Patrick Fourtin Gallery at PAD London 2025

The timeless elegance of Art Deco comes to PAD London.

On the occasion of PAD London 2025, the Patrick Fourtin Gallery celebrates its 30th anniversary and 100 years of Art Deco with a scenography by Pierre Gonalons. A sensory journey between historical masterpieces, contemporary emotion, and the eternal elegance of the Roaring Twenties.

It's an October afternoon in London. The light, still golden, slips between the Georgian facades of Mayfair. Russet leaves carpet Berkeley Square, and a hint of autumn hangs in the air. You step through the door of PAD London and, suddenly, the present fades away: before you opens the intoxicating world of the Roaring Twenties.

This year, Galerie Patrick Fourtin, one of Paris's leading temples of 30th-century design, is celebrating a double anniversary: its 100th anniversary and the XNUMXth anniversary of Art Deco, the style that, more than any other, embodies timeless modernity.

For this unique event, Patrick Fourtin has partnered with designer and scenographer Pierre Gonalons, known for his sensual and cinematic staging. Together, they have transformed their PAD booth into an almost theatrical experience, a setting where each piece of furniture and each light fixture becomes a protagonist in the story.

A century ago, Paris rediscovered a taste for celebration, audacity, and beauty after the horrors of the First World War. In 1925, the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts revealed a new style to the world: theArt Deco.

Its geometric lines, its precious materials, its attention to detail told of an era that wanted to live life to the fullest, to dream big. More than just an aesthetic movement, Art Deco was a philosophy oflifestyle, a call for elegance and modernity.

A century later, this aesthetic retains its strength intact. It perfectly reflects our times, attracting the greatest contemporary decorators, from India Mahdavi to Joseph Dirand, who reinterpret its codes. Art Deco has never been more relevant, as it combines the timeless and the functional, luxury and simplicity.

In the Marais district of Paris, the Patrick Fourtin gallery has become a must-visit for lovers of design and decorative arts. Patrick Fourtin, a tireless treasure hunter, has brought forgotten pieces by the great 20th-century designers back to life.

"A Printz table is not just a piece of furniture; it's a testament to an era, a vision of taste and refinement," he explains passionately. Each object he selects tells a story, embodies a pivotal moment where art and everyday life come together.

For PAD London 2025, he has created an exceptional selection, conceived as a constellation of masterpieces. Each piece is a star that shines through its singularity, but which truly shines within the overall design, designed by Pierre Gonalons.

Two unique creations by Eugène Printz, a visionary cabinetmaker of the 1930s, will occupy the heart of the stand. These pieces of furniture, created for a prominent Parisian collector, combine palm, sycamore, and oxidized bronze in a marriage of rare sophistication.

One of these pieces hides a surprise: a facade designed by Jean Dunand, the undisputed master of lacquer, known for his decorative panels on the ocean liner Normandie. This dialogue between two geniuses transforms the piece of furniture into a complete work of art.

Another moving piece is the personal lamp of the painter Jacques Doucet. Remaining on his desk until his death, it embodies the spirit of this visionary who foresaw modernity well ahead of its time. Doucet was the first to support Eileen Gray, Pierre Legrain, and Pierre Chareau, when no one yet believed in these bold creators.

This lamp, with its discreet patina, is a fragment of history, a witness to the beginnings of modern design.

Eckart Muthesius's pair of modernist cabinets transports us directly to Indore, to the fabulous Manik Bagh Palace, built between 1929 and 1933 for Maharajah Yeshwant Rao Holkar. There, Muthesius brought the rigorous spirit of Bauhaus into dialogue with the splendor of Art Deco, creating a universal language of modernity. These cabinets are extremely rare, as much as they are a piece of cosmopolitan history.

Finally, a pair of monumental floor lamps by André Arbus will structure the space. This architect-decorator of the 1940s and 1950s transformed each creation into an inhabited sculpture, combining classical majesty with refined modernity. These "sentinels of light" seem to watch over the entire scenography.

To showcase these treasures, Patrick Fourtin called upon Pierre Gonalons, a designer and scenographer distinguished by his narrative approach. Each space he creates is conceived as a moving tableau, a poetic staging.

"Art Deco is a universal language," Gonalons confides. "My role is to give it a contemporary resonance, to bring it into dialogue with our current sensibilities."

For the PAD London 2025, he imagines a decor in powdery colors: ivory, bronze and celadon green, like a luminous cocoon in which the historical pieces seem to float, ready to tell us their stories.

Every autumn, PAD London transforms Berkeley Square into a hub of encounters, discovery, and inspiration. International collectors, star decorators, museum curators, and enthusiasts gather here to explore the best of design and decorative arts, from ancient to contemporary.

Amidst this creative excitement, the Galerie Patrick Fourtin stand promises to be one of the most anticipated of the 2025 edition. With its narrative approach and dialogue between past and present, it promises to be a key reference for anyone interested in exceptional design.

If Art Deco still fascinates today, it is because it responds to our contemporary aspirations: noble materials, a palpable authenticity, a balance between beauty and function. It speaks to our era in search of meaning and sophistication.

In a minimalist loft, a Printz console table creates harmonious tension; in a Haussmann-style apartment, a Dunand lacquerware piece emerges as a work of art in its own right. Art Deco transcends trends and establishes itself as a timeless and vibrant aesthetic.

Patrick Fourtin's stand at PAD London 2025 will not be a simple retrospective. It is a total aesthetic experience, an invitation to reflect on our relationship with objects and space. These pieces are not only beautiful: they remind us of the importance of time, of artisanal excellence, of the emotion of perfect forms.

« Art Deco is not frozen in the past " concludes Patrick Fourtin. " He still inspires us because he embodies a vision of the future, that of a world where beauty is essential. »

From October 14 to 19, 2025, Berkeley Square will be transformed into a temple of decorative art. At stand C3, Galerie Patrick Fourtin will unveil its treasures in a scenography designed by Pierre Gonalons. Eugène Printz, Jean Dunand, André Arbus, Jacques Doucet and Eckart Muthesius will be reunited there like never before.

More than an exhibition, this will be an immersion into a century of modernity, an experience celebrating light, materials, and timeless beauty. One hundred years after its birth, Art Deco continues to inspire us, to move us, and to remind us that design is, above all, a story of passion and dreams.

After the superb edition of PAD Paris, all you have to do is buy your tickets to London!

Anne CANDY