NEW YORK.-Pierre Paulin, one of the most significant French designers of the 20th century, will be celebrating his 80th anniversary in New York with a spectacular birthday bash and exhibit at the French Cultural Services. Mr. Paulin chose to celebrate in America in order to reconnect with the roots of his success, and to express his gratitude to the country that first gave him his big break on his way to international renown. Indeed, a 1967 article by the New York Times first revealed him to the general public, and New York’s Museum of Modern Art soon became the first major institution to recognize him as a world-class designer. To mark its continued support, MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design will co-host the birthday reception with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

The exhibit, which will run from December 4 – January 25, 2008, will be free and open to the public. On the first floor of the splendid Stanford White building that now serves as the French Cultural Services’ headquarters in the U.S., a selection of Paulin’s most iconic furniture designs will be on display, thanks to the generosity of the New York showroom of M2L, a US distributor of authentic modern classics. Many of these pieces will be covered in funky 60s fabrics designed by another octogenarian icon in the design world—Jack Lenor Larsen. Exactly 40 years ago Larsen created a collection of highly innovative, stretch-woven upholstery fabrics to work on Paulin’s curvilinear designs. These bold materials, which set a new standard in textile design, have been re-issued for a limited time in honor of Paulin’s jubilee. The New York Times first reviewed this marriage of cutting-edge design and material innovation in 1967. It was love at first sight for critic Rita Reif when she wrote, “the wedding of the sinuous, brilliantly colored prints with the sculptured furniture is so successful that it is hard to imagine one without the other” (New York Times, December 6, 1967). The contrast between the contemporary French designs covered in 60’s American textile patterns and the architectural space imagined by America’s leading classical architect, complete with America’s only statue by Michelangelo, promises to be quite breathtaking.

The second floor will feature a unique photography series of the Elysée Palace’s interiors redesigned by Paulin. Intrigued by his burgeoning reputation, the French State commissioned him to redesign Georges Pompidou’s private apartments in 1968 since France’s newly elected president wanted to signal a fresh new beginning, and a more modernist approach. Another French President eager to break with the past, François Mitterrand, also asked Paulin to design his furniture in 1983.

This exhibit and reception were made possible with the generous support of M2L, the Florence Gould Foundation, the French-American Cultural Exchange (FACE), Air France and Pommery.