1925-2025: One hundred years ofArt Deco exhibited at the Museum of Decorative Arts
One hundred years after the 1925 International Exhibition which launched theArt Deco on the world stage, The Museum of Decorative Arts celebrates this bold, sophisticated and resolutely modern style from October 22, 2025 to April 26, 2026. The exhibition "1925-2025. One hundred years ofArt Deco" invites you on a journey to the heart of the creation of the Roaring Twenties and its heritage masterpieces.
The MAD exhibition: a rich and diverse panorama
Nearly 1,000 works are presented, including jewelry, art objects, furniture, drawings, posters, and fashion pieces. These pieces tell the richness, elegance, and contradictions of a movement that still fascinates today. The immersive scenography, sumptuous materials, stylized forms, and exceptional craftsmanship create a lively and sensory journey where theArt Deco unfolds all its facets.
The symbol of luxury: the Orient Express
The exhibition opens spectacularly with the legendary Orient Express, a true jewel of luxury and innovation in the 1920s. A restored cabin from the former Étoile du Nord and three models of the future Orient Express, reimagined by artistic director Maxime d'Angeac, occupy the nave of the museum. This dialogue between heritage and modernity invites visitors to explore a world where art, beauty, and dreams were invented as much in 1925 as they are in the present.
Heritage and iconic masterpieces
The Museum of Decorative Arts plays a central role in the recognition of theArt Deco since its beginnings, housing the salons of the Society of Decorative Artists and building an exceptional collection. The exhibition draws on this fund and on public and private loans to present emblematic pieces such as the shagreen chiffonier by André Groult, the refined creations of Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann or the spectacular desk-library by Pierre Chareau designed for the French Embassy.
Three major creators are highlighted, each embodying a unique facet of this style: Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, Eileen Gray and Jean-Michel Frank.
L'Art Deco : a lively and inspiring style
Born in the 1910s from European reflections on ornamentation and fully developed in the 1920s, theArt Deco is characterized by a structured, geometric and elegant aesthetic that combines modernity and preciousness. It was initially aimed at wealthy social classes due to the cost of the materials and techniques used.
This movement affects all areas of artistic and decorative creation: furniture, fashion, jewelry, graphic arts, architecture, transportation, etc.
The exhibition explores various trends, from bold geometric abstraction to formal purity and decorative taste. It also highlights the fundamental role of drawing through decorative projects and furniture, while presenting the world of fashion and textile arts with pieces by Madeleine Vionnet, Sonia Delaunay and Jeanne Lanvin.
A cross-examination of the past and the present: style Art Deco
By offering a chronological and thematic journey through the nave and galleries of the museum, this exhibition reveals the richness and relevance of a constantly evolving movement. More than a tribute, it invites us to rethink theArt Deco as an ever-fertile source of creation and innovation, in resonance with contemporary aesthetic questions and know-how.
The exhibition promises to be a major event to appreciate the timeless modernity and diversity of theArt Deco through a wide range of works, from furniture to jewelry, including fashion and exceptional design
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