Orient Express Reveals Its Future Amid a Historic Tribute to Art Deco Mastery
July 14, 2025- Orient Express X Musée des Arts Décoratif Exhibition: 1925-2025. Cent ans d’Art déco, 1925 – 2025. One Hundred Years of Art Deco
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris opens its doors this autumn to a century-spanning journey through design. From October 21, 2025, to February 22, 2026, the exhibition 1925–2025 Cent ans d’Art déco ( 1925 – 2025. One Hundred Years of Art Deco) traces the legacy of a movement that continues to define elegance in motion. Anchored by the rebirth of the Orient Express, this centennial show dives deep into the codes of French savoir-faire and the seductive geometry of modernity.
Nearly 100 years after the original Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris returns to the roots of Art Deco not as nostalgia, but as continuity. The Orient Express, revived under the artistic direction of Maxime d’Angeac, takes center stage in the museum’s grand gallery. For the first time, the public will discover the new interiors of the legendary train, presented alongside original archival pieces from the 1920s.
A Moving World of Design
At the heart of the exhibition is the new Orient Express, reborn through a vision that merges industrial complexity with grace. D’Angeac’s drawings—executed in 0.13 mm ink, each line a technical feat—guide the rebirth of this cultural icon. The result is a prolongation of French Art Deco: sculpted wood, etched glass, and metalwork shaped by thirty of the finest artisans in France.
Visitos will trace the link between the past and future. Pieces from the original train’s carriages appear in dialogue with their contemporary counterparts. A curated choreography of light, material, and volume unfolds—never excessive, always exact. From embroiderers to clockmakers, each artisan leaves a trace, echoing the legacy of ensembliers like Ruhlmann, Dunand, and Prou.
Icons of the Interior: Early Art Deco Masterpieces
The exhibition opens with a deep dive into the physical language of Art Deco. You move through a curated sequence of objects that defined the era: sculptural furniture, intricate marquetry, ivory inlays, and embroidered silk screens. Nearly 1,000 works from the 1910s to the 1930s line the galleries. Among them: Clément Rousseau’s rosewood and shagreen chairs, Van den Aker’s fire screen in Macassar ebony, and Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann’s iconic chiffonniers. Together, they map out the stylistic shift from Art Nouveau curves to Art Deco geometry—symmetry, contrast, and clarity.
You’ll encounter design not as ornament but as philosophy. Cabinets by Eugène Printz, lacquered panels by Jean Dunand, glassware by François Décorchemont. Forms are structured. Materials are precious. Everything serves a visual logic that values proportion, finish, and discipline.
Each room reveals the craft behind the aesthetic: the embroidery, the carving, the casting. It’s a rare chance to see these works outside of private collections. This is the domestic side of Art Deco, where homes became compositions of harmony and intention—designed, down to the last hinge, to express modern life.
Beyond Nostalgia: The Future of Travel
The exhibition reframes the philosophy of travel for a new era—slow, immersive, and rich in detail. Where most trains move through space, the Orient Express moves through time. This is a destination shaped by the codes of elegance and the rigor of engineering.
Visitors will encounter the beauty of technical innovation: materials chosen for sustainability, and cabins engineered for comfort. The future-forward vision that retains the soul of a golden age. Like the original Art Deco designers, today’s creators seek to orchestrate an atmosphere. Light that moves, silence that matters, and surfaces that invite touch.
As Paris celebrates this centennial, the Orient Express reminds us: true design is not defined by the era but by its ability to endure.
Orient Express X Musée des Arts Décoratif:
1925–2025 Cent ans d’Art déco ( 1925 – 2025. One Hundred Years of Art Deco) Exhibition
🗓 October 21, 2025 – February 22, 2026
📍Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 Rue de Rivoli, Paris
🎫 www.madparis.fr
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