1925 – 2025 One Hundred Years of Art Deco: A Century of Style, Form, and Influence

In 2025 We Celebrate a Milestone: 100 Years of Art Deco

A Style That Changed the World

In 2025, we celebrate the centenary of Art Deco. This iconic style takes its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the world fair that transformed Paris in 1925 into the epicentre of modern design, architecture, and applied arts. The exhibition marked the official beginning of a style that would dominate the interwar years—and remains influential today in interior design, fashion, graphic arts, and, though less well-known, in the world of bathroom design.

The Birth of a Modern Visual Language

The 1925 exhibition was an international affair with over twenty participating countries, but it was France that set the tone. Its goal was to position the nation as a global leader in modern design, architecture, and fashion. Iconic department stores such as Printemps and Galeries Lafayette showcased progressive interior concepts, materials, and living ideas.

The Art Deco style marked a dramatic break from the ornate asymmetry of Art Nouveau and Jugendstil. It embraced geometry, symmetry, luxurious materials, and a strong sense of decorative balance. Motifs such as sunbursts, stylised flora and fauna, and classical elements from Egyptian and Mesoamerican cultures became emblematic.

Notably absent were the United States. According to the exhibition guidelines, no design was allowed to be based on historical styles. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover declared that "there was no modern art in America"—a misunderstanding that led to the country’s exclusion. Nevertheless, many American designers, architects, and journalists came to Paris and left deeply inspired, later shaping the Streamline Moderne style.

The exposition grounds

The World Exhibition and Its Impact

Spread across the Esplanade des Invalides, over the Pont Alexandre III, and extending to the Grand and Petit Palais, 15,000 exhibitors presented their work to more than 15 million visitors. From that point on, the modern aesthetic gained traction around the world—especially in the United States, where it influenced iconic skyscrapers like the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building.

The Bathroom: A Forgotten Space

Surprisingly absent from this design celebration was the bathroom. In 1925, bathrooms were still viewed as purely functional and technical—unsuitable for aesthetic attention. One exception was the French pavilion Hôtel du Collectionneur, designed by Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann. Here, visitors could view a luxurious bedroom with boudoir and an elegant washbasin set against a wall of bookmatched marble. The bathroom functioned as an extension of the bedroom—a private domain, certainly not a shared family space.

Hôtel du Collectioneur - Boudoir badkamer

Art Deco and the Rise of Modern Sanitary Ware

A few years earlier, before the 1925 texhibition, in 1923 the first Salon des Appareils Ménagers took place on the Champ de Mars—a trade fair dedicated to household technology. While early editions focused on appliances like vacuum cleaners and stoves, by 1926 bathtubs, toilets, and taps were also featured under the banner of “hydrothérapie.” This marked a turning point: sanitary ware began to be integrated into the modern interior concept.

Previously, bathrooms had been reserved for the elite. During the 1920s, they became more accessible to the middle class. Manufacturers responded with both luxurious designs and standardised, affordable models—often still adorned with Art Deco elements such as colour contrasts and geometric forms.

Impression Salon des Appareils Ménagers 1926

French Pioneers: From Luxury to Mass Production

By the end of the 19th century, France had developed a thriving sanitary industry, with leading names including:

• Jacob Delafon (1889) – Specialist in glazed porcelain and enamelled bathtubs, ideal for mass production but also with a large variety of various types of bathroom equipment and catalogues that offered ready made plans for bathroom design.

Jacob Delafon -Salle de bains Grand Luxe -with separate wc and make up console table

• Porcher – Offered both high-end designs and functional products for the middle class

Porcher advertisement

• Charles Blanc – Provided also sanitary solutions for hospitals, schools, and large-scale housing with a vast choice of basins and baths

Charles Blanc - Impression of installation options

• Danto Rogeat (Lyon) – Among the first to produce enamelled bathtubs; highly sought after by collectors today

Danto-Rogeat Catalogue appr. 1900

Danto-Rogeat 1922                                         Danto-Rogeat 1927

The Road to Art Deco: A New Era in Bathroom Design

Technological advances—such as the introduction of gas water heaters and improved flushing systems—led to more efficient and hygienic bathrooms. After the First World War, both society and domestic life underwent significant change: households became less reliant on domestic staff, more women entered the workforce, and this shift created a preference for low-maintenance interiors. While many consumers continued to favour traditional designs, functional and modernist sanitary ware slowly gained ground.

Nonetheless, the classic styles of the pre-war period remained visible in manufacturers’ catalogues for quite some time, often presented alongside more modern models. These catalogues were therefore extensive, offering a broad variety of styles. The bathroom as a separate room was still a new concept in many households and, by the 1920s, was already considered ‘modern’ in itself. As a result, developments in bathroom design did not progress rapidly.

Although bathrooms received little attention at the 1925 Exposition, the emerging Art Deco style still found its way into sanitary design. From the mid-1920s onward, the bathroom increasingly became a fixed element in the home—technically advanced, functional, and stylish. By the late 1920s, and even more so during the 1930s, the characteristic visual language of Art Deco began to assert itself clearly in bathroom interiors: think glazed tiles with metallic accents, chrome-plated taps, geometrically shaped washbasins, and the introduction of coloured sanitary ware in bold Art Deco tones during the 1930s.

Catalogue Sarreguemines appr. 1900 - Salle de bain Art Nouveau

Catalogue Regior -Salle de bain Grand Luxe 1926

Catalogue Jacob Delafon appr 1925                            Catalogue SANI CENTRAL -Appr. 1930

The Art Deco Bathroom Today

During the Interbellum the Art Deco style kept playing a significant role in interior design. And even today, Art Deco remains a constant presence in interior design—and the bathroom is no exception. It is entirely possible to create an authentically styled Art Deco bathroom. While well-preserved and still usable original pieces have become rare, many manufacturers now produce high-quality reproductions. These are often virtually indistinguishable from the originals in terms of style and colour, though they offer greater functionality—such as the option to install a mixer tap, which was uncommon on washbasins in the 1920s.

By combining antique elements—such as accessories like glass shelves, soap and tumbler holders, or mirrors—with modern installations, a unique bathroom can be created.

A bathroom with the comfort of today and the charm of a bygone era.

Exhibition: 1925–2025. One Hundred Years of Art Deco

To mark the occasion, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris is hosting a major retrospective from 21 October 2025 to 22 February 2026. Expect an impressive collection of furniture, fashion, graphic design, and interior objects from the museum's extensive archives.

Location:
Musée des Arts Décoratifs
107 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris