The Art Deco Society of New York (ADSNY) leads the global celebration of the 100th anniversary of one of the 20th Century's most influential design movements. The Art Deco Centennial commemorates the enduring legacy of this bold, innovative aesthetic, first introduced at the 1925 Paris Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes. From its debut to today, Art Deco profoundly shaped New York City's iconic skyline and cultural identity.
ADSNY, a non-profit organization founded in 1980, advocates for the appreciation, understanding, celebration, documentation, and preservation of Art Deco architecture, design, and culture in New York City and around the world.
ADSNY’s year-long celebration includes tours, talks, exhibitions, school programs, and special events, including a four-day immersive spring weekend highlighting the Art Deco architecture and design that continues to define New York.
Art Deco gained global popularity in the 1920s. From New York’s Deco architectural treasures––the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall––to graphic arts, fashion, interior design, jewelry, music, and motion pictures, the City’s monumental contribution to Art Deco was transformational.
The clean lines, luxurious materials, geometric motifs, curvilinear streamlined forms, sharply defined outlines, and bold use of color quickly became synonymous with New York’s modernity and sophistication, making Art Deco the ideal style for the booming metropolis.
“New York City’s skyline is a living testament to the vision and creativity of the Art Deco era,” according to Roberta Nusim, President of the Art Deco Society of New York. “The Centennial is an opportunity to reflect on and experience how Art Deco transformed all the boroughs of our city and continues to inspire generations of architects, designers, artists, filmmakers, New Yorkers and visitors of all ages.”
Key Highlights of ADSNY’s Centennial Celebration:
Upcoming ADSNY events through March 2025:
Worshiping Deco: An Inside Look at Churches and Synagogues - Monday, February 3, 2025 from 6:30pm-8:00pm. In-person event. The setting for this richly illustrated talk is Temple-Emanu-El, a New York Art Deco landmark. Architectural historian Matt Postal, will feature numerous New York City houses of worship constructed in the Art Deco style during the late 1920s and 1930s. Postal will examine the impact of Machine Age aesthetics on these new houses of worship and their richly decorated interiors, commissioned for both established congregations and nascent parishes.
Celebrating 100 Years of Art Deco with Curators from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris - Monday, February 11, 2025 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm. In-person event. In honor of this year's Art Deco Centennial, the Art Deco Society of New York, in conjunction with Villa Albertine, presents an exclusive conversation with Bénédicte Gady, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and Anne Monier, curator, along with Jared Goss, author of French Art Deco. They will revisit the groundbreaking 1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes ahead of a major exhibition opening at the Musée in the fall.
Brunch at Chez Josephine - Sunday, February 23, 2025 from noon to 3:00pm. In-person event. Deco enthusiasts step back in time for a champagne brunch at New York's legendary Chez Josephine. Founded in 1986 by Jean-Claude Baker, Josephine Baker's adopted son, Chez Josephine is a tribute to the legendary entertainer. We will enjoy live piano music in an intimate private room offering a unique Parisian setting with its blue-tin ceiling, red velvet walls, and cavalcade of chandeliers.
Selling Good Design: The Influence of French Art Deco in America’s Interiors - Tuesday, March 11, 2025 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. In-person and virtual event on Zoom. ADSNY presents an illustrated lecture about the influence of French Art Deco on designers throughout the United States after the 1925 Paris Exposition. Marilyn F. Friedman, a design and decorative arts historian, will explore how concepts from the exposition were presented to the American public by museums, department stores, and designers’ organizations.
Deco Treasures at the Met - Saturday, March 22, 2025 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. Virtual event on Zoom. Holly Phillips, senior collections manager for acquisitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, presents a selection of seldom-seen Art Deco treasures from the Met’s Watson Library. We’ll see catalogues associated with the Paris 1925 Exposition including copies of Les Arts décoratifs modernes, rare trade publications related to the exposition, catalogs by manufacturers including Lalique, Ruhlmann, Brandt and Sèvres, and other Art Deco texts on architecture, jewelry, interior design and American publishers’ bindings.
Additional events will be announced throughout the year.
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