The Modernity of Art Deco

The exhibition at the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris marks the centenary of the historic 1925 International Exposition by offering a broad and multifaceted portrait of Art Deco. Far from proposing a simple commemoration, it reconstructs the complexity of a movement that shaped the twentieth century through its ability to bring together craftsmanship and industry, luxury and functionality, precious materials and geometric forms, anticipating many sensibilities of contemporary design. The exhibition presents around one thousand works, including furniture, glassware, ceramics, jewellery, design objects and garments, and offers a reading that unfolds both chronologically and thematically. The opening section focuses on the cultural climate that led to the rise of Art Deco in the 1920s, when Paris became the international showcase for a modern, linear and luminous aesthetic. What emerges is the strength of French applied arts, as well as their capacity to engage with global influences, from America to Asian metropolises, and even the naval architecture that carried the style across oceans. One of the central themes is the relationship between decoration and technology. Works such as André Groult’s famous galuchat-covered chiffonnier or the opalescent glass pieces by Marius Ernest Sabino show how refined craftsmanship could coexist with industrial processes, producing objects that combined elegance and modernity. The exhibition also follows the spread of Art Deco in domestic interiors, fashion and jewellery, fields in which the style quickly took hold thanks to sinuous forms, innovative materials and motifs that balanced precision and imagination. The scenography plays with contrasts of scale and atmosphere, moving from rooms that evoke period interiors to more understated spaces dedicated to the analysis of materials and techniques. The aim is to allow the visitor to grasp both the continuity and the transformations of the Art Deco language, from its 1920s origins to its revivals in the later twentieth century and the current historical reappraisals that highlight its enduring vitality.