All Colour Book Of Art Deco

All Colour Book of Art Deco (1974) by Dan Klein – Octopus Books

Art Deco is what happens when geometry develops confidence.

Suddenly everything has a stepped edge, a sunburst, a chrome finish or the vague appearance that it belongs in the lobby of a very expensive hotel where somebody is about to arrive in a long car.

Dan Klein’s All Colour Book of Art Deco, published by Octopus Books in 1974, is a colourful celebration of one of the twentieth century’s most recognisable design movements: sleek, glamorous, decorative and absolutely unwilling to apologise for being stylish.

This is the world of bold lines, elegant curves, polished surfaces, exotic motifs and objects designed during an era when even a cigarette case apparently needed architectural ambition.

Art Deco spread across architecture, furniture, glass, ceramics, jewellery, posters, fashion, transport and interior design, cheerfully applying the same visual confidence to everything from skyscrapers to teaspoons.

The great joy of the style is that it manages to look both modern and luxurious.

Machines were exciting.

Speed was exciting.

Electricity was exciting.

Travel was glamorous.

And apparently the future was going to involve a great deal of black lacquer.

Klein’s book showcases the movement through colour illustrations, making it an accessible visual introduction to the shapes, materials and decorative ideas that defined the period.

This is not a book that expects you to spend fifty pages discussing theoretical design philosophy before seeing anything attractive.

You open it.

There is Art Deco.

Job done.

Published in 1974, the book is itself an interesting piece of design history, arriving at a time when Art Deco was being rediscovered and reassessed after several decades in which modernism had tried rather hard to persuade everyone that decoration was suspicious.

By the 1970s, people were looking back at the 1920s and 1930s and realising that perhaps there was something to be said for buildings that looked like they were permanently hosting a cocktail party.

The illustrations reveal how broad the style really was.

There are luxurious objects.

Commercial designs.

Decorative interiors.

Streamlined forms.

Elegant typography.

And enough zigzags to keep a graphic designer occupied indefinitely.

What makes Art Deco so appealing is its optimism.

It often looks as though the world is about to become faster, brighter and much better dressed.

Even practical objects were given presence.

A radio did not merely receive broadcasts.

It sat on a table looking important.

A lamp did not simply provide light.

It contributed to civilisation.

The book is therefore ideal for collectors, designers, decorators, artists, architecture enthusiasts and anyone who finds ordinary rectangles a little disappointing.

It is also useful for anyone currently considering whether their home needs more chrome, more symmetry or a large stylised gazelle for no obvious reason.

This copy is in Good condition, making it a pleasing vintage example of a book devoted to a style that has somehow managed to become fashionable, unfashionable and fashionable again several times without changing its haircut.

Ideal for lovers of Art Deco, vintage interiors, decorative arts, period design or people who feel the modern world would be improved if lifts had better doors.

Sold by Crappy Old Books, where glamour is limited, chrome is scarce, and every available sunburst motif is being saved for a future refurbishment.

ISBN: 0706403231
Condition: Good

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