Art Deco: 100 years of style – the events you cannot miss

One hundred years ago, the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts opened in Paris, marking the birth of the Art Deco movement.

Just one hundred years ago, the world was recovering from the horrors of World War One during what France called “les années folles” (the crazy years), better known as the Roaring Twenties in English.

The new age needed a new style. Just in time, a new international trend was taking shape. In 1925, the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris provided the perfect showcase. Over its seven-month run, some 16 million visitors admired the sleek new stylings in architecture, fashion, furniture and jewelry.

The exhibition is credited as the birthplace of Art Deco as a movement. The distinctive style favoured simple, geometric shapes to create streamlined-looking designs that echoed the modern and increasingly mechanised era. Art Deco creations were used on everything from textiles and household objects to bridges and buildings by people such as William Van Alen (Chrysler Building), architect Henry Van de Velde, artist Tamara de Lempicka and designer Jean Dunand.

Art Deco 2025: exhibitions and events

International art and design institutions are celebrating the centenary in 2025.

·       The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is hosting Rose Iron Works: From Art Nouveau to Art Deco, which will trace the designs of the ornamental blacksmith Martin Rose, who moved to Cleveland from Hungary. Rose and his compatriot Paul Feher designed some of the best Art Deco ironwork in the US. The exhibition will focus on Rose’s commissions from the 1930s, including Feher’s Muse with Violin Screen (1930), which is in the CMA’s permanent collection.

·       Another US Art Deco-inspired show is Tamara de Lempicka, which presents new perspectives on the life and work of the Polish artist who synonymised the Roaring Twenties. “Her paintings, combining a classical figural style with the modern energy of the international avant-garde, have cemented Lempicka as one of Art Deco’s defining painters, with an enduring influence on today’s pop culture landscape,” a press statement says. The exhibition is on at the de Young Museum in San Francisco and will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

·       The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris is hosting year-long celebrations. Starting 5 March, it unveiled a new collection for drawing, wallpapers, and photography, with an exhibition on Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. Paul Poiret: Couturier, Decorator and Perfumer will highlight Poiret's impact on fashion. Additionally, new Art Deco displays and a temporary show reflecting on the 1925 exhibition will be presented.

·       The BANAD festival is just one of numerous events to be organised in Brussels this year. More than 60 often-inaccessible private and institutional premises will be open to the public. Other shows and exhibitions are announced until the end of the year.

·         Art Deco Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age—scheduled from April 5 to April 28 at Glasgow School of Art—is part of Glasgow 850, a year-long commemoration of the city's milestone anniversary. This exhibition accompanies a new publication of the same title, authored by Bruce Peter, Professor of Design History at GSA.

(Michael Leahy. Source: The Art Newspaper et al. Photo: Library of Congress )