Geometric posters in gold tones, stylized fan patterns, and sharp-edged chevrons – the kind now hanging on the walls of Stockholm’s design enthusiasts – have a precise origin: the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, which opened its doors on April 28, 1925, at the Grand Palais and Invalides in Paris. That exhibition gave Art Deco its name, and 100 years later, the anniversary was celebrated with a monumental exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris – “1925–2025. One Hundred Years of Art Deco” – featuring more than 1,000 works, from furniture by Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann and lacquerwork by Jean Dunand to a full-scale Orient Express carriage installed in the museum’s nave. The exhibition ran from October 22, 2025, to April 26, 2026. Residence Magazine highlights “romantic Art Deco” as one of Sweden’s hottest interior design updates for 2026. This guide tells the story of the style, what defines its visual grammar – and how to bring Art Deco into your home through wall art without making the room look like a hotel lobby.
Quick facts: The commemorative exhibition “1925–2025. One Hundred Years of Art Deco” at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris displayed more than 1,000 works and ran from October 22, 2025, to April 26, 2026. The exhibition featured furniture by Ruhlmann, lacquerwork by Dunand, jewelry, fashion, and poster art – as well as a full-scale Orient Express carriage installed in the museum’s nave.
The Paris Pavilions of 1925: How an International Exhibition Invented a Style and Named It
It is an irony of history that Art Deco got its name retroactively. When the grand exhibition was held in Paris in 1925, no one called the style “Art Deco” – the term was popularized by art historian Bevis Hillier in a 1968 book. The exhibition at the Grand Palais and Invalides was instead a manifesto for modernity: a showcase where France’s and the world’s leading artisans, architects, and designers presented what they believed the future would look like.
The exhibition brought together pavilions from 20 countries and attracted more than 16 million visitors over its six months. Each pavilion was a work of art in itself – extravagant facades with geometric reliefs, bold color combinations, and what would soon become the style’s hallmark: a hybrid of craftsmanship and machine production, of exotic imported aesthetics and European modernism. Artistic furniture, silver spice containers, and porcelain decoration took their place alongside poster art and typography.
It is important to understand that Art Deco was not a unified style program but a spirit of the times—a movement rather than a school. The style incorporated influences from Cubism and Futurism, from African and Mexican folk art, from Eastern calligraphy, and from Egyptian archaeology. It was a time of cultural acceleration after the trauma of the First World War, and art reflected that: joy, movement, optimism about the future, and an almost feverish desire to break with the past.
In Sweden, the legacy of the Art Deco style is clearly visible in architecture from the 1920s and 30s: during this period, the country’s bank facades, cinemas, and luxury hotels displayed distinct Art Deco features, with their geometric cornices and gold-decorated interiors.
Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 and Egyptian motifs: how an archaeological sensation shaped the aesthetic of an entire era
On November 4, 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter opened the door to Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor—and unwittingly set in motion one of history’s most influential design movements. Images and accounts of the treasures found inside the tomb—golden thrones, death masks, scarab amulets, and stepped pyramids in decorative art—spread throughout the Western world within months. The 1925 Paris Exhibition was deeply marked by “Egyptomania.”
The Egyptian motifs that flowed into Art Deco are easy to recognize: stylized lotus flowers and papyrus patterns, scarab motifs as geometric repetitions, stepped patterns (stepped pyramid), and sphinx-like figures in freestanding artworks. Jewelry designers such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels created collections directly inspired by the discoveries. Typographers and poster artists adopted hieroglyph-inspired visual styles. Egyptian patterns spread across textiles, tiled facades, and wallpaper in a new, geometrical form.
Egyptian influence interacted with Art Deco’s other sources of inspiration: Cubism’s fragmented geometry, Japanese woodblock prints with their clean lines and stylized depictions of nature, and African folk art with its strong contrasts and repetitive patterns. The result was an eclectic aesthetic that nevertheless felt cohesive, unified by its geometric visual language, bold colors, and constant attraction to the exotic and the new.
"Art Deco emerged from the meeting of the past's exoticism and the future's machine dreams—and it's precisely this tension that makes the style just as fascinating a century later."
A.M. Cassandre and the Golden Age of Art Deco Poster Art: Geometry in Motion
No artist embodies Art Deco's graphic ideals as completely as Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron, known by the pseudonym A.M. Cassandre. He debuted as a poster artist in Paris in the 1920s, just as the Art Deco movement was flourishing at its peak, and his career is itself a condensed chapter in the history of the style.
Cassandre's posters combined bold geometric shapes, dynamic perspectives, and typography woven into the composition to create a unified whole. His best-known works—steamship posters such as Normandie (1935) and Atlantique, and train posters such as L'Étoile du Nord—remain iconic images of how early 20th-century transport technology saw itself: powerful, elegant, and unmistakably modern. The Museum of Modern Art in New York held a solo exhibition of Cassandre's posters in 1936—a testament to the fact that poster art during the Art Deco period was considered on a par with fine art.
What makes Cassandre's work relevant to those of us choosing graphic posters for our homes today is his ability to distill complex subjects into geometric essences. A steamship is reduced to sweeping curves and horizon lines. A train disappears into a perspective of parallel tracks. The impression of movement and power is achieved without a single unnecessary line. It's a visual language that hasn't aged—in fact, it seems more relevant now, in an era of graphic overstimulation.
Cassandre's influence is clearly visible in the contemporary renaissance of retro- and vintage-inspired posters: stylized cityscapes, typography-driven compositions, and broad, flat fields of color are all elements that Cassandre refined to perfection during the Art Deco period.
Romantic Art Deco 2026 – Why the Anniversary Year Brought the Style to Life in Swedish Homes
Art Deco’s strong revival in 2025–2026 is no coincidence. The anniversary exhibition in Paris sparked cultural interest in the style that trickled down through fashion, interiors, and visual culture. Residence Magazine describes “romantic Art Deco” as one of Sweden’s hottest interior updates this year – and specifies what defines the contemporary interpretation: curvy shapes, darker woods such as walnut, checkered patterns, velvet, and metallic tones in colors such as caramel, moss green, and oxblood red.
What’s interesting about the 2026 take on Art Deco is that it isn’t a nostalgic trip. It’s an updated interpretation in which the style’s historic signature elements – geometry, gold, and bold contrasts – are combined with contemporary sustainability and Nordic simplicity. Swedish interior designers talk about “taking the best of Art Deco and making it their own” rather than recreating a 1920s living room.
The trend is also evident in the art market: searches for geometric posters, gold-toned patterns, and Art Deco-style poster art have increased significantly. It’s a style that works exceptionally well as wall art – its graphic clarity and strong geometric compositions suit an apartment in Malmö in 2026 just as well as a Parisian mansion in 1928.
Tip: If you want to bring Art Deco into your home without redoing the whole place, start with the wall art. A large graphic poster with a chevron or sunburst motif, framed in a slim gold frame, is enough to give a room an Art Deco character. Pair it with a dark wood surface and a textile in velvet or velour in one of the style’s signature colors: deep green, navy blue, burgundy, or mustard yellow.
Art Deco posters in the home: geometry, gold, and how to avoid the hotel look
Art Deco is one of the styles most likely to slide into kitsch if handled carelessly. The key is balance: the style can handle and calls for confidence in individual elements, but also requires strong elements to have room to breathe. An Art Deco poster doesn’t need competition – it wants a wall to itself, enough space around it, and a room that lets the artwork take center stage.
In the living room, Art Deco works beautifully as a single focal point. A large abstract poster with geometric patterns in gold and black or gold and deep green, in 70×100 cm or 50×70 cm, creates a visual focal point that anchors the room without requiring more art. Frame it in a slim black or gold metal frame to enhance the look.
In the bedroom, Art Deco can work as a more subdued version of itself. Choose motifs with stylized floral formations, fan patterns, or geometric compositions in desaturated tones - beige and gold, or dark blue and silver - instead of the strong contrasts the style allows in a living room. A size of 30×40 cm or 21×30 cm is enough to add stylistic elements without dominating.
The hallway is the perfect setting for Art Deco. Historically, the style was at its strongest in entrance halls and foyers, and a geometric poster with strong symmetry and distinct horizontal lines works beautifully as a welcoming image. Choose 50×70 cm if the height allows.
Combinations to avoid: don’t mix Art Deco posters with naturalistic floral motifs or rustic, woodcraft-inspired images - the contrasts will be too great. Art Deco works best alongside other geometric or graphic motifs, preferably with a shared accent color. Read more about creating a cohesive graphic poster wall for practical advice on combinations and spacing.
You can also find inspiration in our guide to Bauhaus - a contemporary movement with similar geometric ambitions but without Art Deco’s exoticism and ornamentation - to understand where the styles meet and differ.
Frequently asked questions about Art Deco
Explore the full range of graphic posters and retro and vintage-inspired posters at Bozetto for Art Deco-inspired designs. For comparison with the contemporary Bauhaus style, we recommend our guide to Bauhaus posters.
Sources: Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris – 2025–2026 anniversary exhibition · Swann Galleries – Art Deco at 100 (2025)