Art Deco exhibition opens in Milan

To celebrate this anniversary and as part of a critical reflection on culture and art in Europe, with particular attention to Italy in the 1920s, the exhibition "Art Déco. The Triumph of Modernity" was born, scheduled at Palazzo Reale in Milan until 29 June 2025, curated by Valerio Terraroli and promoted by the Municipality of Milan-Cultura, produced by Palazzo Reale and 24 ORE Cultura-Gruppo 24 ORE.

"The exhibition represents a moment of extraordinary cultural exploration, in which art, society and history intertwine. Through a rich and articulated exhibition itinerary, the public is given back not only the aesthetic magnificence of an era that was able to redefine the very concept of modernity, but also its symbolic value, as a perfect synthesis between artisanal tradition and technological innovation," said the Councilor for Culture Tommaso Sacchi. "In a period marked by fragility and contradictions, Art Deco emerges as an expression of a universal search for harmony and refinement, capable of transcending geographical boundaries and artistic disciplines. This project, which Palazzo Reale is proudly hosting, invites us to reflect on the power of art as a common language and on the ability of the past to dialogue with the present, offering us new keys to understanding our cultural identity."

Thanks to important loans from public institutions and private collections in Italy and abroad, the exhibition aims to delve into the genesis, development and rapid end of Art Deco. While Art Deco would only last a decade in France and Italy, this stylistic phenomenon would have the opportunity to reverberate in the rest of the world throughout the 1930s.

The exhibition not only offers a specific focus on the precious manufactures that defined – particularly in France and Italy – the stylistic hallmark of 'modernity' in the 1920s, but also aims to open a wider window onto that absolutely fascinating historical period, evoking in the background traits of European society: the places and ways of life, fashion, architecture, technological progress and proto-design, without forgetting the uncertainties and continuous economic and social tensions that characterised this fragile decade after the end of the First World War.

At Palazzo Reale, "Art Déco. The Triumph of Modernity" presents the public with around 250 works: from glass to porcelain to majolica to centrepieces, from works of art such as paintings, decorative sculptures, preparatory drawings, fabrics to furnishings, haute couture dresses, accessories, fine goldsmithing, but also stained glass and mosaics that recall the furnishings of hotels, stations and luxury means of transport, such as airplanes and ocean liners. The exhibition, enriched with film frames, reproductions of posters and magazines, historical photographs and multimedia installations, curated by Storyville, also recreates the climate and atmosphere of a unique and fascinating era, that of Europe in the 1920s: a world suspended between two wars, full of creative innovations and the cult of luxury.

As part of the promotion of Art Deco testimonies in the Milanese area, Palazzo Reale is strengthening its collaboration with the Fondazione FS Italiane by hosting the exhibition project "The Royal Pavilion of Milan's central station. An Art Deco masterpiece" which, through a wide selection of photographs, documents, drawings and furnishings preserved in the Archives of the Fondazione FS Italiane, in the Archive of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (Milan) and in the Civic Photographic Archive of the Municipality of Milan, tells the story of the Royal Pavilion in the Central Station and documents how Art Deco can also be traced in Italian railway architecture through a combination of the vitalistic thrust of modernity and tradition: a contamination between the promotion of Italian formal and technical culture and the development of new stylistic models.

Finally, the Royal Pavilion will also be the starting point for a series of guided tours of the city - on foot and by bicycle - organized by 24 ORE Cultura in collaboration with Fondazione FS Italiane and Palazzo Reale to discover buildings, interiors and architectural details of the Art Deco style that have marked an era.