Origins
Some historians trace Deco's roots to the Universal Exposition of 1900. After this show a group of artists established an informal collective known as La Société des artistes décorateurs (Society of Decorator Artists) to promote French crafts. Among them were Hector Guimard, Eugène Grasset, Raoul Lachenal, Paul Bellot, Maurice Dufrêne, and Emile Decoeur. These artists are said to have influenced the principles of Art Deco.
The Art Deco era is often dated from 1925 when the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes was organized to showcase new ideas in applied arts.
Deco was heavily influenced by pre-modern art from around the world. During the 1920s affordable travel permitted first-hand exposure to other cultures. There was also popular interest in archeology due to excavations at Pompeii, Troy, the tomb of Tutankhamun etc. Artists and designers integrated motifs from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Asia, Mesoamerica, and Oceania with Machine Age elements.
Deco was also influenced by Constructivism, Cubism, Functionalism, Modernism, and Futurism.
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