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Art Deco Paintings

ART DECO STYLE

Art Deco furniture is characterized by its celebration of modern life. More than its emphasis on natural wood grains and focus on traditional craftsmanship, vintage Art Deco dining chairs, tables, desks, cabinets and other furniture — which typically refers to pieces produced during the 1920s and 1930s — is an ode to the glamour of the “Roaring Twenties.” 

ORIGINS OF ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGN

CHARACTERISTICS OF ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Bold geometric lines and forms, floral motifs
  • Use of expensive materials such as shagreen or marble as well as exotic woods such as mahogany, ebony and zebra wood
  • Metal accents, shimmering mirrored finishes
  • Embellishments made from exotic animal hides, inlays of mother-of-pearl or ivory

ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

VINTAGE ART DECO FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Few design styles are as universally recognized and appreciated as Art Deco. The term alone conjures visions of the Roaring Twenties, Machine Age metropolises, vast ocean liners, sleek typography and Prohibition-era hedonism. The iconic movement made an indelible mark on all fields of design throughout the 1920s and ’30s, celebrating society’s growing industrialization with refined elegance and stunning craftsmanship.

Widely known designers associated with the Art Deco style include Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Eileen Gray, Maurice Dufrêne, Paul Follot and Jules Leleu.

The term Art Deco derives from the name of a large decorative arts exhibition held in Paris in 1925. “Art Deco design” is often used broadly, to describe the work of creators in associated or ancillary styles. This is particularly true of American Art Deco, which is also called Streamline Moderne or Machine Age design. (Streamline Moderne, sometimes known as Art Moderne, was a phenomenon largely of the 1930s, post–Art Nouveau.)

Art Deco textile designers employed dazzling floral motifs and vivid colors, and while Art Deco furniture makers respected the dark woods and modern metals with which they worked, they frequently incorporated decorative embellishments such as exotic animal hides as well as veneers in their seating, case pieces, living room sets and bedroom furniture.

From mother-of-pearl inlaid vitrines to chrome aviator chairs, bold and inventive works in the Art Deco style include chaise longues (also known as chaise lounges) and curved armchairs. Today, the style is still favored by interior designers looking to infuse a home with an air of luxury and sophistication.

The vintage Art Deco furniture for sale on 1stDibs includes dressers, coffee tables, decorative objects and more.

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Style: Art Deco
Color:  Black
Oil on Canvas of Einer Hansen First Violinist Boston Symphony Orchestra and Pops
Located in Nashua, NH
A unique oil painting of 1st violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as well as the famous very popular Boston Pops, Mr. Einer Hansen. Mr. Hansen was born In Denmark in 1890 and...
Category

1920s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Paint

"South Seas Stories", Bold Art Deco Maquette for Jack London Collection, 1920s
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Boldly painted in a palette of spring green, jet black and mango, this very strong Art Deco maquette for a book cover was painted in the late 1920s by a promising artist -- Helene Ha...
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1920s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

Art Deco Floral Study
Located in Riverdale, NY
Lovely Art Deco impressionistic, interior still life study of a vase of vivid dahlias, circa 1930. Elegant matching 2 toned limed washed frame. 1930s USA.
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1930s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Still Life, Oil on Canvas, Signed and Framed, Norway, Late 1800s
Located in Hønefoss, 30
A melancholy painting of still life in late 1800s. Oil on canvas, signed and framed. From Norway, Scandinavia. Later frame.
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1890s Norwegian Antique Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Emmanuel Fougerat, O/C Portrait of La Argentinita, ca. 1920
By Emmanuel Fougerat
Located in New York, NY
DIMENSIONS: Height: 16.25 inches Width: 13.5 inches Depth: 2.25 inches Frame width: 2.5 inches ABOUT MODEL Encarnación López Júlvez, known as La Argentinita (Buenos Aires, March 3, 1898 – New York, September 24, 1945) was a Spanish-Argentine flamenco dancer (bailaora), choreographer and singer. La Argentinita was considered the highest expression of this art form during that time. López Júlvez was the daughter of Spanish immigrants in Argentina, where her father had a fabric business. While living there, two of her siblings died in a scarlet fever epidemic. Consequently, she was brought to the north coast of Spain in 1901, where she began to learn Spanish regional dances. When she was only four years old, she started learning flamenco from Julia Castelao. Her first public performance was at the age of eight at the Teatro-Circo de San Sebastián, in the Basque Country. She chose the name "La Argentinita" in deference to the famous flamenco dancer Antonia Mercé (La Argentina). After travelling throughout Spain as a child prodigy, she settled in Madrid to perform at Teatro La Latina, Teatro de la Comedia, Teatro de La Princesa, Teatro Apolo and Teatro Príncipe Alfonso. Her success led her to tour in Barcelona, Portugal and Paris, and then Latin America. In the early 1920s, she returned to Spain, where she worked in Madrid. Among her early performances was the 1920 premiere of Federico García Lorca's musical play El maleficio de la mariposa as "the Butterfly". She announced her retirement in 1926, but would quickly return to the show business as part of the artistic renewal that led her to the Generation of ‘27, in which she combined flamenco, tango, bulerías and boleros. She danced to the compositions of Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Turina, Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Maurice Ravel. She helped in the development of Ballet Español. Adapting pieces to popular tradition, she toured Europe, triumphing in Paris and Berlin and participating in the artistic movements of that time along with Spanish poets such as Rafael Alberti, Federico García Lorca, Edgar Neville and Ignacio Sanchez Mejias. Sánchez Mejías, an intellectual and bullfighter, was a married man and her lover. La Argentinita retired a second time to maintain her clandestine relationship with him. However, she would return to the stage with the aid of Sánchez Mejías, who participated in the search and employment of interpreters for her subsequent performances. In 1931, López Júlvez and García Lorca recorded five gramophone slate records, which were accompanied by García Lorca's piano. The selection of songs was prepared, adapted and titled Colección de Canciones Populares Españolas by García Lorca. Among the ten songs were "Los cuatro muleros", "Zorongo gitano", "Anda Jaleo" and "En el Café de Chinitas". With the beginning of the Second Spanish Republic, López Júlvez formed her own ballet company called Bailes Españoles de la Argentinita together with her sister, Pilar López Júlvez, and García Lorca. López Júlvez staged several flamenco theatrical shows, including an adaption of Falla's El amor brujo (Love, the Magician) in 1933, and Las Calles de Cádiz (The Streets of Cadiz) in 1933 and 1940.[7] She travelled through Spain and Paris, where she was recognized as one of the most important flamenco artists of her time. Her company included the flamenco figures Juana la Macarrona, La Malena, Fernanda Antúnez, Rafael Ortega and Antonio de Triana, who was her first dancing partner until the 1940s. At the end of her tour around Spain, her lover Sánchez Mejías was gored to death in 1934 in the Manzanares bullring. She sought refuge in her work and moved to Buenos Aires to dance at the Teatro Colón; from there she embarked on a long American tour. In 1936 she achieved success in New York. Afterwards, she returned to Spain but was forced to flee the country shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. She travelled through Morocco, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA, where she remained in exile in New York. From then until her death in 1945, she developed her career and became one of the biggest stars of international dance, and even participated in movies. In 1943, she presented the flamenco troupe El Café de Chinitas at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, with her own choreography, texts by García Lorca, scenery by Salvador Dalí and the orchestra directed by José Iturbi. In addition, she performed at the Washington DC Watergate complex with her sister. On May 28, 1945, she gave her last performance at the Metropolitan of the orchestral work El Capricho Español, composed in 1887 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and based on Spanish melodies. At the end of the event, she had to be admitted to a hospital, where she died on September 24 from a tumor in her abdomen. She did not want to have it operated on because she did not wish to abandon dancing. Her body was repatriated to Spain in December and buried in the Spanish capital. That same year, the company of Bailes Españoles de la Argentinita was dissolved. Among the honors she received after her death was a plaque consecrated at the Metropolitan Opera House, positioned among the medals of Alfonso X El Sabio and La Orden de Isabel la Católica to honor her merits in the field of culture. ABOUT ARTIST Emmanuel Fougerat (French, 1869 – 1958) was a renowned French painter, museum curator and art historian. A former student of the Regional School of Fine Arts in Rennes, Fougerat studied in the studio of Albert Maignan and that of Jean-Paul Laurens in Paris. He was appointed director of the Nantes School of Fine Arts and was also the founder and curator of the Museum of Fine Arts in the same city. Emmanuel Fougerat was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1912. In 1923, he was placed on temporary leave from the French State in order to carry out a mandate as director of fine arts education in the Province of Quebec, Canada; where he served as an art teacher and director of the École des beaux-arts de Montréal from 1923 to 1925. Emmanuel Fougerat’s paintings are in the following public collections: • Nantes Museum of Fine Arts, France. • Museum of Modern Art in Paris, France. • Rennes Town Hall: permanent decorations. • Museum of Fine Arts of Saint-Nazaire (destroyed in 1944), France • National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec, Canada. Emmanuel Fougerat is also the author of works on several French painters, including Albert Besnard, Paul Baudry...
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

"New Mexico River Valley, " 1920s Painting, Black, Green & Blue, Attr. Applegate
By Frank Applegate 1
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This superbly painted view of the mountains framing a river valley in northern New Mexico is attributed to Frank Guy Applegate, who lived and worked in the state during the 1920s, and is known for his watercolors -- such as this -- that present strong, abstracted views of the local landscapes, all in vivid colors and bold strokes of paint. Applegate was considered one of the New Mexico Modernists, and was accompanied on some of his painting forays by B.J.O. Nordfeldt, Andrew Dasburg and Josef Bakos. Applegate also had enormous respect for the culture and artistry of the native people, and encouraged a revival of the Pueblo style...
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1920s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

Very Large Painting “a Van Der Plas”
Located in LELYSTAD, FL
Adrianus Marie van der Plas was borne in 1899 in Rotterdam and died in 1974 in Kerkrade. He was a painter, a sculptor and a graphic artist. “Het Rotterdams Nieuwsblad” wrote in 1969?...
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1920s Belgian Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Eliade Ispas Cubist/Constructivist Lacquer Panel
By Eliade Ispas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This bold panel by German artist Eliade Ispas features red and black lacquer as well as gold and silver leaf accents. It is heavily influenced by cubist and constructivist design tra...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary German Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Lacquer

Large Art Deco Reverse Painted Glass Wall Panel, France, circa 1940s
Located in Isle Sur La Sorgue, Vaucluse
Very lovely and decorative large glass reverse-painted panel ("fixé sous verre"), representing a pair of deer in a peaceful, tropical setting, on a bl...
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Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Paintings

"Morning Chat, " Moody, Atmospheric Painting by Daniel Koerner, WPA Artist
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Clearly showing the influence of German Expressionism and American film noir, this deeply atmospheric, moody painting depicts two male figures in the foreground, deep in conversation...
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1930s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Nude Swimmers and Octopus, " Study for Art Deco Mural in Black, Pink and Blue
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Highly sophisticated and striking in conception and execution, this study for an Art Deco bathroom mural depicts -- appropriately -- male and female nud...
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1940s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

Wallpaper Design, France, Art Deco, 1920s
Located in Paris, FR
Wallpaper design. Watercolor painting on paper representing Chinese masks, France, Art Deco, 1920s. Dimensions: 49.5 x 49.5cm excl frame. Another wallpape...
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paper

Olympia Signed Hilgers Painting 1930 Art Deco Nude
Located in Marseille, FR
Oil on canvas painting signed Hilgers bottom right. 1930s, depicting a young woman naked kind of Olympia in the Art Deco style.
Category

Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Georg Kirsta, 1927 Art Deco Nude Portrait
By George Kirsta
Located in Sharon, CT
Beautifully painted in the deco manner of Tamara De Lempicka. Kirsta, a Russian artist escaped to Western Europe during the revolution, pursued a career as a painter and theatrical s...
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1920s English Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

Family of Swans Wall Panel in the Manner of Jean Dunand
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Beautiful lacquer wall panel depicting a family of swans with waterlilies with a gold leaf border. In the manner of Jean Dunand.
Category

20th Century French Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

French Art Deco Oil Painting on Canvas by Gustave Florot, circa 1930
By Gustave Florot
Located in Houston, TX
Beautifully executed French Art Deco female nude oil on canvas, signed by listed artist Gustave Florot, circa 1930.
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Fontanarosa French Art Deco Oil Painting of a Couple in a Boat
Located in New York, NY
French Art Deco oil on canvas painting of a couple in a boat by Lucien Joseph Fontanarosa, (Paris 1912-1989) . The canvas is laid down on a thin plywood pan...
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1940s French Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Flower Still Life with Dahlias, Oil on Canvas, Gaston Geleyn, Dated 1934
Located in Casteren, Noord-Brabant
Flower still life with dahlias, in beautiful, vibrant colors. Oil on canvas. The round format is very unusual. Frame and canvas are an original whole. The painting is signed in the paint on the lower right and dated, 1934. The painting is framed behind anti-reflective glass, which means that the colors are beautifully preserved. The frame is subtly carved in Art Deco style. A similar painting by the same painter is depicted in an old exhibition book by this painter. See picture. His work work has also been purchased by various museums. The book about Gaston Geleyn is beautifully illustrated, 170 pages and it is about the life and work of the artist. The book was published in 1933. Book is supplied with the painting. More information about the Gaston Geleyn follows below. Source: Paul Piron 'Art in Belgium'. GELEYN, Gaston (Brussels, 1892 - Grimbergen 1949). Painter. Stayed with a great uncle in Paris until he was 16 years old. After a short stay in Brussels, he returned to Paris and attended classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts led by Roll and Flaming. After the First World War he traveled the world and stayed in America, India and North Africa, among other places. He was under contract from 1919 to 1929 by a Dutch art dealer. His first exhibition was at the 'Giroux' Gallery in Brussels in 1933. Geleyn painted landscapes, marines, figure still lifes and flowers. He also painted the portrait of King Albert I. He had studios in Grimbergen and in Ostend. In Ostend, he painted the sea in all its forms, from the sleeping silver-gray sea...
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1930s Belgian Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

French Art Deco Painting Exotic Woman Holding a Dove Signed Chasquest Dated 1930
Located in Miami, FL
Vivid and striking, this Classic Art Deco watercolor of an exotic female figure holding a bird in one hand was painted by Chasquest, perhaps as a costume design for a Hollywood produ...
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Early 20th Century French Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paper

French Art Deco Painting Woman Holding a Flower Signed Chasquest
Located in Miami, FL
Vivid and striking, classic French Art Deco watercolor of an exotic woman holding a flower in one hand was painted by Chasquest, perhaps as a costume design for a Hollywood productio...
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Early 20th Century French Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paper

"Black Figure in Yellow Room, " 1930s Portrait by Student of Thomas Hart Benton
By Trew Hocker
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Brilliantly conceived and executed by Trew Hocker, an important muralist who was strongly influenced by Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, this portrait of a young African American m...
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1930s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Jesse Crawford at the Paramount Theater Organ, " Illustration Painting by Boyd
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This extraordinary painting brings together two remarkable talents -- John Rutherford Boyd, the superb painter and illustrator, who captures this scene -- and Jesse Crawford, one of ...
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1930s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

Portrait of Mrs. Douglas MacArthur 'Louise Cromwell'
By Alfred Smith
Located in Dallas, TX
Portrait of Louise Cromwell of the Standard Oil family painted by Alfred Smith in 1928.  
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1920s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Federal Building, Century of Progress Exposition, " Brilliant Art Deco Painting
Located in Philadelphia, PA
One of the most vivid and compelling accounts of the famed Century of Progress Exposition, which opened in Chicago in 1933, this view of the iconic Federal Building was painted in the second year of the fair by a Pennsylvania artist. The brilliantly-lit Art Deco...
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1930s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

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Paint

Michèle Demedts Large Ooil on Canvas, signed Demedts, circa 1990
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Michèle DEMEDTS (1958-) , large oil on canvas signed DEMEDTS, Circa 1990
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1990s Belgian Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

One of a Kind Erté Original Painting "Femme Au Collant Resille"
Located in Asheville, NC
Signed original gouache painting by Romain de Tirtoff, aka Erté. This very rare original features a woman wearing fishnet stockings and a pearl-and-lace top with black gloves and a ...
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Stylized Art Deco Gouache of a Woman, France, 1920s
Located in New York, NY
France, 1920s Art Deco Gouache on paper Stylized portrait of a woman in profile on geometric background in grey, black and cream tones. 20 x 16 framed.
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

"Nude with Scimitar, " Fabulous, Sensual Art Deco Painting by Forster, 1929
By E.H. Forster
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Full of drama and intrigue, both sensual and classical, this depiction of a female nude tiptoeing toward a curtain being pulled aside by a threatening, unseen figure, has all the noc...
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1920s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Wallpaper Design, France, Art Deco, 1920s
Located in Paris, FR
Wallpaper design. Watercolor painting on paper representing a Chinese landscape, France, Art Deco, 1920s. Dim: 49.5 x 49.5cm excl frame. Another wallpaper design is available with a matching pattern and representing Chinese masks...
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paper

"Nude Bather, Dominican Republic, " 1930s Tropical Scene Watercolor
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Painted by Wilmot Heitland, one of America's great watercolorists in the 1930s, this sun-drenched depiction of a native Dominican, nude and stepping toward a pool of water, captures ...
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1930s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Michèle Demedts, Large Oil on Canvas Style Art Deco Signed Demedts, circa 1980
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Michèle Demedts, large oil on canvas style Art Deco signed Demedts, circa 1980
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1980s Belgian Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

Michèle Demedts, Large Oil on Canvas Signed Demedts, circa 1990
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Michèle DEMEDTS (1958-) , large oil on canvas signed DEMEDTS, Circa 1990
Category

1990s Belgian Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

Michèle Demedts, Large Oil on Canvas Signed Demedts, circa 1990
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Michèle Demedts, large oil on canvas signed Demedts, circa 1990.
Category

1990s Belgian Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

Art Deco Velvet Persian Lady Wall Hanging
By Grant Simon
Located in New York, NY
American Art Deco (1928) vertical painted velvet wall hanging of Persian lady with 2 urns (attributed to GRANT SIMON).
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1920s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Velvet

Madonna Art Deco Oil Painting on Cardboard
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Madonna oil painting on cardboard . Wonderful patina.
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1930s Italian Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

"Bacchante, " Bold, Richly-Hued Art Deco Painting in Purples and Blues
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Graphically striking and boldly painted in a rich palette of purples, blues and oranges, this high style Art Deco painting by M. H. Forster depicts a female figure with curling tendr...
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1920s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Pierre Lardin French Mid-Century Painted Wall Mirror
Located in New York, NY
French mid-century (1940s) oak framed horizontal wall mirror with reverse glass painted Neoclassic scenes. (attributed to Pierre Lardin).  
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1940s French Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Oak, Mirror

"African Youth with Gourds and Flowers, " English Art Deco Painting, 1946
By Stuart Maxwell Armfield
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A brilliant painting executed in vivid colors, this view of an African male youth holding a basket of gourds and an enormous bouquet of calla lilies, day lilies and other tropical bl...
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1940s Great Britain (UK) Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

American Portrait of Norma Engle, St. Louis 1931 by Arthur Johnson (1874 - 1954)
By Arthur Johnson
Located in Hanover, MA
Lovely period grand scale portrait of a young lady in equestrienne attire by Arthur Johnson. A landscape, portrait, genre painter and caricaturist, Arthur Johnson was born in Cinc...
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1930s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Italian Portrait of a Woman, Oil on Canvas, Late 1st Quarter 20th Century
Located in Atlanta, GA
Painted in the style of the realist school, see Edward Hopper, this lady gazes somberly forward and downward to her left, retaining original wooden frame.
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1920s Italian Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Navajo Mother & Child, " Painting by Martha Walter with Handmade Frame
By Martha Walter 1
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A magnificent example of her work, this portrait of a Navajo woman and her child has all the hallmarks of Martha Walter's mature work, confident and bold ...
Category

1930s American Vintage Art Deco Paintings

Art Deco Paintings

Art Deco paintings might not have been as abundant as other decorative art forms when the movement first materialized in the early 1900s, as there wasn’t a painting-specific component of the 1925 Parisian exhibition that gave way to the term Art Deco. But many artists — such as those working as magazine illustrators, glass artists or sculptors — embraced the characteristics of the fashionable style even if painting wasn't their primary medium.

While sculpture and painting were initially secondary Art Deco media, Art Deco paintings were still lively and rich. As part of a reaction against the organic forms and floral motifs that underpinned Art Nouveau, Art Deco painters introduced geometric abstraction and distortion in their work. Painters working in the Art Deco style were inspired by Cubist forms and the bright colors of Fauvism, and an offshoot of Art Deco painting emerged in the 1930s as murals, a way to decorate buildings in the United States after the Great Depression.

Dunbar D. Beck, Witold Gordon, René Buthaud and Emil Fiala are some of the painters associated with Art Deco that you can find on 1stDibs.

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