Les Ateliers d'art des grands magasins: a free exhibition at the Bibliothèque Forney, Paris

Avis aux curieux du beau, du rare et du bien fait - From November 4, 2025 to February 28, 2026, Bibliothèque Forney opens its doors to the exhibition Les Ateliers d'art des grands magasins. Showcases of Art Deco. Free admission, every afternoon from Tuesday to Saturday.

To celebrate the centenary of the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the 4th arrondissement library is spotlighting the four art studios that made Paris' shop windows shine: Primavera at Printemps, Pomone at Bon Marché, La Maîtrise at Galeries Lafayette and Studium Louvre at Grands Magasins du Louvre.

Created between 1912 and 1922, these workshops functioned as veritable integrated design houses: artists imagined furniture, fabrics, ceramics and decorative objects, which were then produced in provincial workshops. Primavera, a pioneer of the genre, claimed: "Atelier Primavera doesn't do modern. It is modern." Galeries Lafayette, with La Maîtrise in 1920 headed by Maurice Dufrène, relied on the artist's signature as a guarantee of prestige. Le Bon Marché, which traditionally catered to a more affluent clientele, entrusted its Pomone atelier to Paul Follot, "l'ébéniste merveilleux". As for Studium Louvre, the atelier of the now-defunct Grands Magasins du Louvre , it was run by young artists Étienne Kohlmann and Maurice Matet.

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Workshops called on designers to create motifs and models, while each creation was carefully staged and displayed. Trade catalogs, veritable paper showcases, helped spreadArt Deco to as many people as possible.

The exhibition features furniture, ceramics, textiles and glassware from Mobilier national, Tassinari-Chatel, Pierre Frey and department store heritage departments, alongside a superb selection of catalogs, posters, wallpapers, photographs and advertising objects from the collections of Forney and the City of Paris libraries.

At the1925 International Exhibition, these four workshops made a major contribution to the success of the event. Their production continued afterwards, always seeking a balance between creativity and commercial success. From the showcases of 1925 to the treasures of today, Art Deco is back in all its glory in this free exhibition - modern yesterday, timeless today.