The term Art Deco, coined in the 1960s, refers to the decorative modern style that spanned the boom of the roaring 1920s and the bust of the Depression-ridden 1930s. It was a style of pleasure and escape, and reflected the plurality of the contemporary world, embracing all forms of design, from art and architecture to fashion and funfairs. The style drew on tradition and yet simultaneously celebrated the mechanised, modern world.
In a new age of mass tourism, triggered by the right to paid holidays for all bought in by the Holiday and Pay Act of 1938, coastal resorts were established (or revitalised) and transport networks modernised to meet the needs of holiday makers. Art Deco hotels, apartment blocks, cinemas and lidos changed the vista of seafronts, while the style permeated the ephemeral world of seaside fairgrounds, pleasure parks, ice cream parlours and illuminations.
The 1920s and 30s witnessed the advent of the healthy body culture, when sunbathing, swimming, and a host of other outdoor activities became fashionable. Pleasure gardens, lidos and golf courses changed the look of seaside resorts, while holiday camps such as Butlin’s provided new types of holiday experience.
Municipal authorities invested in the development of entertainment complexes and winter gardens, which provided amusements by day and night.
Photographs © Sonee Photography
The government backed programme of lido construction saw the creation of some of Britain’s grandest outdoor swimming pools. Most were built in the Art Deco style, with streamlined buildings and diving structures evocative of ocean liner design.
Art Deco by the Sea cleverly explores the transformational nature of Art Deco by breaking up the exhibition into five sections: Fishermen and Visitors; Depicting the Seaside; Travelling to the Sea; Designing the Seaside; Seaside Industries and Amusements by Day and by Night.
There are over 150 works in this exhibition – many of which have never been exhibited before and are drawn from private and public collections– and over the course of the space we are presented with paintings, photos, fashion, furniture and textiles.
There are some great pieces here – and I really enjoyed the painting Summer by Thomas Martine Ronaldson which had me yearning for better weather and a small cove in Cornwall.
Above all Ghislaine Wood, Acting Director of the Sainsbury Centre and curator of this exhibition, is a master of the tableau vivant, and treats the visitor to a glamorously furnished leisure space of armchairs, sideboard and figure lamp as well as an outside swimming pool with mannequins in exquisite bathing costumes and caps. If this style of exhibit seems familiar it is worth noting that Ghislaine was also the behind the masterful Ocean Liner exhibition at the V&A in 2018.
Overall Art Deco by the Sea does a fabulous job at evoking the glamour of the past but also – poignantly reflects on the legacy of Britain’s seaside Art Deco heritage. I highly recommend saving to last the small screening room showing photographs of many of the Art Deco buildings and resorts today. Where once they spoke of optimism, progress, glamour and escape now they serve to emphasise the steep decline and poverty of British seaside resorts.
Hopefully the value of this heritage will be properly appreciated and re-evaluated soon.
VISITING
The show is organised by the Sainsbury Centre in partnership with the Laing Art Gallery Newcastle.
Art Deco by the Sea
9 February 2020 – 14 June 2020
£13 – £12 concessions 50% for under 18s, full-time students and Art Fund Members
FREE for Sainsbury Centre Members, UEA and NUA Student Members
About the Author
Lucy Jane Santos
Lucy Jane Santos is a freelance writer, presenter and historian. Her debut non-fiction historical book Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium will be published by Icon Books in July 2020.