Art Deco

‘Art Deco’ was an art movement that flourished through the 1920’s and 1930’s. The decade opened up an extensive variety of original and distinctive styles and still remains to be the foundation of ‘an era so rich and so remote that at times it seems to belong to the unfathomable domain of dreams (Cocteau, n.d).’ Art Deco was a necessity at the time, due to the economic crisis and war. Society needed pop colour and creative, eccentric designs to brighten up the dull life they were living. People needed to Escape reality and drown in a world completely unlike their own. Freethinking and creativeness was embraced, not frowned upon. It was revolutionary, the start of something new. The Art Deco movement was a time marked by Fashion Illustrator Paul Iribe as he revived the fashion plate in a modernist style, in order to produce a streamlined natural yet fashionable silhouette. A designer so great, utilizing simplicity as well as developing the aesthetics of modernism, in order to rename himself in the elite and exclusive world of art. It is exemplified that this period has helped develop and shape art in general, through merging naturalism and realism as one. ‘Antonio López García’ is not only acknowledged as one of the most revered contemporary artists to the Spanish, but to the world. The extreme sense of realism or his so-called hyper realistic illustrations convey his visual sensitivity to the elements of colour, space and light. López García's style may be deemed as inquisitive and surreal although highlights irony through the way in which he uses his illustrations to capture the commonplace spaces that instill life in his eyes, to enable the ‘tranquility that allows for the encroachments of everyday life (López García & Serraller, 2010).’

Paul Iribe acknowledged artist, journalist, fashion illustrator and designer deemed as a pioneer of the Art Deco movement. It was through his originality he was able to gain an international reputation, which was through designing the layout Le Robes de Paul Poiret in 1908. Director and producer Cecil B. DeMille brought Iribe to Hollywood in 1920, where he was a well-recognised designer of fabrics, wallpaper, furniture and several costume designs of DeMille’s dramas.
Iribe was recognized for his clean graphic line, jeweled-tone palette and his ability to produce exotic silhouettes through the main utilization of line, giving it a sense of naturalism. His designs portrayed naturalistic yet modernistic fashion illustration figures, which enjoyed life in relaxed arrangements. Thus represented elegance, functionality, glamour and modernity. López Garcia, a well-known artist of this present day explores the classical themes of still life, landscape and figure; this was done through the depth insight of his immediate ambiance. Furthermore this ‘created a faithful representation of his simple motifs (Boston Museum, 2008). López García’s work comprises of particular combinations of illustrations of backdrops and people, while many of his illustrations resulted in a mysterious yet pragmatic composition. López García deciphered his personal view into ‘poetic canvases, drawings, and sculpture (Boston Museum, 2008).’ He is accredited for his astonishing patience which allowed him to create authentic masterpieces, ‘Lopez’s work is its timelessness; he is an old master in the contemporary world (Brutvan, 2008).’ López García’s relationship with Madrid developed through the extensive periods of observation he put in, in order to complete his work, this resulted in repeatedly visiting the chosen landscapes whether it was days or years. This exemplified his passion and determination for producing precocious works of fine art. The exquisiteness of López García's work begins with the appreciation he has for his personal technique. He believed that every ‘artist [should] work out for [themselves] what technique [they] need for [their] work (López García, 2009).’ He is perceived as a ‘versatile realist’, who is proficient in the media’s of oil painting on board, carved wood sculpture, charcoal, pencil drawing or water colours, pen, ink, Polaroid film and bas relief in plaster. The watercolor seen in an array of López García's work insinuates the transparency and how it allows the light to reflect from the direct surface of the paper, giving it that incandescent look. He uses stick of charcoal or thin pastel to blend and soften his original drawing strokes; this helps furnish his work a bona fide touch. The world comes to life with the stunning pragmatism of Antonio López García, through his depiction of buildings, plants and ‘cluttered interiors (Kaufman, 2009).’ His meticulousness can be insinuated as quite invigorating, in which he paints the commonplace with its lingering beauty as it ‘pervades [the simplicity in] life (Kaufman, 2009).’López García illustrates every aspect and every angle depicting ‘stains, grime and shadows with a verisimilitude that goes beyond photographic realism toward an absolute faith (Daily News, 2010).’ He is recognised as one of Spain’s most revered artists, where his characteristics of his work, were deemed as the translation of the everyday. You could say López García was an observer, as he painted with an astonished precision of a man perceiving the world for the very first time. He captured the visual and ‘his extraordinary deftness prolongs our attention to these quotidian prospects, disrupting our perceptual complacency and directing us to reexamine forms, often leading us to experience their beauty (Kaufman, 2009).’

‘You work until the whole surface has an expressive intensity equivalent to what you have before you, converted into a pictorial reality (Lopez, n.d). López García’s depictions enable him to stand out from other illustrators, as he understands the use of regular proportion in which he uses to pinpoint certain emotions from an individual. The proportion he seems to master can be linked with harmony as his art creates specific feelings through the colour, lighting and space he uses. The composition combines those elements of colour and space to give simplicity to his work. López García is deemed to form composition in methods he uses to create a sense of delusion, through the ‘planes of colour from a monochromatic and subdued palette, a precursor to minimalist aesthetics (Boston Museum, 2008).’ ‘He has an uncanny ability to understand light and translate it into colour (Brutvan, 2009).’ The techniques which helped López García in producing astounding work, and assisted him with the proportions of creating precise form [and] space and measuring distance between angles was simply ‘a ruler to his cheekbone, and the other end with his hand also holding a compass upright (FAA News, 2009).’ To comprehend the effect of light as it touches an object or landscape, he limited his time painting in the same spot at the exact time each day, so that he could adapt his work to the weather, which was done without the use of photographs or camera’s, giving it a sense of naturalism. The composition of his work can be associated with unity in the way in which it gives his works wholeness, giving his piece the realistic perfection he intended. Subsequently López García’s main technique to perfection ‘at a length, is patience, eyes wide open (FAA News, 2009).’ In stark contrast to Garcia, Paul Iribe’s technique differed as his key method of design was by utilizing the pochoir technique in which colours were brushed onto paper through thin copper or even zinc and were cut out stencils were an important boost for the art of fashion illustration. Iribe used this to depict the fashion at the time. Iribe’s technique was based on simplicity with the use of simple lines creating flat, broad and abstract expanses of brighter colours in order to capture the Empire dresses, which gave him his creditability and name as a designer. Iribe’s designs can be executed as simple yet sophisticated. The way in which he plays with contrast and colour and captures the essence of a women’s beauty through the simplicity of lines ‘work brilliantly together.’

Although Antonio Lopez Garcia and Paul Iribe remain to be designers in stark contrast, you can consider the following designs and they ways in which both the artists translates the fashion realm into something a little less ordinary. The perception of realism is dependent on the time, exemplified through the Art Deco movement simplicity was as real as it got, however because times are changing, so is the art, which is why Antonio Lopez Garcia was able to modernize and evolve through his art. Both their styles remain as limitless and crafts of perfection. The aura of not only fashion is evident through Iribe’s art, but life in the self-portraits of Garcia’s. Fashion and Life were seen as an art form and both their illustrations capture the idea of what their idea is on life/fashion. ‘For there is beauty in placement and detail as well as skill in the application of colour in all the elements of a work of art as there is in fashion.’