In the Nave
Van Cleef & Arpels. L’art de la haute joaillerie
20 September 2012–10 February 2013
All the daring of the creations of this legendary jewellery house will be highlighted in the Nave at Les Arts Décoratifs, with 400 pieces that have made the fame of Van Cleef & Arpels since 1906. These prestigious pieces will be shown with archive documents and drawings, in an exhibition design by Jouin-Manku. The history of Van Cleef & Arpels is studded with technical inventions handed down from generation to generation. This savoir-faire, always kept secret, combined with imagination and very free sources of inspiration, fuelled its formidable production of forms and models. Among the constant sources of inspiration – flora, fauna and abstract motifs – certain themes are emblematic of Van Cleef & Arpels’ originality: Egyptomania, the ‘Roses’ bracelet that won the Grand Prix at the International Exposition in 1925, and the pieces inspired by textiles – lace, knots, soft furnishings, drapery, tulle – have been constantly reinterpreted down the decades, as has the invention of the Serti Mystérieux. The transformable jewellery and the minaudière bag were invented in the 1930s. The Van Cleef & Arpels image is still epitomised by the famous ‘Zip’ necklace, the first of which was inspired by the Duchess of Windsor and made in 1951, like the many variations of the chain necklace in the 1970s, including ‘l’Alhambra’, still just as popular forty years after its creation. Subtly mixing values and styles, Van Cleef & Arpels is continuing to stamp its signature on the jewellery world, particularly with the Jules Verne collection, directed by Alfredo Arias at the Biennale des Antiquaires in 2010, and the latest collection, Bals de Légende, inspired by the memorable society balls of the last century. A signature whose hallmark is legendary mastery and savoir-faire, a passionate love of precious stones and a taste for innovation and metamorphosis.
In the Contemporary Space
Le WallpaperLab
20 January–6 May 2012
Following the success of the three 3 previous shows, the Association pour la Promotion du Papier peint (A3P), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the publisher Domestic are relaunching the Wallpaper Lab. Five designers and graphic designers were selected to give their vision of wallpaper inspired by a set theme. Akroe, Helmo, Big-Game, Constance Guisset and Leslie David will have their designs shown on the walls of the contemporary department of the museum alongside works in the permanent collection. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs Prize was awarded this year to Constance Guisset. The A3P Prize was awarded to Helmo and will be published by Domestic.
In the Contemporary Space
Un peu de terre sur la peau. Bijoux contemporains en céramique
15 March–19 August 2012
Unlike traditional jewellery, the traditional craft of the goldsmith, since the 1970s contemporary jewellery has become a field of experimentation at the frontiers of art, design and the artistic crafts. In this exhibition, eighteen French, Swiss, German, Finnish, Swedish and Taiwanese, artists are proposing a new and personal vision in their work. Although some pieces were conceived in reference to the history of jewellery, they can be made with the most diverse materials, using every possible assemblage process, in function of the techniques, symbols and the culture during a given period. This exhibition, conceived by the Fondation Bernardaud, is being shown in the museum’s Contemporary Space.
Advertising
Ricard, 80 ans de création (titre provisoire)
29 March–26 August 2011
Les Arts Décoratifs is celebrating the 80th anniversary of Ricard. Instead of a retrospective, it deciphers the brand like a case study, comparing it, analysing it, and identifying all its key characteristics. Unlike other apéritifs, no single artist’s name is associated with the Ricard posters, like Charles Loupot is with Saint Raphaël and Cassandre with Dubonnet. Nor is there an emblematic character or animal, like Cappiello’s zebra for Cinzano. Questioning the company’s actors and its archives, the exhibition retraces the advertising campaigns that have marked its history with their themes, choice of colours, design, also studying the creations of the company’s ceramics studio and the brand’s communication strategies. Alchol abuse is detrimental to your health.
Advertising
Graphisme et French Touch
11 October 2012–28 April 2013
In 1994, Eric Morand, cofounder of the techno label F Communication with DJ Laurent Garnier, declared: ‘We give a French touch to house music’. The term ‘French Touch’ came to designate a movement in French electronic music that rapidly became famous on the international scene and involved all the visual artists – graphic designers, video directors, VJs – involved in this music. Never have graphic design and music been so closely associated as during the 90s and early 2000s. Electronic music invented a veritable visual identity for itself. And often the collaboration of graphic designers with emerging independent labels was shaped by constraints and basic principles: the absence of photo budget, the musicians’ desire to remain anonymous, and the arrival of the Macintosh and its simplicity as a design tool. French labels emerged, such as F Communication, founded by Eric Morand and Laurent Garnier and aided by graphic designer Geneviève Gauckler, who had only just graduated from the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. The Solid label, founded by Alex Goffer, Etienne de Crécy and Pierre-Michel Levallois, worked with the H5 collective, created the same year, some of whose work – the Super Discount album cover by Etienne de Crecy and the Child video by Alex Goffer – have become emblematic of a whole generation. The Yellow label, created by Alan Hô and Christophe le Friant, alias Bob Sinclar, enlisted the talents of Serge Nicolas. These graphic designers, fresh out of school, broke free from the teaching they had received at college, with its insistent reference to the Polish and Swiss schools and the militant graphic design of the Grapus collective, and looked to Anglo-Saxon post-modernist graphic designers such as Peter Saville, Neville Brody and Designers Republic for their inspiration. M/M accompanied this music scene by creating the fanzine EdEN and designing disk jackets for the Micronautes. Graphically, this was also the heyday of the flyers that publicised each club evening and became a creative showcase for personalities such as La Shampouineuse (Michel Poulain), for Pedro Winter’s soirées at the Folie’s Pigalle, and the photographer Agnés Dahan for the Respect soirées at the Queen. This music-graphic design-video symbiosis was taken to its paroxysm by the group Daft Punk and their studio Daft Art.
Fashion and Textile
Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs
9 March–16 september 2012
This exhibition tells the stories of two men, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs (artistic director of LV), and will highlight their contributions to the fashion world. How did they succeed in taking the pulse of their respective periods to innovate and take an entire industry forward? How did these two personalities, each with their own language, appropriate cultural phenomena and codes to write the history of contemporary fashion? An analysis rather than a retrospective, this parallel Vuitton-Jacobs comparison will provide new insight into the fashion system during its pivotal periods, beginning with its industrialisation and ending with its globalisation, focussing also on its artistic professions and crafts, technological advances, stylistic creations and artistic collaborations. It will also be homecoming for Louis Vuitton, who set up shop only a stone’s throw from the Louvre, the home of his first great patron, Empress Eugénie. Over a century separates Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, but both come together in the excellence of their creativity.
Les Arts Décoratifs 107, rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris
- tél. : 01 44 55 57 50