It's a term thrown around quite casually these days, but if you really want to get to the heart of the subject, the Art Deco book by Norbert Wolf is likely to be a good place to start.
Published by Prestel, this fairly hefty 288-page book is filled with hundreds of examples of Art Deco painting, architecture, interiors, jewellery, crafts, furniture, and fashion, with the words backed up by 220 colour illustrations.
Author Norbert Wolf traces the chronology of the Art Deco style by looking at the politics and culture of Europe in the 1920s and early 30s, and the artistic movements that paralleled its popularity. He follows Art Deco's influence in Europe, its gradual popularity in the Americas and Asia and how Art Deco has survived that original era, with numerous revivals and a continuing influence in the arts today.
We suspect it isn't the lightest of reading, but books that dig deep often aren't. It is published at the end of September, with Amazon.co.uk taking pre-orders now for the not-inconsiderable price of £54.
