Erte's Era

For a Design Theory Assingment, we were set the task of researching a famous piece of Art, and analysing it for its secret geometrical structure, presenting it in the style of an Artists Journal article.

For my piece, I researched and analysed one of the greatest and most renonwed Art Deco artists- Erte.


Art Deco was a Art movement which lasted from the 1920s- 1930s, and is renowned for containing sleek, straight lines in its Art (as opposed to Art Nouveau’s opulent, ‘whip-lash’ lines), and contains an element of boldness in its geometric elegance.

Erte's distinctive, flamboyant fashion designs of lavish plumed hats and long, flowing gowns encapsulated the significance of the budding design aesthetic of the Art Deco period.

I studied his 'Pearls' print, as it is much more structured than some of his other peices, and a pattern of design could clearly be seen, even without a grid being placed over it to draw the underlying shapes.

It is very rare for his work to have been so geometrically structured, as most of his work is less rigid, although still constrained within the Art Deco. This piece, then, is one of the exceptions of his work, not the rule.

However, this fact certainly does not devalue or diminish Erté’s immense talent and creativity. His style was consistent in design throughout his long and colourful life, and from this it is apparent that Erté’s designs were “innovative, decorative, and ahead of his time” (Meyer).