PARIS.- As the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris prepares to open the exhibition 1925-2025: Cent Ans d'Art Déco, Christie's will celebrate the centenary of the 1925 exhibition that revolutionized design and the applied arts with a double tribute in Paris and New York.
For the 1925 A Modern Vision auction to be held on December 11 in New York, Christie's is bringing together some of the greatest masterpieces which, in 1925, left their mark on the creative effervescence and extraordinary success of the Art Deco style. They are by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dunand, Jean Dupas, André Groult, Ivan Da Silva Bruhns, Pierre Chareau, Gustave Miklos and Eugène Printz. The list will be unveiled shortly.

On November 26 in Paris, Christie's will pay tribute to an entire century of creativity with its 1925-2025, la modernité en héritage auction. Ahead of the New York sale, Paris will celebrate a century of modernity and the liberation of form. From Art Deco to the most contemporary lines, this journey through the century highlights the leading figures in design and the aesthetic upheavals that marked their era. Decade after decade, the selection of pieces brought together for the occasion reveals the major milestones in this visual history. These works, which powerfully embody the living and enduring legacy of modernity, are by Alberto Giacometti, Charlotte Perriand, Jean Royère, Georges Jouve, Jean Prouvé, Line Vautrin, Serge Mouille, Guy de Rougemont, Ron Arad and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. At the center of this anthology: the Christian Mattler Collection – the work of a discreet but accomplished collector, rooted in the 1950s – embodies the very essence of design expertise.

It is the hallmark of the major design collections in which Christie's is the global specialist.

Capucine Tamboise, Specialist, Head of Sale of the 1925-2025, La Modernité en Héritage auction in Paris notes: “Present at every key moment in the history of decorative arts, Christie's has distinguished itself through iconic sales and records that have marked the century – from Eileen Gray's legendary armchair, which sold for more than €20 million, to post-war masterpieces. True to its spirit of audacity and creativity, Christie's pays tribute to the past while celebrating the present, offering collectors the opportunity to acquire pieces that embody, now more than ever, the very essence of modernity.”

1925-2025 TRIBUTE TO A CENTURY OF CREATIVITIY:

For this tribute to a century of design creativity, Christie's has brought together a collection of iconic pieces from each decade between 1925 and 2025. Notable examples from the 1930s include an Écossais lamp by Alberto Giacometti in patinated and gilded bronze (€150,000-200,000). Created around 1934-1935, it was mentioned as early as 1936 in Vogue and in an article in Art et Décoration about Jean-Michel Frank. Alongside Serge Mouille's floor lamp from the Christian Mattler collection, a beautiful Miroir Baguette by Line Vautrin opens the 1960s decade (€120,000 - 180,000). Guy de Rougemont represents the 1970s with a Nuage dining table from 1971, whose polished and brushed steel emphasizes the elegance of its lines (€100,000-150,000). Also featuring rounded, patinated metal, Ron Arad's Rolling Volume armchair embodies the turn of the 1980s and 1990s (€30,000-50,000). Finally, the sale will feature a Liane ceiling light created in 2010 by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for the Galerie Kreo, the Parisian temple of design to which Christie's is also paying tribute (€120,000-180,000).

CHRISTIAN MATTLER, A WORLD OF HIS OWN

Under the rooftops of Paris, on the top floor of a light-filled building, Christian Mattler created a world of his own, deeply influenced by Jean Prouvé. Trained as an architect, Christian Mattler took part in the construction of the Montparnasse Tower and worked closely with Jean Prouvé. Dedicated to creativity and modernity, he created a unique world for himself, which served as both an intellectual refuge and an aesthetic manifesto. A discreet but accomplished collector, Christian Mattler embodied the very essence of expertise in 1950s design. Throughout his life, he cultivated a deep passion for the most iconic pieces of this period, earning him the recognition of leading gallery owners, who praised the richness of his intellectual contribution to the field. A bookcase, designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1952 for the Maison de la Tunisie at the Cité Universitaire Internationale in Paris, produced in Jean Prouvé's workshops, occupies a prominent place in his collection (€150,000-200,000). It sits alongside a pair of Visiteur N. 350 armchairs by Jean Prouvé, created the same year (€200,000-300,000) and a Très grand signal floor lamp by Serge Mouille (€80,000-120,000).