Art Deco in Britain
Speaker: Gillian Naylor Ph.D.
Retired Design History Professor, Royal College of Art, London England
The Paris International Exhibition of Modern and Industrial Arts of 1925 launched the style that came to be known as Art Deco. The style concentrated on luxury and the modern, presenting a challenge to the British whose design reformers tended to promote a traditional or craft aesthetic. This lecture will describe how the British developed Art Deco in the 20's and 30's, a style that appealed both to the rich and the urban middle classes. Designers such as Betty Joel and Syrie Maugham, for example, worked within the French tradition; graphic and textile designers (Edward McKnight Kauffer and Marian Pepler) experimented with forms and colors relating to avant guard, while Clarice Cliff and Shelley potteries produced Jazz age ceramics.
This lecture is presented in partnership with Sotheby's Institute and the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Place: Sotheby's 1334 York Avenue, 9th Floor, New York, NY
Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2002
Time: 6:30 PM Lecture