Paris Art Deco

Born into the Art Deco Age, author Arnold Schwartzman /photographer has savoured his many visits to Paris, and is now eager to share with the reader his journey through the boulevards of La Ville Lumiere.

With the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Moderne, the city of Paris heralded in the New Era. Paris was the cradle of Art Deco, a style that emerged in the 1920s as a reaction to the sinuous tentacles of Art Nouveau in the early 1900s, and an alternative to the Machine Age imagery emerging from Germany and the Soviet Union.

The Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels was intended to revive the French luxury trades and it popularized a jazzy style of decoration that drew on many sources and expressed the spirit of the age. The Expo later gave its name to Art Deco which achieved some of its most refined and exuberant manifestations in Paris, while rapidly spreading across the world, from London to Los Angeles.

Arnold Schwartzman is an Oscar-winning film-maker, a noted graphic designer, and the author of many books including Art Deco, Deco Landmarks, and Arts & Crafts. He began his design career in British television before moving to Hollywood in 1978. He was the Director of Design for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and for a number of years has designed many of the key graphic elements for the annual Academy Awards. He lives in Los Angeles.