This month sees the opening of DECODENCE: Legendary Interiors and Illustrious Travelers Aboard the SS Normandie. Given my passion for all things early twentieth century, it’s been a total joy to work on developing this project with the Seaport Museum!

For those of you who don’t pore over out-of-print decorative arts textbooks and google things like “Japanning techniques” and “lost Jean Henri Riesener pieces”, the SS Normandie was a magnificent ocean liner and the pride of the French Line in the 1930′s.  Decorative arts scholars and aficionados argue that the ship may have been the most extravagant example of French Art Deco design ever created on such a massive scale. With interiors and appointments by René Lalique, Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dupas, and Hermés, Normandie was breathtaking to behold. The ship’s legendary three-deck-high First Class dining room, a marvel of the Art Deco era, was perhaps the most awe-inspiring feature of her interior design. At three hundred five feet long, it was longer than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles! The room, which could accommodate 700 diners, boasted twelve tall illuminated pillars of original Lalique glass flanked by thirty-eight matching columns along the walls, and 20-foot tall entrance doors adorned with bronze medallions by artist Raymond Subes. (Heart races)

However, as sumptuous as the décor was, it was ultimately a backdrop for the illustrious passengers that Normandie delivered safely to both New York and French shores – a list that includes Ernest Hemmingway, Marlene Dietrich, Walt Disney, Salvador Dali, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., James Stewart, Bing Crosby, and the original von Trapp Family Singers.

The exhibition features original interior items including furniture, walls, stateroom appointments, and memorabilia salvaged before the ship’s tragic demise in 1942. The displays also feature rare passenger photographs, video footage, voyage logs, uniforms, fashion accessories, and commemorative items for Normandie’s maiden voyage including an evening bag designed by Hermés in the shape of the ship.

For the exhibition, LALIQUE has created a limited edition version of its famed cabochon ring with a commemorative inscription of the date of Normandie’s christening. As nod to the present, celebrated fashion designer Jeremy Scott has created the official DECODENCE exhibition t-shirt – a playful homage to the fashionable females who no doubt wrought havoc on Normandie’s decks. Both are available for sale exclusively in the museum shop.

DECODENCE
February 25 – January 2011
South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton Street
New York City
(212) 748-8725

EXHIBITION WEBSITE