Spring Comes Galloping In

This Welsh fellow was an undervalued practitioner of the Art Deco style. You don't see enough of his work in the Deco art books.

William Welsh — Spring — ca 1930s

Underground World

This is gorgeous art deco storyboard art for one of the animated Superman films of the '40s. If comics could be illustrated this way, I think comic books would make their way to more people. In fact, really, why not comic books that are more 'illustrated' than 'cartooned'?

I love that throne!

Animation story board art — The Underground World — 1943

Inspiration

Artists and photographers, look to the future for new creation, but look to the past for great inspiration.

Baron De Meyer — Satin Dress —early 1930s

Decadent Deco

Another view of women from 1915, by my favorite decadent Deco artist — Georges Barbier. The elegant woman on the right appears to have been spanked recently, or am I paying too much attention here?

Georges Barbier — La Vie Parisienne magazine — 1915

Can someone, knowledgeable in French, translate the border heading? Google translator is not making sense of it.

Update: I appreciate hearing from all you folks with translations. Coming straight from Jacques in France, this seems to be the final word:

The sentence in Georges Barbier's illustration is, in french:

"il est mieux de deviner que de voir",

which could be translated as :

"Guessing is better than seeing"

or as

" It is better to guess than to see".

—Your choice.—

Municipal Airports

Another elegant poster utilizing an elegant simple palette.

circa 1936

The Lesbian Flute Player

'Nuff said.

Vera Willoughby — The Lesbian Flute Player — 1927

Fashion Fantasy

From another Vogue fashion fantasy cover:

S.W. Reynolds — Vogue magazine — 1927

Posterized

A magazine illustration, using the posterized styling of Doug Johnson . . .

Doug Johnson — Women's Wear Daily —1981

Jazz Age

From deep in the Jazz Age comes this iconic magazine cover.

Benito — Vogue magazine cover — 1927

Fashionable Beauty

This cover is just a few months short of 100 years old.

All that negative space with no blurbs! Remarkable!

George Wolf Plank — Vogue — November 15, 1911

Angel on Ascension

From an angel that had fallen, to an angel on ascension . . .

This was a personal Christmas poster designed and illustrated by Fred G. Cooper in 1925, a veritable pixie of a guy according to his friends.

Cooper was self taught in his skills, and at one time he was art director at the old Life Magazine (the humor mag), where his editor claimed that Cooper had two brains in one: the right frontal brain lobe—mathematical, scientific and precise— and the left lobe completely cuckoo.

Time and the Elements

Paul Manship — Time & the Dancing Hours

If Earth is ever represented in a Galactic Exposition of Cultures, I hope that Paul Manship's timeless Art Deco work will be integrated into the architectural wonders that we will erect.

Above is a sublime bronze sun dial, and below we see the Four Elements, bas-relief bronze plaques, inspired by themes in the ancient Tower of the Winds.

Water

Air

Earth

Fire

Art Deco Goodness

At first glance, this low bas relief panel seems really busy, and of course it really is, but it's chock-full of Art Deco goodness from 1937.

It was a panel in the dining salon of the French ocean liner, Normandie — and to be specific, in case you're dying to know, the starboard side forward cabin-class. You can view it in person at the Museum of the City of New York.

Mmm. To be an affluent traveler in those days . . .

Vintage Cards

Some 1920s vintage Art Deco-ish greeting cards:

An Era of Erotica

Georges Barbier was one of the great early 20th century art deco sensualists, creating an era of erotica with a graphic technique that found favor with the aristocratic mavens of society.

If his work finds your favor, even if only a little, check back sometime next week to view his illustrations for a special little book.

Georges Barbier — L'eventail et la fourrure chez Paquin — 1911

Georges Barbier _La Belle Helene —1922

Scheherazade

Okay, I think some of you are falling asleep out there over my posts. This'll wake you up.

From Georges Barbier, a master of the exotic and erotic, Scheherazade, as only he would envision:

Love, Desire & Death

Sounding for all the world like a Woody Allen movie, this drawing is entitled Love, Desire & Death—by Georges Barbier.

Art Deco Artform

Art Deco manifested itself in many artforms, but none so charming as the many bronze and ivory sculptures of the era. This one is by Pierre Le Faguays. I plan to post a number of others.