Textiles & Wallpaper 20th Century Patterns

The century of rupture

After the look at previous centuries taken by the historicism of the 19th century, the 20th century turned resolutely towards the future and modernity.

Although rooted in the continuity of the industrial era, it is marked by the pursuit of progress. The magic of electricity, celebrated by Raoul Dufy, transformed lifestyles, as did the automobile and the use of new materials in architecture, such as concrete.

In the artistic field, artists seek singularity. The Cubism of Braque and Picasso, the Abstraction of Kandinsky, the Dadaism carried in particular by Cocteau, a protean figure of the avant-garde, also a draftsman and poet, the music of Debussy and Stravinsky, the ballets of Diaghilev set the scene for this taste for novelty which does not exclude a perfect knowledge of the contributions of the past.

The decorative arts were also driven by this desire for change: Art Nouveau, with its motifs inspired by flora and fauna, composed of scrolls, curved lines, and arabesques, ushered in the century, while Art Deco took the opposite approach, employing geometric forms, symmetry, and rigor. Modernist movements such as the Bauhaus, the De Stijl group, and the International Style, impacted by the two world wars and economic and social fluctuations, aimed, through design, for universality, a return to the collective, and sought to bring beauty into everyone's everyday life.

Throughout the century, wallpaper also played a key role in redefining interior spaces, imbued with the creativity of the artistic movements that punctuated this era.