The exhibition “Le Chic, Arts décoratifs de 1930 à 1969” highlights the great French decorators and craftsmen who worked between 1930 and 1969. It brings together 200 works from the collections of the Mobilier national. Selected by the curators of the Mobilier National, Emmanuelle Federspiel, Gérard Remy and Jérémie Tortil, the various pieces were staged by the decorator Vincent Darré on the two levels of the gallery.
Here, the skills of sheath makers, leather workers, passementiers, cabinet makers, upholsterers and seat makers are honored, both at the time of the creation of furniture and lighting and at the time of their restoration. During the first containment, the Mobilier National then encouraged the activity of professionals in these trades, some of which had fallen into oblivion, by launching a program to restore 129 works from its collections. Some fifty craftsmen have thus contributed to the rehabilitation of these pieces between 2021 and 2022.
Vincent Darré, invited by the Mobilier National, has reconstructed for the occasion the great decorative ensembles that take us back in time during the exhibition. Thanks to his oversized frescoes, Vincent Darré plunges us into scenes of life that echo Jean Cocteau’s theatrical sets. From Marc du Plantier to Raphaël Raffel dit Raphaël, via Jeannet Laverrière, André Arbus, Dominique and Paul Cressent or Colette Guéden, we rediscover with excitement the great names that continue to inspire today’s design.
Cécile Papapietro-Mastuda
Exhibition, “Le Chic, Arts Décoratifs de 1930 à 1969”. From October 12, 2022 to January 29, 2023 at the Mobilier National.
