Art Deco Sculpture

A ground-breaking encyclopaedic study of Art Deco sculpture by the author of Art Deco Complete

With extended biographies of the most important artists and concise biographies of all the principal artists as well as a thematic index, this volume is the essential and authoritative guide for all those interested in the Art Deco style, from the amateur collector to professional historians.

This book showcases and puts into historical context a host of sculpted works created in the 1920s and 1930s in the vernacular defined loosely today as ‘Art Deco’. From the chevrons, sunbursts, maidens, fountains, floral abstractions and ubiquitous biche (doe) of the Parisian geometric style to the crisp, angular patterns of the zig-zag, jazz-age, streamlined aesthetic of the 1930s, the works shown demonstrate an enormous range of styles and stylistic influences.

Alastair Duncan organizes his subject into three main categories: the first features work by avant-garde sculptors (Csáky, Janniot, Pompon and more), often as pi?ces uniques or small editions; the second shows commercial sculpture, comprising mainly large-edition statuary, commissioned as decorative works for the burgeoning 1920s domestic market; while a final, third category covers architectural and monumental sculpture from Western
and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, North and South America and beyond.

Alastair Duncan was for many years an officer and consultant of Christie’s, New York, and is now an independent consultant on the decorative arts of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is the author of Art Nouveau and Art Deco Lighting, Art Deco Furniture, American Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Art Deco Bookbinding and Art Deco Complete, all published by Thames & Hudson.