he taught himself how to draw with his left hand, after he lost his right arm in an accident, so that he could present powerful messages through posters. He found that angles and lines represented tension and alertness, and curves represented comfort, relaxation and ease. He combined text with imagery and created intriguing posters of the American war effort. A.M. Cassandre was a designer who also incorporated Cubism into his work; simple planes of color and 2-dimensional shapes, words and images were used. He found that meanings were more powerful with the use of geometric forms—figures, shapes, shadows, silhouettes. Cassandre invented a new typeface for Art Deco, called Bifur. Paul Colin was interesting, for he created his posters by placing forms/figures in the center of the posters and overlapped images giving off a cool effect of colorful bands. Austin Cooper created posters for the Underground Railroad by using warm and cool colors, which communicated well with the viewers. He also took fragments of interesting places and events in Paris and collaged them as compositions. Joseph Binder used natural shapes/figures and used two basic colors—the second color creating the shadows. Abram Games composed emotional posters during the time of war; in one of the, a soldier was shown along with text questioning, “If he should fall, is your blood there to save him?” Many of these ideas were flowing in and out of Germany during this time, as the designers were influenced by Cubism and French advertisements. Printing became much easier as the technology was advancing.

The most interesting thing I learned from this chapter was how Austin Cooper created posters and conveyed meaning through the use of warm and cool colors. I think it is so amazing how color can hold emotion and have great effects. One of his posters is comprised of cool colors, trying to convince people to ride the train because of it being cooler below the ground. It definitely would have grabbed my attention on a hot day. Another poster was the exact opposite, yet having the same effect. The colors were warm, trying to convince people to come down to the underground railroad—out of the cold. Again, I would have been convinced. The posters hold expressions with the use of color.

Did Jean Carlu ever have a passion to help his community before he got injured in the trolley accident?