High Demand, Scarce Quantity Drive the Market for Art Deco

Art Business News, Sept, 2001 by Jessica Lyons

Referring to a stunning pair of Art Deco diamond and black onyx pendant earrings, Zavian said, "Now that's what you call true Art Deco." The earrings recently sold for $19,550 at the Doyle New York Important Estate Jewelry auction.

"Art Deco was the first to come out with baguette diamonds, anything that had a straight line, triangles, trapezoids," he continued. "Plain diamonds marked the beginning of the Art Deco period. They were pretty, but then they started using sapphires and rubies to bring out the colors."

According to Zavian, one of the most popular Art Deco jewelry pieces is still the straight line bracelet. He remembers the story of a man who walked into Cartier asking what he should buy for his wife, and he was introduced to the straight-line diamond bracelet. He came in again for Valentine's Day and was shown a ruby straight-line bracelet. The possibilities were endless: rubies, emeralds, sapphires and black onyx.

"The man said `I'm good for at least five holidays,'" said Zavian.

Contemporary Artists Flock to Art Deco

Nearly 80 years since the dawn of Art Deco, as original pieces become more expensive and more difficult to find, contemporary artists are creating art in a similar vein.

"The style, the sleekness, the design--it has a sophisticated glamour to it," said contemporary artist M Kungl. "I've always admired it. But there's only so many existing Art Deco posters that are still around."

So Kungl uses traditional Art Deco images--airplanes, cigars, martini glasses--and creates limited-edition Art Deco style posters digitally.

"Whether they know Art Deco or not, the people who see it love it," said Kungl. "Art Deco fans really go nuts, and the people who don't know Art Deco take it for what it is and go `Wow, that's neat.'"

Contemporary Art Deco artist Tracy Dennison, who recently signed on with AdTech Publishing Group to create limited editions of her work, chooses to create images of people at luxury hotels, at the races or showing off vintage cars in addition to Art Deco female portraits. "I love the flavor and classic style of the '30s," she said. "I grew up listening to stories from my mother of that period, and the photographs and old clippings filled my head with the romance of the Art Deco era."

During the Art Deco era, there was an unbridled enthusiasm for what man and technology could do. Which explains the appeal of Art Deco in 2001, according to modern Art Deco artist Mark Venaglia, who believes today's Art Deco explains society's relationship with technology and spirituality.

"Futurism and the modern world are more on people's minds, but they don't want such an antiseptic world," he said. "[In the '20s and '30s,] there was this overwhelming attitude that machines were going to make the future beautiful, and I want my work to remind people of that."

"Art Deco shows such a sense of optimism," he continued. "The deeper we get into the 21st century, the more we get back into Art Deco."

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