173-660: The Downtown Athletic Club , also known as the Downtown Club , was a private social and athletic club that operated from 1926 to 2002 at 20 West Street , within the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City . The Downtown Athletic Club was known for formerly issuing the Heisman Trophy , an annual award for outstanding college football players that was named after John Heisman ,
346-842: A 20th-century adaptation of a classical subject. Other important works for Rockefeller Center were made by Lee Lawrie , including the sculptural façade and the Atlas statue . During the Great Depression in the United States, many sculptors were commissioned to make works for the decoration of federal government buildings, with funds provided by the WPA, or Works Progress Administration . They included sculptor Sidney Biehler Waugh, who created stylized and idealized images of workers and their tasks for federal government office buildings. In San Francisco, Ralph Stackpole provided sculpture for
519-520: A 35-mile (56 km) radius—but only had 2,000 such members at the time. In 1987, an electrical transformer exploded in the building, slightly damaging the 19th and 20th floors. By 1998, The New York Times reported that the club only had fewer than 1,300 members and that the structure was "crumbling". Further, the club owed $ 3 million of back taxes to the New York City government. Discussions were held with local real estate developers to sell off
692-559: A basement. The site of the Downtown Athletic Club was first occupied by small landowners who built houses in the area. The surrounding neighborhood became a financial and shipping hub during the late 19th century, and as the Financial District became more densely developed, the residential landowners moved uptown and their former lands were replaced with larger commercial buildings. The Downtown Club building
865-618: A broadly applied stylistic label in 1968 when historian Bevis Hillier published the first major academic book on it, Art Deco of the 20s and 30s . He noted that the term was already being used by art dealers, and cites The Times (2 November 1966) and an essay named Les Arts Déco in Elle magazine (November 1967) as examples. In 1971, he organized an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts , which he details in his book The World of Art Deco . In its time, Art Deco
1038-545: A club required member approval and payment. Thus, a club was dependent on class and vice versa. Historian Robert Morris proposed that clubs were "part of the power nexus of capitalism , and essential to the continuity of elite dominance of society." Several private members' clubs for women were established in the late 19th century; among them the Alexandra Club , and the self-consciously progressive Pioneer Club . Women also set about establishing their own clubs in
1211-485: A clubhouse of 22 stories and a worldwide membership of over 11,000, is the largest traditional gentlemen's club in the world. Membership in the Yale Club is restricted to alumni, faculty, and full-time graduate students of Yale University, and the club has included women among its members since 1969. While class requirements relaxed gradually throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and, from the 1970s onwards; "relics of
1384-611: A contemporary private members' club with the business facilities of an office. It was for this reason that the Institute of Directors acquired one of the older clubhouses in Pall Mall as more business-friendly. Clubs in Ireland include two prominent Dublin social clubs, each having both male and female members, a range of facilities and events, and a wide network of reciprocal clubs: The Kildare Street and University Club (formed on
1557-438: A convenient retreat for men who wished to get away from female relations, "in keeping with the separate spheres ideology according to which the man dealt with the public world, whereas women's domain was the home." Many men spent much of their lives at their club, and it was common for young, newly graduated men who had moved to London for the first time to live at their club for two or three years before they could afford to rent
1730-540: A departure from) the undulating Art Nouveau style of Hector Guimard , so popular in Paris a few years earlier. Grasset stressed the principle that various simple geometric shapes like triangles and squares are the basis of all compositional arrangements. The reinforced-concrete buildings of Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage, and particularly the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées , offered a new form of construction and decoration which
1903-399: A family environment. A gentleman's club offered an escape. Men's clubs were also a place for gossip. The clubs were designed for communication and the sharing of information. By gossiping, bonds were created which were used to confirm social and gender boundaries. Gossiping helped confirm a man's identity, both in his community and within society at large. It was often used as a tool to climb
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#17327811276962076-482: A floral chair with a parrot design for the hunting lodge of art collector Jacques Doucet . The furniture designers Louis Süe and André Mare made their first appearance at the 1912 exhibit, under the name of the Atelier français , combining polychromatic fabrics with exotic and expensive materials, including ebony and ivory. After World War I, they became one of the most prominent French interior design firms, producing
2249-480: A house or flat. Gentleman's clubs were private places that were designed to allow men to relax and create friendships with other men. In the 19th and 20th centuries, clubs were regarded as a central part of elite men's lives. They provided everything a regular home would have. Clubs were created and designed for a man's domestic needs. They were places to relieve stress and worries. They provided for emotional and practical needs. They provided spaces such as dining halls,
2422-464: A library, entertainment and game rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and washrooms, and a study. In many ways, they resembled a home. Clubs had separate entrances for tradesmen and servants, which were usually located on the side of the building that was not easily seen by the public eye. Many clubs had waiting lists, some as long as sixteen years. There is no standard definition for what is considered a gentlemen's club. Each club differed slightly from others. In
2595-598: A meal, and in some clubs stay overnight. Expatriates, when staying in England, could use their clubs, as with the East India Club or the Oriental Club , as a base. They allowed upper- and upper-middle-class men with modest incomes to spend their time in grand surroundings. The richer clubs were built by the same architects as the finest country houses of the time and had similar types of interiors. They were
2768-545: A men-only club and would remain that way for the next 51 years. The club was geared toward businessmen, lawyers, and other white-collar workers of the Financial District and other Lower Manhattan neighborhoods. Initially, it was housed in the Singer Building on nearby Broadway . Soon after, the club began planning its own clubhouse, studying other athletic clubs across the United States to determine which features would be included in its building. In 1927, it acquired
2941-468: A modernist look. At its birth between 1910 and 1914, Art Deco was an explosion of colours, featuring bright and often clashing hues, frequently in floral designs, presented in furniture upholstery , carpets, screens, wallpaper and fabrics. Many colourful works, including chairs and a table by Maurice Dufrêne and a bright Gobelin carpet by Paul Follot were presented at the 1912 Salon des artistes décorateurs . In 1912–1913 designer Adrien Karbowsky made
3114-427: A month. The Downtown Athletic Club was ultimately unable to pay back the $ 8.3 million mortgage. In mid-2003, the Downtown Athletic Club formally turned over the mortgage on 20 West Street and vacated the building completely. The building was converted into a residential tower named the "Downtown Club", which opened in 2005. The redeveloped tower contained 288 condominium units and was renovated by The Moinian Group . At
3287-463: A painting by Jean Dupas . The interior design followed the same principles of symmetry and geometric forms which set it apart from Art Nouveau, and bright colours, fine craftsmanship rare and expensive materials which set it apart from the strict functionality of the Modernist style. While most of the pavilions were lavishly decorated and filled with hand-made luxury furniture, two pavilions, those of
3460-399: A part in the resurgence of decorative arts, as French designers felt challenged by the increasing exports of less expensive German furnishings. In 1911, SAD proposed a major new international exposition of decorative arts in 1912. No copies of old styles would be permitted, only modern works. The exhibit was postponed until 1914; and then, because of the war, until 1925, when it gave its name to
3633-673: A plot on West Street from the Whitehall Realty Company, measuring 80 by 180 feet (24 by 55 m). At the time, the club planned to build a 20-story structure. The construction of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company 's elevated railroad lines and later the New York City Subway had spurred the relocation of the area's residential population uptown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The tenements that developed at
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#17327811276963806-538: A skyscraper was characterized by architect Rem Koolhaas as an "instrument of the Culture of Congestion". The Downtown Club building extends the entire block between West and Washington Streets. Though the Downtown Club building was designed first, Starrett & van Vleck examined the relationship of the Downtown Club's and 21 West Street's designs on the surrounding neighborhood and on each other. The facade of
3979-602: A style which flourished in Europe between 1895 and 1900, and coexisted with the Beaux-Arts and neoclassical that were predominant in European and American architecture. In 1905 Eugène Grasset wrote and published Méthode de Composition Ornementale, Éléments Rectilignes, in which he systematically explored the decorative (ornamental) aspects of geometric elements, forms, motifs and their variations, in contrast with (and as
4152-675: Is Tamara de Lempicka . Born in Poland, she emigrated to Paris after the Russian Revolution . She studied under Maurice Denis and André Lhote , and borrowed many elements from their styles. She painted portraits in a realistic, dynamic and colourful Art Deco style. In the 1930s, a dramatic new form of Art Deco painting appeared in the United States. During the Great Depression, the Federal Art Project of
4325-632: Is a private social club of a type originally set up by men from Britain's upper classes in the 18th and succeeding centuries. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the British Empire : in particular, Australia , India , Ireland , Pakistan , and Bangladesh . There are also many clubs in major American cities, especially the older ones. The gentlemen’s club in Moscow (Angliyskoye sobranie, rus. Английское собрание), founded approximately in 1772,
4498-425: Is on West Street, where three brick columns rise to either side of the central entrance bay. A set of metal doors is located at the center of the entrance bay, above which is a metal marquee, followed by a large window opening with four rows of three chevron-patterned glass panels. Atop that large window are a stone panel and a large brick panel, with rows of corbelled bricks in between. On the second and third floors of
4671-543: Is replaced by an aristocracy of ballot. Frederick Lewis Allen showed how this process operated in the case of the nine "Lords of Creation" who were listed in the New York Social Register as of 1905: 'The nine men who were listed [in the Social Register] were recorded as belonging to 9.4 clubs apiece,' wrote Allen. 'Though only two of them, J. P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt III , belonged to
4844-755: Is the Christ the Redeemer by the French sculptor Paul Landowski , completed between 1922 and 1931, located on a mountain top overlooking Rio de Janeiro , Brazil. Many early Art Deco sculptures were small, designed to decorate salons. One genre of this sculpture was called the Chryselephantine statuette, named for a style of ancient Greek temple statues made of gold and ivory. They were sometimes made of bronze, or sometimes with much more lavish materials, such as ivory, onyx , alabaster, and gold leaf. One of
5017-590: Is the oldest extant fox hunting club in North America. The Golden Square Mile is home to several of Montreal's clubs, including Club Saint-James, which was founded in 1857. At the end of the nineteenth century, twenty of its most influential members felt that the St James was becoming 'too overcrowded' and founded the smaller Mount Royal Club in 1899. Overnight it became the city's most prestigious club, and in 1918, Lord Birkenhead commented that it "is one of
5190-557: The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel portal to the east. The building officially carries the address 20 West Street, but also includes all address numbers on 18-20 West Street, inclusive, and even address numbers on 28-32 Washington Street, inclusive. It is bounded by the Whitehall Building (also known as 17 Battery Place) to the south and 21 West Street to the north; both are also New York City designated landmarks, though
5363-491: The Empire State Building , Chrysler Building , and other buildings from the 1920s and 1930s are monuments to the style. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression , Art Deco gradually became more subdued. A sleeker form of the style, called Streamline Moderne , appeared in the 1930s, featuring curving forms and smooth, polished surfaces. Art Deco was a truly international style, but its dominance ended with
Downtown Athletic Club - Misplaced Pages Continue
5536-414: The Heisman Trophy . The third floor contained billiard tables and cardrooms , while the fifth floor contained bowling alleys . The fourth and sixth floors contained racquetball , handball , tennis , and squash courts; the seventh floor, a miniature golf course; and the eighth floor, a gym . The twelfth floor had a swimming pool , which was described as the world's highest aquatic facility when it
5709-700: The Knickerbocker Club , in 1933 the grandsons of six of them did. The following progress is characteristic: John D. Rockefeller, Union League Club; John D. Rockefeller, Jr., University Club ; John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Knickerbocker Club . Thus is the American aristocracy recruited.' The oldest existing American clubs date to the 18th century; the five oldest are the South River Club in Annapolis, Maryland (founded c. 1690/1700 ),
5882-544: The Knickerbocker Club , the citadel of Patrician families (indeed, both already belonged to old prominent families at the time), Stillman and Harriman joined these two in the membership of the almost equally fashionable Union Club ; Baker joined these four in the membership of the Metropolitan Club of New York (Magnificent, but easier of access to new wealth); John D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, and Rogers, along with Morgan and Baker were listed as members of
6055-487: The Lord & Taylor , Bloomingdale's , and Saks Fifth Avenue buildings. Including attics, the Downtown Club has 39 above-ground stories and is 518 feet (158 m) tall. As originally designed, the Downtown Club building included different facilities and living spaces on each of its floors: the lower floors were mostly reserved for athletic facilities and the upper floors contained bedrooms. The design of an athletic club in
6228-1198: The Mississippi River are The Pacific Club in Honolulu (1851); the Pacific-Union Club (1852), Olympic Club (1860), and the Concordia-Argonaut Club (founded 1864), all in San Francisco; and the Arlington Club in Portland, Oregon (1867). Today, gentlemen's clubs in the United States remain more prevalent in older cities, especially those on the East Coast . Only twelve American cities have five or more existing clubs: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. New York City contains more than any other American city. The Yale Club of New York City , comprising
6401-528: The Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Parallel with these Art Deco sculptors, more avant-garde and abstract modernist sculptors were at work in Paris and New York City. The most prominent were Constantin Brâncuși , Joseph Csaky , Alexander Archipenko , Henri Laurens , Jacques Lipchitz , Gustave Miklos , Jean Lambert-Rucki , Jan et Joël Martel , Chana Orloff and Pablo Gargallo . The Art Deco style appeared early in
6574-506: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as an official city landmark in 2000. The club building was converted to the Downtown Club, a residential building with condominiums , after the club's closure. The Downtown Club building is located near the southernmost point on Manhattan Island , closer to its western shore. It faces West Street to the west, and Washington Street and
6747-611: The Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club ) have a specific character that places them outside the mainstream, while other clubs have sacrificed their individuality for the commercial purpose of attracting enough members, regardless of their common interests. (See article at club for a further discussion of these distinctions.) The oldest gentleman's club in London is White's, which
6920-851: The Schuylkill Fishing Company in Andalusia, Pennsylvania (1732), the Old Colony Club in Plymouth, Massachusetts (1769), the Philadelphia Club (1834), and the Union Club of the City of New York (founded 1836). The Boston Club of New Orleans, named after Boston (card game) and not the city, is the oldest southern club, and third oldest "city club", founded in 1841. The five oldest existing clubs west of
7093-583: The Union League Club (the stronghold of Republican respectability); seven of the group belonged to the New York Yacht Club . Morgan belonged to nineteen clubs in all; Vanderbilt, to fifteen; Harriman, to fourteen.' Allen then goes on to show how the descendants of these financial giants were assimilated into the upper class : 'By way of footnote, it may be added that although in that year [1905] only two of our ten financiers belonged to
Downtown Athletic Club - Misplaced Pages Continue
7266-480: The West End of London . Today, the area of St James's is still sometimes called "clubland". Clubs took over some parts of the role occupied by coffee houses in 18th-century London . The first clubs, such as White's , Brooks's , and Boodle's , were aristocratic in flavour, and provided an environment for gambling, which was illegal outside of members-only establishments. The 19th century brought an explosion in
7439-496: The Works Progress Administration was created to give work to unemployed artists. Many were given the task of decorating government buildings, hospitals and schools. There was no specific Art Deco style used in the murals; artists engaged to paint murals in government buildings came from many different schools, from American regionalism to social realism ; they included Reginald Marsh , Rockwell Kent and
7612-430: The École royale gratuite de dessin (Royal Free School of Design), founded in 1766 under King Louis XVI to train artists and artisans in crafts relating to the fine arts, was renamed the École nationale des arts décoratifs ( National School of Decorative Arts). It took its present name, ENSAD ( École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs ), in 1920.. The actual term art déco did not appear in print until 1966, in
7785-412: The 16th story, there are four windows per floor. There are further setbacks above the 16th floor of the center and south bays, and above the 17th floor of the north bay, with smaller setback portions on the south side of the 18th story and the north side of the 20th story. Another setback on the 26th story contains a limestone-capped parapet. On Washington Street to the east, the building is set back above
7958-593: The 18th and 19th centuries. As the North River shoreline was deeper and had a denser concentration of buildings than the East River shoreline on the east side of Manhattan Island, the land under the Downtown Club building was not filled until 1835, when debris from the Great Fire of New York was dumped there. As a result of the land filling, neighboring buildings such as 21 West Street were constructed without
8131-901: The 1912 Salon d'Automne was entrusted to the department store Printemps , and that year it created its own workshop, Primavera . By 1920 Primavera employed more than 300 artists, whose styles ranged from updated versions of Louis XIV , Louis XVI , and especially Louis Philippe furniture made by Louis Süe and the Primavera workshop, to more modern forms from the workshop of the Au Louvre department store. Other designers, including Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Paul Follot, refused to use mass production, insisting that each piece be made individually. The early Art Deco style featured luxurious and exotic materials such as ebony , ivory and silk, very bright colours and stylized motifs , particularly baskets and bouquets of flowers of all colours, giving
8304-424: The 1920s, the look changed; the fashions stressed were more casual, sportive and daring, with the woman models usually smoking cigarettes. American fashion magazines such as Vogue , Vanity Fair and Harper's Bazaar quickly picked up the new style and popularized it in the United States. It also influenced the work of American book illustrators such as Rockwell Kent. In Germany, the most famous poster artist of
8477-556: The 1920s. The art movement known as Cubism appeared in France between 1907 and 1912, influencing the development of Art Deco. In Art Deco Complete: The Definitive Guide to the Decorative Arts of the 1920s and 1930s Alastair Duncan writes "Cubism, in some bastardized form or other, became the lingua franca of the era's decorative artists." The Cubists, themselves under the influence of Paul Cézanne , were interested in
8650-415: The 1920s. Art Deco's development of Cubism's selective geometry into a wider array of shapes carried Cubism as a pictorial taxonomy to a much broader audience and wider appeal. (Richard Harrison Martin, Metropolitan Museum of Art) Art Deco was not a single style, but a collection of different and sometimes contradictory styles. In architecture, Art Deco was the successor to (and reaction against) Art Nouveau,
8823-969: The 1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes ( International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts ) held in Paris . Art Deco has its origins in bold geometric forms of the Vienna Secession and Cubism . From its outset, it was influenced by the bright colors of Fauvism and of the Ballets Russes , and the exoticized styles of art from China , Japan , India , Persia , ancient Egypt , and Maya . During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance and faith in social and technological progress. The movement featured rare and expensive materials, such as ebony and ivory, and exquisite craftsmanship. It also introduced new materials such as chrome plating , stainless steel and plastic. In New York,
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#17327811276968996-456: The 1960s, with 4,500 members. By 1976, the Downtown Athletic Club had a waiting list and 4,000 members. The club's members voted to change the club's bylaws in December 1977, allowing women to become members for the first time. The move was largely for economic reasons: to stay solvent, the club needed 3,500 "resident members"—defined as due-paying members over 30 years old who lived or worked in
9169-528: The 19th century were considered simply artisans. The term arts décoratifs had been invented in 1875 , giving the designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration official status. The Société des artistes décorateurs (Society of Decorative Artists), or SAD, was founded in 1901, and decorative artists were given the same rights of authorship as painters and sculptors. A similar movement developed in Italy. The first international exhibition devoted entirely to
9342-773: The 19th century, the family was considered one of the most important aspects of a man's life. A man's home was his property and should have been a place to satisfy most of his needs, but for elite men, this was not always the case; it was not always a place that provided privacy and comfort: perhaps because the homes of elite families often entertained guests for dinners, formal teas, entertainment, and parties. Their lives were on display, and often their lives would be reported in local papers. A gentleman's club offered an escape from this family world. Another explanation would be that men were brought up as boys in all-male environments in places like schools and sports pastimes, and they became uncomfortable when they had to share their lives with women in
9515-425: The 20th floor had smaller windows, while the athletic facility floors between the 4th and 19th stories had larger windows. Some of the facilities, such as the squash courts, did not require windows and so are placed in windowless sections of the building. The lowest four stories comprise the base. The facades of the base on both West Street and Washington Street are divided into three vertical bays . The main entrance
9688-504: The 21st century, numerous new private women's clubs had formed in support of previously male-dominated pursuits, including professional affiliations and business networking . In 2023, The Daily Telegraph reports that an "[A]bsolutely chilling" discordance around admitting women to men-only clubs persisted in the UK, as the SFGate also reports in the U.S. Membership is by election after
9861-409: The 5th through 15th floors. The facades of the center and south (right) bays are combined, and contain recessed windows, with varying placements and designs of the spandrels above the windows on each floor. On the center and south bays, each story from the 7th through 15th stories contains five windows; the 5th story contains five window grates; and the 4th and 6th stories contain no windows at all. Above
10034-597: The Art Deco aesthetic, when transposed from the canvas onto a textile material or wallpaper. Sonia Delaunay conceives her dress models in an abstract and geometric style, "as live paintings or sculptures of living forms". Cubist-like designs are created by Louis Barrilet in the stained-glass windows of the American bar at the Atrium Casino in Dax (1926), but also including names of fashionable cocktails. In architecture,
10207-1007: The Brisbane Club, United Services Club and the Tattersalls Club (unrelated to the identically named club in Sydney). Adelaide has the Adelaide Club and the Naval, Military and Air Force Club of South Australia. Perth has the Western Australian Club and the Weld Club . Hobart has the Tasmanian Club and the Athenaeum Club. The Launceston Club is located in the northern city of Launceston Art Deco Art Deco , short for
10380-401: The Commonwealth Club, the Kelvin Club, the Newcastle Club, the Royal Automobile Club, the Tattersalls Club in Sydney and the Union, University and Schools Club allow women to enjoy full membership. Sydney has the Australian Club , the Royal Automobile Club of Australia , the Tattersalls Club and the Union, University & Schools Club . The City Tattersalls Club , which named itself after
10553-409: The Crossroads (1933) for 30 Rockefeller Plaza featured an unauthorized portrait of Lenin . When Rivera refused to remove Lenin, the painting was destroyed and a new mural was painted by the Spanish artist Josep Maria Sert . Sculpture was a very common and integral feature of Art Deco architecture. In France, allegorical bas-reliefs representing dance and music by Antoine Bourdelle decorated
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#173278112769610726-613: The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy became the Heisman Trophy . Because of the Downtown Athletic Club's wide offerings, it needed at least 5,000 members to remain profitable, and most of its members worked in the financial or law industries or in lower Manhattan. In the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 , many people in that demographic could no longer pay for the cost of membership. The club declared bankruptcy in April 1936 despite having 3,500 members. It had defaulted on its previous four years of real estate taxes; had claimed earnings before interest and taxes of negative $ 231,000 during
10899-424: The Downtown Athletic Club's finances, so it considered merging with another club. By November 2001, club officials were still hoping to reopen the club in January 2002, although there was an $ 8.3 million mortgage due to be paid that August. Furthermore, the building needed another $ 20–30 million for renovation, yet few club members were able to provide funds, and the club was accumulating debt quickly, losing $ 100,000
11072-417: The Downtown Club building is of slightly darker brick, with more recessed setbacks on both West and Washington Streets, compared to 21 West Street. The Downtown Club is the tallest building on the block. The building contains setbacks as mandated by the 1916 Zoning Resolution ; the locations of the setbacks are based on the original uses of the interiors. The bottom stories were the largest, occupying nearly
11245-410: The Faculty Club associated with the University of Toronto , the Arts and Letters Club , and a number of other clubs. Other Ontario cities have their clubs: the Rideau Club at Ottawa; the Hamilton Club; the Frontenac Club at Kingston , and The Waterloo Club by letters patent. The Halifax Club was founded in 1862. The Union Club (Saint John) in Saint John, New Brunswick was founded in 1884 through
11418-692: The French Arts décoratifs ( lit. ' Decorative Arts ' ), is a style of visual arts, architecture , and product design , that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s (just before World War I ), and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s. Through styling and design of the exterior and interior of anything from large structures to small objects, including how people look (clothing, fashion, and jewelry), Art Deco has influenced bridges, buildings (from skyscrapers to cinemas), ships, ocean liners , trains, cars, trucks, buses, furniture, and everyday objects including radios and vacuum cleaners. Art Deco got its name after
11591-440: The Heisman Trophy, an annual event that recognizes the most outstanding player in National Collegiate Athletic Association college football. The Heisman Trophy was first awarded in 1935 and was renamed after former athletic director Heisman. The trophy itself is made out of cast bronze , measures 13.5 inches (340 mm) tall by 14 inches (360 mm) long by 16 inches (410 mm) wide, and weighs 45 pounds (20 kg). After
11764-401: The Mexican painter Diego Rivera . The murals were Art Deco because they were all decorative and related to the activities in the building or city where they were painted: Reginald Marsh and Rockwell Kent both decorated U.S. postal buildings, and showed postal employees at work while Diego Rivera depicted automobile factory workers for the Detroit Institute of Arts . Diego Rivera's mural Man at
11937-400: The Soviet Union and Pavilion de L'Esprit Nouveau , built by the magazine of that name run by Le Corbusier, were built in an austere style with plain white walls and no decoration; they were among the earliest examples of modernist architecture . In 1925, two different competing schools coexisted within Art Deco: the traditionalists, who had founded the Society of Decorative Artists; included
12110-445: The Soviet Union, Konstantin Melnikov ; the Irish designer Eileen Gray; the French designer Sonia Delaunay; and the jewellers Georges Fouquet and Jean Puiforcat . They fiercely attacked the traditional Art Deco style, which they said was created only for the wealthy, and insisted that well-constructed buildings should be available to everyone, and that form should follow function. The beauty of an object or building resided in whether it
12283-417: The Tattersalls Club, no longer has exclusive membership criteria. Newcastle has the Newcastle Club. Melbourne has the Melbourne Club , the Alexandra Club, the Athenaeum Club (named after its counterpart in London), the Australian Club (unrelated to the identically named club in Sydney), the Kelvin Club and the Savage Club . Geelong has The Geelong Club . Brisbane has the Queensland Club ,
12456-490: The United States during the Great Depression. The Federal Art Project hired American artists to create posters to promote tourism and cultural events. The architectural style of Art Deco made its debut in Paris in 1903–04, with the construction of two apartment buildings in Paris, one by Auguste Perret on rue Benjamin Franklin and the other on rue Trétaigne by Henri Sauvage. The two young architects used reinforced concrete for
12629-631: The United States have at least one traditional gentlemen's club, many of which have reciprocal relationships with older clubs in London, with each other, and with other gentlemen's clubs around the world. In American English , the term "gentlemen's club" is commonly used euphemistically by strip clubs . As a result, traditional gentlemen's clubs often are called "men's clubs" or "city clubs" (as opposed to country clubs ) or simply as "private social clubs" or "private clubs". Christopher Doob explains in his book Social Inequality and Social Stratification in U.S. Society : The most exclusive social clubs are in
12802-518: The United States in 1929, and reached Europe shortly afterwards, greatly reduced the number of wealthy clients who could pay for the furnishings and art objects. In the Depression economic climate, few companies were ready to build new skyscrapers. Even the Ruhlmann firm resorted to producing pieces of furniture in series, rather than individual hand-made items. The last buildings built in Paris in
12975-459: The United States, where, during the World War, he designed posters to encourage war production. The designer Charles Gesmar became famous making posters for the singer Mistinguett and for Air France . Among the best-known French Art Deco poster designers was Cassandre , who made the celebrated poster of the ocean liner SS Normandie in 1935. In the 1930s a new genre of posters appeared in
13148-472: The West Street facade, there are two windows on either side of the large entrance bay. The Washington Street entrance is less elaborate: it contains a set of metal doors topped by a metal marquee, but the window above is only one story high with three chevron-patterned panels. The center entrance bay protrudes from the facade only slightly. On the first floor, there are two doors to the north (or right) of
13321-444: The adjacent 21 West Street. Sections of the facade are punctuated with vertical brick segments, and the brick is especially prominent around the windows, the corbels around the entrance, and the parapets on the roof. Other features include window sills and parapet caps made of stone, as well as spandrels made of zinc and lead in a chevron layout. The facade design also reflects the building's interior use. The hotel stories above
13494-569: The admissions committee's standards for values and behavior. Old money prevails over new money as the Rockefeller family experience suggests. John D. Rockefeller , the family founder and the nation's first billionaire, joined the Union League Club , a fairly respectable but not top-level club; John D. Rockefeller, Jr. , belonged to the University Club , a step up from his father; and finally his son John D. Rockefeller, III , reached
13667-528: The advent of mobile working (using phone and email) has placed pressures on the traditional London clubs which frown on, and often ban, the use of mobiles and discourage laptops, indeed any discussion of business matters or 'work related papers'. A new breed of business-oriented private members' clubs, exemplified by One Alfred Place and Eight in London or the Gild in Barcelona, combines the style, food and drink of
13840-535: The age of exclusion" reported SFGate in the United States in 2004 "seem to be in no danger of going the way of other 19th century institutions." At Montreal, the Beaver Club was founded in 1785. Every year, some of its members travelled back to England to sell their furs, where they established the Canada Club in 1810; it still meets twice yearly as a dining club. The Montreal Hunt Club, founded in 1826,
14013-432: The aristocracy and politicians were likely to have several clubs. The record number of memberships is believed to have been held by Earl Mountbatten , who had nineteen in the 1960s. Public entertainments, such as musical performances and the like, were not a feature of this sort of club. The clubs were, in effect, "second homes" in the centre of London where men could relax, mix with their friends, play parlour games , get
14186-621: The beginning of World War II and the rise of the strictly functional and unadorned styles of modern architecture and the International Style of architecture that followed. Art Deco took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs , from the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris in 1925, though the diverse styles that characterised it had already appeared in Paris and Brussels before World War I . Arts décoratifs
14359-764: The best clubs I know in the New World, with the indefinable atmosphere about it of a good London club". In 1908 the University Club (McGill University), affiliated with McGill , opened. The Forest and Stream was formed by Frank Stephen and some of his gentlemen friends and associates on 27 November 1884 at a meeting held at the St. Lawrence Hall in Montreal. The club's original founders were Andrew Allan, James Bryce Allan, Hugh Montagu Allan, Louis Joseph Forget, Hartland St. Claire MacDougall, Hugh Paton, and Frank Stephen. It
14532-512: The best-known Art Deco salon sculptors was the Romanian-born Demétre Chiparus , who produced colourful small sculptures of dancers. Other notable salon sculptors included Ferdinand Preiss , Josef Lorenzl , Alexander Kelety, Dorothea Charol and Gustav Schmidtcassel. Another important American sculptor in the studio format was Harriet Whitney Frishmuth , who had studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris. Pierre Le Paguays
14705-424: The building has another setback at the 17th floor, with a glass balcony rail. Above the 16th story, there are four windows per floor; there is another setback at the 29th story with a stone parapet. The northern facade is largely blocked by 21 West Street, while the southern facade has a similar window arrangement to the western and eastern facades. On all sides, the 35th story has a brick band, chevrons above each of
14878-413: The building or room. The themes were usually selected by the patrons, not the artist. Abstract sculpture for decoration was extremely rare. In the United States, the most prominent Art Deco sculptor for public art was Paul Manship , who updated classical and mythological subjects and themes in an Art Deco style. His most famous work was the statue of Prometheus at Rockefeller Center in New York City,
15051-496: The building was composed of 35 stories. John Heisman was hired as the club's first athletic director in 1930, and he founded a touchdown club at the Downtown Athletic Club, which ultimately became popular. In 1935 club member Willard Prince suggested that the Downtown Athletic Club issue annual trophies for most outstanding college football player, and the first such trophy was awarded that year. When Heisman died in October 1936,
15224-439: The building was not reestablished until 1963. Over the years, several modifications were made to the building. For instance, a bar was added to the restaurant after the repeal of Prohibition , and the 15th-story dining room was expanded westward in 1952 to align with the lower stories' facades on West Street. In addition, many of the original features were removed, such as the golf course. The club reached its maximum membership in
15397-416: The central doorway and two windows to the south (left). On the second floor, there is one window on either side of the doorway, with an additional vent grate to the left. The third floor contains seven windows. On West Street to the west, the building is set back above the fourth story. The north (left) bay contains a separate window arrangement with one window on the 4th floor and two small windows on each of
15570-493: The clear contrast between horizontal and vertical volumes, specific both to Russian Constructivism and the Frank Lloyd Wright - Willem Marinus Dudok line, becomes a common device in articulating Art Deco façades, from individual homes and tenement buildings to cinemas or oil stations. Art Deco also used the clashing colours and designs of Fauvism, notably in the work of Henri Matisse and André Derain , inspired
15743-508: The club a private space and attempted to control the spread of information from the outside. Under no circumstance was the club to be depressing or too involved in the pains of reality. Whether from "the streets, the courts, Parliament , or the Stock Exchange ," the chaotic nature of work life was put on hold. Young bachelors and other members were in many ways shielded from the true problems of society, especially female ones. While it
15916-399: The club building was set to be auctioned off, the Downtown Athletic Club and its creditors finalized an agreement that would let the club remain in its building and recover from bankruptcy. Under the plan, "at least 13" floors on the lower part of the building, which contained athletic facilities, would be retained by the club. The Connecticut-based firm Cheslock Bakker Associates would renovate
16089-480: The club could be represented as " homosocial domesticity". Similar to male coffeehouses of the Ottoman Empire , the clubs were a home away from home. They were alternative, competing spaces in the sense that it had some similarities with the traditional home. One of the key attractions of these clubs was their private, often exclusive, nature. They were getaways from the tight, restrictive role expected from
16262-635: The club's bedrooms on the upper floors into a commercial hotel. The Downtown Club building was designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission as an official city landmark in 2000. The Downtown Athletic Club permanently closed following the September 11 attacks in 2001. The building was four blocks south of the World Trade Center , which had been destroyed in the attacks. The Downtown Athletic Club building
16435-468: The club's first athletic director. The Downtown Athletic Club was founded in 1926 as an all-male club. The club bought land for their building near the Hudson River in 1927 and completed the structure in 1930. The building was sold off in 1936 following the club's bankruptcy, but was reacquired in 1950. The club started admitting female members in 1977, and after facing further financial troubles in
16608-424: The club, only the wealth and importance of the club and its amenities was displayed instead of their possibly inferior possessions or structures at home. In English clubs, this domesticity was particularly emphasized. These clubs, primarily in London, were usually very "quiet" and their members were well-behaved: again pointing to the calm familiarity of the household. In addition, club staff were tasked with keeping
16781-413: The connection between the members was membership in the same branch of the armed forces, or the same school or university. Thus the growth of clubs gives some indication of what was considered a respectable part of the "Establishment" at the time. By the late 19th century, any man with a credible claim to the status of "gentleman" was eventually able to find a club willing to admit him, unless his character
16954-652: The decorative arts, the Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna , was held in Turin in 1902. Several new magazines devoted to decorative arts were founded in Paris, including Arts et décoration and L'Art décoratif moderne . Decorative arts sections were introduced into the annual salons of the Sociéte des artistes français , and later in the Salon d'Automne . French nationalism also played
17127-646: The designs of Art Deco textiles, wallpaper, and painted ceramics. It took ideas from the high fashion vocabulary of the period, which featured geometric designs, chevrons, zigzags, and stylized bouquets of flowers. It was influenced by discoveries in Egyptology , and growing interest in the Orient and in African art. From 1925 onwards, it was often inspired by a passion for new machines, such as airships, automobiles and ocean liners, and by 1930 this influence resulted in
17300-551: The dominant architectural style became the International Style pioneered by Le Corbusier, and Mies van der Rohe . A handful of Art Deco hotels were built in Miami Beach after World War II, but elsewhere the style largely vanished, except in industrial design, where it continued to be used in automobile styling and products such as jukeboxes. In the 1960s, it experienced a modest academic revival, thanks in part to
17473-447: The earliest Art Deco landmark in Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées , in 1912. The 1925 Exposition had major sculptural works placed around the site, pavilions were decorated with sculptural friezes, and several pavilions devoted to smaller studio sculpture. In the 1930s, a large group of prominent sculptors made works for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne at Chaillot. Alfred Janniot made
17646-549: The edges of the Financial District were being demolished and replaced with office buildings. The Downtown Athletic Club already had 1,000 members when it formally announced plans for a clubhouse in February 1928. The new structure would include facilities for numerous sports, and Starrett & van Vleck were selected as the new clubhouse's architects. The limited amount of available space in Lower Manhattan required that
17819-424: The entire land lot. The 4th through 19th stories, which included the athletic facilities, were set back on the western and eastern facades. Another setback existed above the 26th story, which contained the club's private hotel rooms. The facade of the Downtown Athletic Club building consists of mottled, patterned orange brick that is used to provide texture. The color contrasts with the multicolored brick designs of
17992-483: The era's "finest high style" and was equated with the ornate designs of steamship rooms. Christopher Gray of The New York Times said that "the scale and sophistication of the work made it one of the most developed Art Deco interiors in New York." The Downtown Athletic Club was organized on September 10, 1926, by a group of lawyers led by Schuyler Van Vechten Hoffman . The Downtown Athletic Club had been organized as
18165-572: The façade of the new San Francisco Stock Exchange building. In Washington D.C., Michael Lantz made works for the Federal Trade Commission building. In Britain, Deco public statuary was made by Eric Gill for the BBC Broadcasting House , while Ronald Atkinson decorated the lobby of the former Daily Express Building in London (1932). One of the best known and certainly the largest public Art Deco sculpture
18338-456: The fireplace in the Maison du Collectionneur exhibit at the 1925 Exposition, which featured furniture by Ruhlmann and other prominent Art Deco designers. His murals were also prominent in the décor of the French ocean liner SS Normandie . His work was purely decorative, designed as a background or accompaniment to other elements of the décor. The other painter closely associated with the style
18511-493: The first modern reinforced-concrete apartment building in Paris on rue Benjamin Franklin in 1903–04. Henri Sauvage , another important future Art Deco architect, built another in 1904 at 7, rue Trétaigne (1904). From 1908 to 1910, the 21-year-old Le Corbusier worked as a draftsman in Perret's office, learning the techniques of concrete construction. Perret's building had clean rectangular form, geometric decoration and straight lines,
18684-460: The fourth story. As with the West Street facade, the north (right) bay contains a separate window arrangement and the facades of the center and south (left) bays are combined. The center and south bays have an identical window arrangement to their counterparts on West Street, being five windows wide, but the north bay on Washington Street has only one window per floor on each of the 5th through 15th floors. The 16th floor contains only ventilation grates;
18857-622: The furniture designer Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dunand , the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, and designer Paul Poiret; they combined modern forms with traditional craftsmanship and expensive materials. On the other side were the modernists, who increasingly rejected the past and wanted a style based upon advances in new technologies, simplicity, a lack of decoration, inexpensive materials, and mass production. The modernists founded their own organisation, The French Union of Modern Artists , in 1929. Its members included architects Pierre Chareau , Francis Jourdain , Robert Mallet-Stevens , Corbusier, and, in
19030-502: The furniture for the first-class salons and cabins of the French transatlantic ocean liners . The vivid hues of Art Deco came from many sources, including the exotic set designs by Léon Bakst for the Ballets Russes , which caused a sensation in Paris just before World War I. Some of the colours were inspired by the earlier Fauvism movement led by Henri Matisse ; others by the Orphism of painters such as Sonia Delaunay ; others by
19203-423: The future trademarks of Art Deco. The décor of the theatre was also revolutionary; the façade was decorated with high reliefs by Antoine Bourdelle , a dome by Maurice Denis , paintings by Édouard Vuillard , and an Art Deco curtain by Ker-Xavier Roussel . The theatre became the venue for many of the first performances of the Ballets Russes . Perret and Sauvage became the leading Art Deco architects in Paris in
19376-466: The graphic arts, in the years just before World War I. It appeared in Paris in the posters and the costume designs of Léon Bakst for the Ballets Russes, and in the catalogues of the fashion designers Paul Poiret. The illustrations of Georges Barbier , and Georges Lepape and the images in the fashion magazine La Gazette du bon ton perfectly captured the elegance and sensuality of the style. In
19549-429: The guest flow could be more easily controlled than at the home. Members' social status was marked by the prestige of the club, but within it, the lines were blurred. Prominent guests could be invited to dinner or to lounge at the club over the house. Staff would monitor these guests and their arrival for the members and, as employees of the members, could personally tailor the experience. Thus, by holding important events at
19722-555: The idea of strengthening the concrete with a mesh of iron rods in a grill pattern. In 1893, Auguste Perret built the first concrete garage in Paris, then an apartment building, house, then, in 1913, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées . The theatre was denounced by one critic as the "Zeppelin of Avenue Montaigne", an alleged Germanic influence, copied from the Vienna Secession . Thereafter, the majority of Art Deco buildings were made of reinforced concrete, which gave greater freedom of form and less need for reinforcing pillars and columns. Perret
19895-561: The landmark designation only applies to 17 Battery Place's western and southern sections. The building stands on filled land along the shore of the North River (an archaic name for the southernmost portion of the Hudson River ). The surrounding neighborhood, the Financial District , was the first part of Manhattan to be developed as part of New Netherland and later New York City; its population growth led city officials to add land on Manhattan's shore by filling and land reclamation in
20068-478: The late 1990s, sold off part of its building. Following the September 11 attacks on the nearby World Trade Center , the surrounding neighborhood was blockaded, and the club closed down, having filed for bankruptcy due to the clubhouse's inaccessibility. The 35-story Downtown Athletic Club building was designed in the Art Deco style by Starrett & van Vleck , who also designed the adjacent 21 West Street at
20241-539: The late 19th century, such as the Ladies' Institute, and the Ladies' Athenaeum. They proved quite popular at the time, but only one London-based club, The University Women's Club , has survived to this day as a single-sex establishment. Traditionally barred from full membership in existing clubs of similar interest, and somewhat mobilized by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the United States; by
20414-548: The left bank, and along the banks of the Seine. The Grand Palais, the largest hall in the city, was filled with exhibits of decorative arts from the participating countries. There were 15,000 exhibitors from twenty different countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the new Soviet Union . Germany was not invited because of tensions after
20587-898: The merger of Kildare Street Club ( traditionally Conservative ) with The Dublin University Club ( academic )) and The St Stephen's Green Hibernian Club (similarly formed when the St Stephen's Green Club ( Whig ) merged with The Hibernian United Services Club ( military )). A number of other, specialist clubs flourish in Dublin such as The Royal Irish Automobile Club (R.I.A.C) on Dawson Street, Established in 1901, The United Arts Club, Royal Irish Academy , Royal Dublin Society , Yacht Clubs (The Royal Irish , The National , and The Royal St George ) of Dún Laoghaire, The Hibernian Catch Club ( catch music ), and The Friendly Brothers of St Patrick ( originally anti-duelling ). Most major cities in
20760-548: The merger of two earlier clubs, and the Fredericton Garrison Club was founded in 1969 by associate members of the area headquarters officers' mess. The Manitoba Club is Western Canada's oldest club, founded in 1874 at Winnipeg. The Union Club of British Columbia was founded in 1879 in Victoria. The Vancouver Club was founded in 1889. Australia has a number of gentlemen's clubs. Of those listed below,
20933-530: The movement known as Les Nabis , and in the work of symbolist painter Odilon Redon, who designed fireplace screens and other decorative objects. Bright shades were a feature of the work of fashion designer Paul Poiret , whose work influenced both Art Deco fashion and interior design. The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1910–1913), by Auguste Perret , was the first landmark Art Deco building completed in Paris. Previously, reinforced concrete had been used only for industrial and apartment buildings, Perret had built
21106-767: The neighborhood around the Downtown Club was closed off following the September 11 attacks, and the club's subsequent bankruptcy , the Heisman Trophy ceremony was moved to numerous locations, including the Yale Club of New York City and Hilton New York , before moving to the Palladium Times Square in 2005. Since the club's bankruptcy, the trophy has been distributed by the Heisman Trust. Gentlemen%27s club A gentlemen's club
21279-525: The network analysis perspective by Maria Zozaya. Today, establishments based on the concept of the traditional gentlemen's clubs exist throughout the world, predominantly in Commonwealth countries and the United States. Many clubs offer reciprocal hospitality to other clubs' members when travelling abroad. There are perhaps some 25 traditional London gentlemen's clubs of particular note, from The Arts Club to White's . A few estimable clubs (such as
21452-403: The new clubhouse be a skyscraper. The project was expected to cost $ 4.5 million and initially called for a 44-story skyscraper topped by a pyramid, with recreational facilities on 16 floors and bedrooms and dining rooms on the remaining floors. By November 1928 the plans called for a 17-story clubhouse; contracts for clearing the site of the future clubhouse were awarded the same month. Around 1929,
21625-652: The new style were the Museum of Public Works by Auguste Perret (now the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council ), the Palais de Chaillot by Louis-Hippolyte Boileau , Jacques Carlu and Léon Azéma , and the Palais de Tokyo of the 1937 Paris International Exposition ; they looked out at the grandiose pavilion of Nazi Germany, designed by Albert Speer , which faced the equally grandiose socialist-realist pavilion of Stalin's Soviet Union. After World War II,
21798-529: The oldest cities – Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. Others, which are well respected, have developed in such major cities as Pittsburgh, Chicago, and San Francisco. The most exclusive social clubs are two in New York City – the Links and the Knickerbocker (Allen 1987, 25) Personal wealth has never been the sole basis for attaining membership in exclusive clubs. The individual and family must meet
21971-519: The period was Ludwig Hohlwein , who created colourful and dramatic posters for music festivals, beers, and, late in his career, for the Nazi Party. During the Art Nouveau period, posters usually advertised theatrical products or cabarets. In the 1920s, travel posters, made for steamship lines and airlines, became extremely popular. The style changed notably in the 1920s, to focus attention on
22144-540: The pinnacle with his acceptance into the Knickerbocker Club (Baltzell 1989, 340). E. Digby Baltzell , sociologist of the WASP establishment, explains in his book Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class : The circulation of elites in America and the assimilation of new men of power and influence into the upper class takes place primarily through the medium of urban clubdom. Aristocracy of birth
22317-447: The plans were again modified to 38 stories, and the same year $ 3 million was loaned toward the building's construction. By mid-1930, the building was almost completed and 3,500 people had submitted applications for membership. The new clubhouse opened in September 1930, with a special 3-day preview period before the building was turned over to the club. At this point, the club had 3,826 members, 1,000 of whom were "life members". Ultimately
22490-557: The popularity of clubs, particularly around the 1880s. At the height of their influence in the late 19th century, London had over 400 such establishments. Club Life in London , an 1866 book, begins: "The Club in the general acceptation of the term, may be regarded as one of the earliest offshoots of man's habitual gregariousness and social inclination." An increasing number of clubs were influenced by their members' interests in politics, literature, sport, art, automobiles, travel, particular countries, or some other pursuit. In other cases,
22663-532: The previous year; and had assets of $ 4.9 million, including a $ 4.6 million mortgage on the $ 4.3 million building. In August 1936, the club mortgaged its property to pay $ 260,000 of back taxes . Subsequently, the building was sold to a third party in 1947. The Downtown Athletic Club reacquired title to the building in 1950, having signed a 10-year mortgage with the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company . Full control of
22836-423: The product being advertised. The images became simpler, precise, more linear, more dynamic, and were often placed against a single-color background. In France, popular Art Deco designers included Charles Loupot and Paul Colin , who became famous for his posters of American singer and dancer Josephine Baker . Jean Carlu designed posters for Charlie Chaplin movies, soaps, and theatres; in the late 1930s he emigrated to
23009-527: The products, all the major Paris department stores, and major designers had their own pavilions. The Exposition had a secondary purpose in promoting products from French colonies in Africa and Asia, including ivory and exotic woods. The Hôtel du Collectionneur was a popular attraction at the Exposition; it displayed the new furniture designs of Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, as well as Art Deco fabrics, carpets, and
23182-468: The proposers (at least two and in many clubs more), who have known the candidate for a term of years, formally nominate the person for membership. Election is by a special committee (itself elected), which may interview the candidate and which looks at any support and also objections of other members. Some top clubs still maintain distinctions which are often undefined and rarely explained to those who do not satisfy their membership requirements. After reaching
23355-515: The relief sculptures on the façade of the Palais de Tokyo. The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris , and the esplanade in front of the Palais de Chaillot, facing the Eiffel Tower, was crowded with new statuary by Charles Malfray , Henry Arnold, and many others. Public Art Deco sculpture was almost always representational, usually of heroic or allegorical figures related to the purpose of
23528-450: The salon passed through the full-scale model. The façade of the house, designed by Duchamp-Villon, was not very radical by modern standards; the lintels and pediments had prismatic shapes, but otherwise the façade resembled an ordinary house of the period. For the two rooms, Mare designed the wallpaper, which featured stylized roses and floral patterns, along with upholstery, furniture and carpets, all with flamboyant and colourful motifs. It
23701-409: The same time. The building housed all of the club's athletic activities, as well as living and dining spaces. Its architectural features include several setbacks to allow light to reach the street, as mandated by the 1916 Zoning Resolution , in addition to the design of the brickwork and the different architectural concessions made for the building's various facilities. 20 West Street was designated by
23874-557: The simplification of forms to their geometric essentials: the cylinder, the sphere, the cone. In 1912, the artists of the Section d'Or exhibited works considerably more accessible to the general public than the analytical Cubism of Picasso and Braque. The Cubist vocabulary was poised to attract fashion, furniture and interior designers. In the Art Décoratif section of the 1912 Salon d'Automne, an architectural installation
24047-417: The social ladder. It revealed that a man had certain information others did not have. It was also a tool used to demonstrate a man's masculinity. It established certain gender roles. Men told stories and joked. The times and places a man told stories, gossiped, and shared information were also considered to show a man's awareness of behaviour and discretion. Clubs were places where men could gossip freely. Gossip
24220-446: The stoic gentleman. Like the home, men could act and behave in ways not usually acceptable in public society. For men who lived their lives at the club, the home lost its status as their base. Members would use this address for official documentation, mailing, and appointments. Meals, formal or informal, were provided and tastes could be catered for by the club staff. Spaces within the club were designated for these various functions, and
24393-470: The style called Streamline Moderne . The event that marked the zenith of the style and gave it its name was the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts which took place in Paris from April to October in 1925. This was officially sponsored by the French government, and covered a site in Paris of 55 acres, running from the Grand Palais on the right bank to Les Invalides on
24566-410: The suites on the top floors and for the club to retain ownership of the lower floors. One such proposal called for the building to be redeveloped as the "Hotel Heisman", with an interior redesign by Rafael Viñoly . However, these plans were complicated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission's desire to officially protect the building's exterior as a city landmark. In 1999, shortly before
24739-528: The time of its conversion, most of the units were studio apartments or one-bedroom units costing $ 400,000 to $ 1.5 million; some units also included home offices or an additional bedroom. The structure's amenities included a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m) fitness center, lounge with pool table, and outdoor terrace. A preschool academy called the Learning Experience was also established in the ground floor. The Downtown Athletic Club formerly issued
24912-477: The title of the first modern exhibition on the subject, held by the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, Les Années 25 : Art déco, Bauhaus, Stijl, Esprit nouveau , which covered a variety of major styles in the 1920s and 1930s. The term was then used in a 1966 newspaper article by Hillary Gelson in The Times (London, 12 November), describing the different styles at the exhibit. Art Deco gained currency as
25085-633: The top of a long waiting list, there is a possibility of being blackballed during the process of formal election by the committee. In these circumstances, the principal proposer of such a person may be expected to resign, as he failed to withdraw his undesirable candidate. More often, the member who proposes an unsuitable candidate will be "spoken to" at a much earlier stage than this, by senior committee members, and he will withdraw his candidate to avoid embarrassment for all concerned. The clubs are owned by their members and not by an individual or corporate body. These kinds of relationships have been analyzed from
25258-413: The top three stories. There was also a staircase along the building's northeastern corner, as well as six passenger elevators and one freight elevator. Interior designers Barnet Phillips and Duncan Hunter were responsible for the interior design. Design elements included "unusual lighting" as well as Meso-American style murals and geometrically patterned flooring. The style was highly praised as being among
25431-507: The war; the United States, misunderstanding the purpose of the exhibit, declined to participate. The event was visited by sixteen million people during its seven-month run. The rules of the exhibition required that all work be modern; no historical styles were allowed. The main purpose of the Exhibit was to promote the French manufacturers of luxury furniture, porcelain, glass, metalwork, textiles, and other decorative products. To further promote
25604-457: The whole family of styles known as "Déco". Parisian department stores and fashion designers also played an important part in the rise of Art Deco. Prominent businesses such as silverware firm Christofle , glass designer René Lalique , and the jewellers Louis Cartier and Boucheron began designing products in more modern styles. Beginning in 1900, department stores recruited decorative artists to work in their design studios. The decoration of
25777-436: The window bays, and a parapet with limestone caps. There is a three-story mechanical tower above the northern part of the roof, with decorative brickwork and three recessed brick panels on each of its four facades. The lower floors were devoted mostly to recreation. The ground floor contained the lobby and offices, and the lobby hosted exhibitions such as a Staten Island Museum show on ferries in New York City and displays of
25950-471: The writings of architectural historians such as Bevis Hillier. In the 1970s efforts were made in the United States and Europe to preserve the best examples of Art Deco architecture, and many buildings were restored and repurposed. Postmodern architecture , which first appeared in the 1980s, like Art Deco, often includes purely decorative features. Deco continues to inspire designers, and is often used in contemporary fashion, jewellery, and toiletries. There
26123-483: Was a brilliant publicist for modernist architecture; he stated that a house was simply "a machine to live in", and tirelessly promoted the idea that Art Deco was the past and modernism was the future. Le Corbusier's ideas were gradually adopted by architecture schools, and the aesthetics of Art Deco were abandoned. The same features that made Art Deco popular in the beginning, its craftsmanship, rich materials and ornament, led to its decline. The Great Depression that began in
26296-499: Was a distinct break from traditional décor. The critic Emile Sedeyn described Mare's work in the magazine Art et Décoration : "He does not embarrass himself with simplicity, for he multiplies flowers wherever they can be put. The effect he seeks is obviously one of picturesqueness and gaiety. He achieves it." The Cubist element was provided by the paintings. The installation was attacked by some critics as extremely radical, which helped make for its success. This architectural installation
26469-486: Was a prominent Art Deco studio sculptor, whose work was shown at the 1925 Exposition. He worked with bronze, marble, ivory, onyx, gold, alabaster and other precious materials. François Pompon was a pioneer of modern stylised animalier sculpture. He was not fully recognised for his artistic accomplishments until the age of 67 at the Salon d'Automne of 1922 with the work Ours blanc , also known as The White Bear , now in
26642-566: Was also a founder of the Wiener Werkstätte (1903–1932), an association of craftsmen and interior designers working in the new style. This became the model for the Compagnie des arts français , created in 1919, which brought together André Mare , and Louis Süe , the first leading French Art Deco designers and decorators. The emergence of Art Deco was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists, who until late in
26815-435: Was also a pioneer in covering the concrete with ceramic tiles , both for protection and decoration. The architect Le Corbusier first learned the uses of reinforced concrete working as a draftsman in Perret's studio. Other new technologies that were important to Art Deco were new methods in producing plate glass , which was less expensive and allowed much larger and stronger windows, and for mass-producing aluminium , which
26988-456: Was also a tool that led to more practical results in the outside world. There were also rules that governed gossip in the clubs. These rules governed the privacy and secrecy of members. Clubs regulated this form of communication so that it was done in a more acceptable manner. Until the 1950s, clubs were also heavily regulated in the rooms open to non-members. Most clubs contained just one room where members could dine and entertain non-members; it
27161-561: Was built. The 10th floor had medical rooms, and the 13th through 19th floors contained dining rooms and lounges. There were also kitchens on the 13th through 15th floors, a balcony with greenhouse on the 15th floor, and maintenance facilities on the 16th through 19th floors. On the 20th through 32nd floors were 143 private hotel rooms. The rooms had been occupied by guests such as boxer Muhammad Ali , baseball players Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle , comedian Bob Hope , and Heisman Trophy winners . The water tank and mechanical equipment occupied
27334-730: Was copied worldwide. In decoration, many different styles were borrowed and used by Art Deco. They included pre-modern art from around the world and observable at the Musée du Louvre , Musée de l'Homme and the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie . There was also popular interest in archaeology due to excavations at Pompeii , Troy , and the tomb of the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun . Artists and designers integrated motifs from ancient Egypt , Africa , Mesopotamia , Greece , Rome , Asia, Mesoamerica and Oceania with Machine Age elements. Other styles borrowed included Futurism , Orphism, Functionalism , and Modernism in general. Cubism discovers its decorative potential within
27507-423: Was definitely an escape, it was not an escape from domesticity. Men knew and enjoyed the matching elements of the home life; it was more of a transfer or alternative reality. Despite the opportunity for mobility within the club, secrecy and exclusivity supported the patriarchal authority. With the absence of female voices and set of rigid institutional structures, members created internal stability. Induction into
27680-429: Was designed in the Art Deco style by Starrett & van Vleck , who simultaneously designed the adjacent 21 West Street in the same style. The two buildings were constructed for different purposes and accordingly have different appearances; namely, the facade of the Downtown Athletic Club is darker than that of 21 West Street. Starrett & van Vleck had already designed several New York City department stores, including
27853-535: Was exhibited known as La Maison Cubiste . The façade was designed by Raymond Duchamp-Villon . The décor of the house was by André Mare . La Maison Cubiste was a furnished installation with a façade, a staircase, wrought iron banisters, a bedroom, a living room—the Salon Bourgeois , where paintings by Albert Gleizes , Jean Metzinger , Marie Laurencin , Marcel Duchamp , Fernand Léger and Roger de La Fresnaye were hung. Thousands of spectators at
28026-572: Was first used in France in 1858 in the Bulletin de la Société française de photographie . In 1868, the Le Figaro newspaper used the term objets d'art décoratifs for objects for stage scenery created for the Théâtre de l'Opéra . In 1875, furniture designers, textile, jewellers, glass-workers, and other craftsmen were officially given the status of artists by the French government. In response,
28199-841: Was formed with 15 shareholders and is still open today. Quebec City has the Literary and Historical Society , the Stadacona Club, and the Garrison Club, which was founded by officers of the Canadian Militia and opened to the public in 1879. The Toronto Club is the oldest in that city, founded in 1837. Others include the National Club , the Albany Club , the York Club , the University Club of Toronto,
28372-685: Was founded in 1693. Discussion of trade or business is usually not allowed in traditional gentlemen's clubs, although it may hire out its rooms to external organisations for events. Similar clubs exist in other large UK cities, such as: In London, the original gentlemen's clubs exist alongside the late 20th century private members' clubs such the Groucho Club , Soho House and Home House , which offer memberships by subscription and are owned and run as commercial concerns. All offer similar facilities such as food, drink, comfortable surroundings, venue hire and in many cases accommodation. In recent years
28545-478: Was no section set aside for painting at the 1925 Exposition. Art deco painting was by definition decorative, designed to decorate a room or work of architecture, so few painters worked exclusively in the style, but two painters are closely associated with Art Deco. Jean Dupas painted Art Deco murals for the Bordeaux Pavilion at the 1925 Decorative Arts Exposition in Paris, and also painted the picture over
28718-506: Was not damaged, but the building was part of an exclusion zone that the public could not enter for an extended period after the attacks. At the time, the upper floors were undergoing renovations, and all the windows were open, which caused debris and other material to seep into the building. In addition, the building's abandonment led to gradual deterioration of other elements such as peeling paint, burst water pipes, and malfunctioning elevators. The extended closure caused significant decreases in
28891-415: Was objectionable in some way or he was "unclubbable" (a word first used by F. Burney). This newly expanded category of English society came to include professionals who had to earn their income, such as doctors and lawyers. Most gentlemen belonged to only one club, which closely corresponded with the trade or social/political identity he felt most defined him, but a few people belonged to several. Members of
29064-647: Was often assumed that one's entire social circle should be within the same club. Harold Macmillan was said to have taken "refuge in West End clubs ...: Pratt's , Athenaeum , Buck's , Guards , the Beefsteak , the Turf , [and] the Carlton ". Although gentlemen's clubs were originally geared towards a male audience, domestic life played a key role in their establishment and continuity. Defying classic gender norms,
29237-417: Was perfectly fit to fulfil its function. Modern industrial methods meant that furniture and buildings could be mass-produced, not made by hand. The Art Deco interior designer Paul Follot defended Art Deco in this way: "We know that man is never content with the indispensable and that the superfluous is always needed...If not, we would have to get rid of music, flowers, and perfumes..!" However, Le Corbusier
29410-409: Was subsequently exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show , New York City, Chicago and Boston. Thanks largely to the exhibition, the term "Cubist" began to be applied to anything modern, from women's haircuts to clothing to theater performances." The Cubist influence continued within Art Deco, even as Deco branched out in many other directions. Cubism's adumbrated geometry became coin of the realm in
29583-404: Was tagged with other names, like style moderne , Moderne , modernistic or style contemporain , and was not recognized as a distinct and homogenous style. New materials and technologies, especially reinforced concrete , were key to the development and appearance of Art Deco. The first concrete house was built in 1853 in the Paris suburbs by François Coignet. In 1877 Joseph Monier introduced
29756-477: Was the centre of noble social and political life in the 18th-19th centuries, and largely determined public opinion. A gentleman's club typically contains a formal dining room, a bar, a library, a billiard room , and one or more parlours for reading, gaming, or socializing. Many clubs also contain guest rooms and fitness amenities. Some are associated mainly with sports, and some regularly hold other events such as formal dinners. The original clubs were established in
29929-526: Was used for building and window frames and later, by Corbusier, Warren McArthur , and others, for lightweight furniture. The architects of the Vienna Secession (formed 1897), especially Josef Hoffmann , had a notable influence on Art Deco. His Stoclet Palace , in Brussels (1905–1911), was a prototype of the Art Deco style, featuring geometric volumes, symmetry, straight lines, concrete covered with marble plaques, finely-sculpted ornament, and lavish interiors, including mosaic friezes by Gustav Klimt . Hoffmann
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