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ART DECO ORNAMENTAL IRONWORK
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The ornamental ironwork that embellished European architecture in the period between the two World Wars was among the most imaginative and imposing aspects of Art Deco. Nearly 200 examples of that splendid achievement, most by French artists, fill this beautiful book. The photographs are reproduced from two rare portfolios by Henri Martinie, published in Paris in 1926 and 1929, the first showing examples of ironwork exhibited in the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1925.
Clear, detailed images depict gates, grilles, screens, balconies and numerous other architectural adornments, including massive gates created expressly for the pavilions of the 1925 Exposition. Other examples are less massive, but no less handsome: a garden gate, a fire screen a radiator cover from the Ỉle de France, a balustrade from a theater foyer and other designs that display the invention and artistry of the Art Deco style. The expressiveness of the designs depicted is remarkable, considering they were executed in a medium that might seem less tractable than most. One magnificent gate, for example, features a beautifully wrought image of the goddess Diana, while a sumptuous grille displays an exotic scene from the tropics in elegantly stylized detail.
Most of the ironwork depicted here is from French locales, but examples from Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Poland are included as well. Scholars and enthusiasts of ironwork, architectural ornament and the Art Deco style will find this treasury of meticulously reproduced photographs both an invaluable reference work and a wonderful browsing book.
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