Deco Days

edited by Sheila Kim -- Interior Design, 3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Building on the success of its art nouveau exhibition in 2000, London's Victoria and Albert Museum is mounting "Art Deco 1910-1939." The most comprehensive survey to date, it examines deco's international ascent. Emerging just as art nouveau fell out of favor, the movement reached a high point—and acquired a name—at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, enjoying a last hurrah at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. The V&A is showing an Erik Magnussen silver coffee service, Cartier jewels, a Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann dressing table, and 300 other objects. A highlight is the V&A's collection of restored architectural details from London's Strand Palace Hotel foyer, salvaged prior to a 1969 renovation. March 27–July 20; 44-20-7942-2000; vam.ac.uk.