1925-2025. Cent ans d'Art déco

One hundred years after the 1925 International Exhibition of Decorative and Industrial Arts, which established the Art Deco style’s prestige worldwide, the Musée des Arts décoratifs dedicates a magnificent retrospective to it. From October 22, 2025 to April 26, 2026, the exhibition “1925-2025. One Hundred Years of Art Deco” brings together nearly a thousand works in an immersive journey occupying the spectacular nave and the large galleries on the second and third floors. Sculptural furniture, sparkling jewelry, flowing dresses, deep lacquers, and luminous glass reveal a style both geometric, luxurious, and decisively modern.

From the Orient Express cabin to contemporary reinterpretations. Upon entering the nave, visitors are captivated by the living myth of the Orient Express. An original cabin from the Étoile du Nord of 1926, restored in every detail with precious marquetry by René Prou and Lalique-signed glass, dialogues with three full-scale models of the future Orient Express reinvented by Maxime d'Angeac. Flame-colored rosewood, mother-of-pearl inlays, wood embroidery, and contemporary innovations interact in an immediate aesthetic impact. Chair and newspaper table by Clément Rousseau (1872-1950), decorator, and Clément Mère's (1861-1940), decorator fire screen, Chartier, cabinetmaker. Chair. Paris, 1921. Rosewood, stingray leather, ivory, silk / Newspaper table. Paris, circa 1921. Ebony, stingray leather, ivory Van den Aker, cabinetmaker. Fire screen. Paris, circa 1923. Macassar ebony, engraved and patinated ivory, embroidered silk. The route then unfolds through the galleries as a vast chronological and thematic fresco. It begins with the origins, as early as the 1910s, where the thrill of Art Nouveau is still palpable but with a clear intent to geometrize ornamentation. The apex of 1925 explodes into stylized forms, rare materials like Macassar ebony, stingray leather, ivory, and deep black lacquer. Art Deco is not a step backward: it’s an acceleration towards geometric elegance. The 1930s reveal purer, almost ascetic lines for some, while contemporary reinterpretations beautifully close the story by showing the intact vitality of the Art Deco vocabulary today. Each room breathes the era: speed, freedom, cosmopolitan elegance. There is a seamless transition from the most opulent furniture to the most intimate objects, from preparatory sketches to finished works, as if turning the pages of a great living book of twentieth-century design.

From Ruhlmann to Vionnet, the genius of Art Deco creators. Three creators dominate and embody the rich contradictions of Art Deco: Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, master of extreme luxury and rare woods; Eileen Gray, whose sensual radicality remains strikingly modern; Jean-Michel Frank, genius of purity and the stark contrast between raw and precious materials. Around them shine André Groult and his legendary 1925 stingray leather chiffonnier, Pierre Chareau and his spectacular desk-library reinstalled for the occasion, Clément Rousseau and his chairs made of ivory and silk, with a disturbing sensuality. 1,000 works gathered in an immersive journey. Fashion electrifies the path: Madeleine Vionnet’s Petits chevaux dress, embroidered with pearls and gold threads on silk crepe, seems to float like a modernized ancient dream; Marguerite Pangon’s batik velvet cape, Sonia Delaunay’s geometric jacket, or Jeanne Lanvin’s dresses recall that Art Deco also dressed the moving body. Jean Dunand deploys his hypnotic depth lacquers, François Décorchemont his almost lunar pâte de verre, Raymond Templier and Jean Desprès their modern silver and enamel brooches. Madeleine Vionnet, fashion house, Marie-Louise Favot known as Yo (1895-1986), designer, Michonnet, embroidery house, Dress called Petits chevaux or Greek vase, winter 1921 collection, silk crepe embroidered with pearls and gold threads. Created for the winter 1921 collection, this dress embodies the fusion between ancient inspiration and Art Deco modernity. The stylized little horses motif, embroidered with pearls and gold threads on ivory silk crepe, evokes the friezes of Greek vases. Madeleine Vionnet deploys her signature bias-cut technique, giving the garment a sculptural fluidity that liberates the female body. The Michonnet house, famous for its virtuosic embroidery, executed this remarkably fine decoration bearing witness to the excellence of Parisian know-how in the interwar period.

Lacquers, lights, and textures: a total sensory experience Atelier Jodar and Studio MDA conceived a scenography that does not just show Art Deco: it makes you feel it palpably. The sumptuous materials reappear in large format with vast panels of glossy black lacquer, ivory slabs, and stingray leather textures enveloping the visitor in an atmosphere both precious and carnal. The lighting alternates between deep dimness to reveal the depth of lacquers and harsh light to emphasize the geometric rigor of volumes. ✦ The nave becomes almost cinematic: one walks around models of the future Orient Express, brushes past the 1926 cabin, enters the dream of travel. The galleries alternate open spaces where pieces breathe and more intimate corners where one leans over a jewel or preparatory drawing. The journey is a continuous breath: one leaves decorative opulence to plunge into radical purity, then returns to preciousness, as if Art Deco itself still beats its heart a hundred years after its birth. Pierre Chareau, Desk-library of the intimate apartments of a French Embassy at the 1925 international exhibition, 1924-1925. Made for the pavilion of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs at the 1925 Exhibition, this spectacular circular desk-library is topped with a dome supported by two pillars and composed of a fan-shaped wall that lets in light. The central part, framed by palm wood shelves, houses the desk and its chair. Chareau demonstrates remarkable mastery of space and light, creating an architectural ensemble of striking modernity that perfectly embodies the decorative ambition of this period.