History Will Repeat Itself

Pleasantly surprised was I to find “Art Deco: Rhythm and Verve” still on view during a recent visit to the New York Public Library’s Humanities and Social Sciences Library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street. The exhibition, which has been running since last September and was scheduled to close in January, has been extended through April.

Though I’ve seen the small exhibit several times, the rarely seen photos and prints lured me in again. Upon entrance, I was welcomed by the upbeat jazzed voice of Josephine Baker, live from La Revue Nègre in Paris, representing the sound of the decadent era upon which Deco thrived.

Appropriate for an art form that began simply as a decorative movement (and wasn't named an art until 1968) wallpaper motives of the time are displayed from Les Maisons Charles Follot and Paul Dumas along with advertisements for interior designs. A common trait of deco were patterns repeating themselves over and over upon a medium, a visual illustration of the machine efficiency that was improving throughout the twenties, creating the "rhythm" that was so prevalent in urban settings during that decade.

Other visual influences on Deco were Orientalism and the Ballet Russes, which produced a most peculiar effect on the art.

The Library's curator tells viewers "...Art Deco captured the carefree modernist spirit of those decades, aided by the inspired improvisation of American jazz. Its designs brought to life 1920s gaiety, bathtub gin, cocktails, commercial radio, and Prohibition, along with 1930s intensity. In the years leading to World War II, the style’s lightheartedness began to look markedly out of place..."

The "opulent consumerism" and gaudiness of the Roaring Twenties are significant themes in the art style, which can only remind one of our current economic affairs, in which the same lavish lifestyles, spending habits, and hedonism have buried us into one deep hole where we can find exhibits and collections freezing across the city.