Featuring more than 90 works by acclaimed artisans, Splendor and Luxury showcases the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ renowned collection of French art nouveau and art deco—one of the most significant of its kind. The exhibition features exceptional examples of jewelry, works on paper, metalwork, furniture, ceramics, and glass by leading artists such as René Lalique, Pierre Legrain, Louis Majorelle, Alphonse Mucha, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, and others. Together, these works demonstrate the remarkable craftsmanship and innovation that distinguished French decorative arts in the early 20th century.
Emerging in the late 19th century, art nouveau was an international movement that sought a new artistic language for the modern age. While its forms varied across countries, the French style is distinguished by sinuous, flowing lines inspired by nature and other sources, including Japanese art. Art deco soon followed, developing before the First World War and flourishing into the 1930s. Drawing on European craft traditions as well as the arts of ancient Egypt, Mesoamerica, East Asia, and Africa, its designers embraced streamlined forms, geometric ornamentation, and luxurious materials to express the dynamism of the modern world.
Organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Top image: Manuel Orazi. La Maison Moderne, 1900. Lithograph. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund, 2019.288. Image courtesy the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
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