Twentieth-century antiques and objets d'art are not exactly new creations but rather a synthesis of the artistic movements of the preceding centuries. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the modern style or Art Nouveau re-employed the characteristics of the Haute Époque (encompassing the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Louis XIII). The Christian religion became a source of inspiration. Gothic art, the Renaissance, the Louis XV style, Spain, Italy, and Great Britain all influenced the 1900 style. All the styles—from every era and country—were synthesised.
As of the 1910s, Art Déco emerged in reaction to Art Nouveau. Inspired by cubism, Fauvism, and Greek, Egyptian, and African art, it broke away from mass production and favoured high-end production methods. Serpentine forms were abandoned and replaced by simpler, geometric, and symmetric forms. The antiques and furniture from the Art Déco were made from novel and prestigious materials: leather, wrought iron, wood marquetry, glass, and ceramics. Art Déco reinvented all the arts of its era: architecture, painting, design, glassmaking, goldsmithing, and fashion.
