New York, Art Deco and I
Chrysler Building, Empire State, golden light over Manhattan at dusk: New York Art Deco has a way all its own of never letting us go. In this article, I take you on my path, among the monuments that taught me everything about this style—and tell you how this obsession is taking shape on my current canvas, "Discover NYC".
The first time I looked up toward the top of the Chrysler Building, at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street, I understood something that architecture books had never managed to explain to me: Art Deco is not just a style. It is a promise. The promise of a city that, in the 1920s and 1930s, decided to build toward the sky with as much boldness as elegance.
This article is not an art history lesson. It is the story of my almost personal relationship with New York Art Deco—and everything this style continues to inspire in me, from the facades of Manhattan to my most everyday choices.
What exactly is Art Deco?
To answer simply: Art Deco is an artistic and architectural movement born in France in the 1910s and 1920s (the name comes from the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, in 1925), before experiencing its golden age in the United States, and particularly in New York, in the years that followed.
It is recognizable by a few highly identifiable visual signatures:
- Strict geometric lines — chevrons, zigzags, fan shapes, symmetrical patterns.
Strict geometric patterns
- A blend of noble and industrial materials — brass, chrome, marble, frosted glass, exotic woods.
- Assumed verticality — soaring facades, skyscrapers conceived as sculptures.
- Stylized rather than cluttered luxury — unlike Art Nouveau, which is more organic and sinuous, Art Deco is clean, structured, and almost mathematical in its beauty.
Stylized luxury
New York, in the midst of an urban explosion at that time, became the ideal playground for this style. As a result, the city today houses one of the world's largest concentrations of Art Deco buildings.
The monuments that started it all
The Chrysler Building, my starting point
It is impossible to talk about Art Deco in New York without first mentioning the Chrysler Building, completed in 1930. Its stainless steel spire, its gargoyles inspired by Chrysler radiator caps, its sunburst patterns at the top: everything in this building tells the story of an era that still believed beauty could be functional, not just useful.
The Empire State Building, elegant excess
Completed one year later, in 1931, the Empire State Building pushes the logic even further. Its entrance hall, with its marble marquetry and gilded geometric patterns, is a manifesto of the style all on its own.
The Empire State Building
Rockefeller Center, Art Deco on a neighborhood scale
Less spectacular at first glance, Rockefeller Center is perhaps the most complete example: sculptures, bas-reliefs, frescoes, urban furniture—an entire district conceived according to the same aesthetic codes.
Rockefeller Center
More discreet treasures
- The Radio City Music Hall, with an interior worthy of a movie set.
- The lobby of the General Electric Building.
- Certain subway stations and residential buildings on the Upper West Side, less photographed but just as revealing.
Why this style continues to fascinate me (and not just me)
What touches me about Art Deco is not just its aesthetic—it’s what it says about an era. The 1920s and 1930s in New York were defined by the energy of jazz, the vertical rise of the city, and an almost insolent confidence in progress. The Art Deco style captured this precise moment and froze it in stone, metal, and glass.
And nearly a century later, this visual language has lost none of its power. We find it today wherever one seeks to evoke elegance, glamour, and a certain idea of refinement: in interior design, with the return of geometric lines, brass, and deep hues; in jewelry, where symmetrical forms and fan-cut stones remain a benchmark; in fashion, through structured cuts and graphic prints; and of course in contemporary architecture, which continues to cite these codes.
How to incorporate the Art Deco spirit into your home
You don't need to live in a Manhattan penthouse to be inspired by this style. A few simple tips:
- Bet on symmetry. A mirror, a pair of wall sconces, a repeated pattern: Art Deco loves order.
- Choose materials that shine, with restraint. Brass, gold, glass—in small touches rather than excess.
- Dare to use deep colors. Emerald green, midnight blue, lacquered black: shades that recall the New York salons of the Roaring Twenties.
- Add a statement piece rather than accumulating objects. A piece of jewelry, a vase, a frame: Art Deco works through accents, not accumulation.
When Art Deco enters my studio
It is precisely this philosophy that guides my work at the moment on my current canvas: "Discover NYC".
This painting, which I am working on right now in my studio, was born directly from this obsession with Manhattan that I just told you about. It features a skyline that reaches toward the sky, echoing the verticality of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. Above all, it captures that very particular light—golden, nocturnal—that envelops the city at dusk, when the facades begin to twinkle.
But what really anchors "Discover NYC" in the Art Deco universe are the decorative details I have chosen to include: lamps with geometric lines, wall hangings with stylized patterns, all in a palette of golds and coppers reminiscent of New York interiors from the Roaring Twenties. It is therefore not just a simple nod to New York—it is a genuine attempt to transpose onto canvas everything that this style represents for me: elegance, structure, and that light which always seems ready to tell a story.
The painting is still a work in progress. I will show you the next steps on Instagram as it moves forward, before its complete unveiling.
A portion of my work "Discover NYC" in progress
Frequently asked questions about Art Deco in New York
What are the most iconic Art Deco buildings in New York?
The Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, and Radio City Music Hall are considered the most iconic examples of the Art Deco style in New York.
Why is New York associated with Art Deco?
Because between approximately 1925 and 1935, the city experienced a wave of skyscraper construction that coincided exactly with the global peak of this style, making Manhattan one of its greatest canvases.
What is the difference between Art Deco and Art Nouveau?
Art Nouveau, which appeared earlier, favors curved lines and motifs inspired by nature. Art Deco, which followed it, adopts instead geometric, symmetrical, and streamlined lines.
Can you visit Art Deco buildings in New York?
Yes: the lobbies of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building are accessible to the public, as are Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, which even offers guided tours.
Leaving with eyes toward the sky
Every time I think of New York, I make the same journey: I walk up Lexington Avenue, I stop at the foot of the Chrysler Building, and I look up. This isn't nostalgia—it is rather the confirmation that some styles don't age; they are passed down.
Art Deco, in New York, did not remain frozen in the 1930s. It continues to nourish our perspective on elegance, on what a well-drawn line can communicate. And if you have never seen it with your own eyes, know that it is waiting for one thing: for you, too, to look up.
