ART DECO Society of New York

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The Art Deco Society of New York is a non-profit organization that advocates for the appreciation, understanding, celebration, documentation, and preservation of Art Deco architecture, design, and culture in New York and around the world.

09/07/2026

Today, on Labor Day, we remember the countless workers whose names may never have made it into the history books, but whose labor helped shape the New York City skyline.

From steelworkers balancing high above the streets to the countless tradespeople, engineers, and laborers who brought ambitious Art Deco designs to life, these workers were the hands behind some of the city’s most iconic buildings.

Their work demanded extraordinary skill, strength, and courage. Their legacy remains embedded in the architecture of New York.

This Labor Day, we honor the workers who built the city we know and love.

Image Credit: Lunch atop a Skyscraper (1932), Attributed to Charles C. Ebbets, Thomas Kelley, or William Leftwich, The Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

09/04/2026

Did you know?

Erté, born Romain de Tirtoff, is perhaps best known for his stunning Art Deco illustrations, but did you know he was also an accomplished costume designer? His extraordinary designs brought his signature sense of glamour, drama, and geometric elegance to the stage and screen.

First introduced to theatrical design while working under the prolific French couturier Paul Poiret, at the couture house, Erté helped design costumes for the 1913 production of Le Minaret by French playwright Jean Richepin. Inspired by the Ballet Russe, the production and costumes embraced an exoticized view of “the Orient,” an aesthetic that would continue to influence Erté’s later work.

Erté’s influence soon reached across the Atlantic. Though based in France, throughout the early 1920s he created spectacular costumes for New York City theatrical productions, including the Ziegfeld Follies, Greenwich Village Follies, and George White’s Scandals. These musical revues featured dazzling female casts adorned in lavish ensembles, a perfect match for Erté’s distinctive aesthetic. One costume illustration designed for the Greenwich Village Follies was featured in the July 1922 edition of Harper’s Bazaar. Titled “The Improvised Cage,” Erté imagined the wearer trapping two lovers beneath the large beaded skirt.

Learn more about Erté, by joining us on Wednesday, September 16th for “Costumes by Erté: From Paris Couture to Broadway R***es and Hollywood Glamour” presented by fashion historian Summer Anne Lee.

Lee is a Brooklyn-based fashion historian and adjunct instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she earned an M.A. in fashion and textile studies. In 2025, she curated a digital exhibition, Erté: Feline Costumes for Bal Tabarin, for the Underpinnings Museum (The Underpinnings Museum). She is working toward her Ph.D. at the Bard Graduate Center.

Register at the link in bio!

✍️ADSNY Volunteer Sophie Schreiber sophie 🌈

09/02/2026

Jules Leleu was a prominent French designer and ensemblier whose work became an important part of the French Art Deco movement. After establishing his Paris showroom in 1924, Leleu exhibited at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, where he received a Grand Prix. Known for his refined furniture and interiors, he employed exotic woods, marquetry, lacquer, ivory, and other luxurious materials, while developing an aesthetic characterized by elegant proportions and restrained geometry. His work extended beyond private interiors to major public commissions and the interiors of celebrated ocean liners, including the Île-de-France and Normandie.

We’re excited for our upcoming event Jules Leleu and French Art Deco on Thursday, September 24, from 6:00–8:00 PM! This event is currently waitlist only.

Become a member today for priority ticketing to special events like this one. Link in bio.

Video by ADSNY Volunteer Dina Pritmani, ⋆˚࿔ دينا 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

08/28/2026

In the 1920s, Paris gained a reputation for its variety of nighttime pleasures and the relative freedom afforded by a culture of progressivism. Within this climate of experimentation and tolerance, q***r nightclubs emerged and flourished, offering enclaves of safety, visibility and community for q***r and transgender individuals. Among the most notable was Le Monocle, a le***an nightclub in Montmarte opened by Lulu de Montparnasse, a neighborhood that, at the time, was a central gathering place for Parisian le***ans.

In 1932, the French nightlife photographer Georges Brassaï was granted access to the club, producing a series of photographs that now stand among the most enduring visual records of early 20th-century q***r nightlife. These images capture patrons whose postures, direct gazes and self-fashioning convey an intimacy and ease that directly juxtaposes the broader risks that characterized interwar le***an life, particularly in Paris and Berlin.

The club’s name supposedly derived from an early 20th-century fashion trend of the Deco period: le***an-identifying individuals would sport a monocle to indicate sexual preference. This trend among masculine women in Paris and normative-bending circles across Europe was once a q***r visual code, a marker of gender nonconformity, same-sex desire and group affiliation. The lesbain writer Colette famously observed the fad by describing women “often affecting a monocle and a white carnation in the buttonhole.” In this context, Le Monocle’s name can be seen and understood as a reflection of this coded sartorial language.

Le Monocle stayed open from the 1920s through about half of the 1940s, ultimately closing during the N**i occupation of France. Today, Brassaï’s images endure as a vital testament to evidence of gender nonconformity, desire and community that might otherwise have been erased.

✍🏻: ADSNY Volunteer Liv Elniski,

***anhistory

08/26/2026

Please join the Art Deco Society of New York in welcoming the fashion historian Summer Anne Lee for an illustrated lecture on the life and work of Erté, one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. From his early work with Paul Poiret to his rise as a prominent Art Deco illustrator, Erté developed a distinctive style of elegance, elongation and fantasy that captured global audiences.

This talk traces Erté’s career across fashion, illustration and theater costumes, showing how he influenced and embodied the Art Deco aesthetic. Attendees will learn about his brief yet impactful Hollywood period and his decades of contributions to magazines, stage shows and the glamorous world of showgirls. This presentation showcases Erté’s artistic evolution in a career that defined an era and continues to influence contemporary ideas of glamour, performance and modernity.

Lee is a Brooklyn-based fashion historian and adjunct instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she earned an M.A. in fashion and textile studies. In 2025, she curated a digital exhibition, Erté: Feline Costumes for Bal Tabarin, for the Underpinnings Museum. She is working toward her Ph.D. at the Bard Graduate Center.

Register at the link in bio!

Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026
6:30 to 8 PM
On Zoom (registration required)

08/25/2026

What’s your current Deco obsession?

We had a fabulous time at our recent Deco After Dark event, chatting the evening away under a glorious sunset 🌅

Let us know what your answer would have been in the comments below, and be sure to follow us to be in the know about our next Deco After Dark event!

Check out our upcoming online lecture Costumes by Erté: From Paris Couture to Broadway R***es and Hollywood Glamour on Wednesday September 16 at 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Click the link in our bio to register!

Shoutout to our lovely ADSNY volunteer Madeline, madeline ⭒˚｡

08/24/2026

Song of the Month: ‘All by Myself’ (1921)

One of the most successful ballads of the early 1920s was this lament-like song from Irving Berlin ("White Christmas," "Puttin’ On the Ritz" and countless more) depicting a person at home all alone, yearning for a partner.

Born on May 11, 1888, Israel Beilin was in his early 30s when he created the song’s music and lyrics. He came to America from somewhere around modern-day Belarus when he was only 5. After his father died when Irving was 13, he found work with his musicality as a street musician and a singing waiter in Chinatown. To sound more American, he changed his name to Irving Berlin.

In the early 1920s, Berlin wanted to become a producer and, with the Broadway entrepreneur Sam H. Harris, established the Music Box Theatre on West 45th Street. From 1921 on, Berlin produced his annual Music Box R***es there, and in the 1921 Music Box R***e he also put "All by Myself."

The song appeared in the movie “Blue Skies” (1946), performed by Bing Crosby and Joan Caulfield (dubbed by Betty Russell). It was also featured in a pre-Hays Code Fleischer Studios animated short film, “Is My Palm Read"” (1933), in which Betty Boop (voiced by Mae Questel) sang part of the song.

Link to the sequence from "Is My Palm Read" (1933):

https://youtu.be/vTPbghxliZ8?si=Bq_-6fM1dXvSdSHV

The popular song has been recorded by many artists, among them Aileen Stanley (1921), Ella Fitzgerald (1958), and Nat King Cole (1962).

Link to the first recording of "All by Myself" from 1921:

https://youtu.be/R0W_GJ-DEXo?si=ypw77hI8VDgel5ab

✍️: ADSNY Volunteer Marius Rothe,

08/23/2026

Are you passionate about Art Deco and looking for a meaningful way to get involved?

The Art Deco Society of New York is seeking detailed, organized, and highly motivated volunteers to join our team and help support our mission of preserving, celebrating, and sharing New York’s Art Deco heritage.

We’re currently looking for volunteers interested in:

Events Committee — Help plan and support lectures, tours, programs, and special events.

Research & Preservation — Contribute to our ongoing research and preservation projects.

Community Outreach & Education — Help us connect with new audiences and expand our educational programming.

Social Media & Content — Help create engaging content that brings Art Deco history to life online.

Whether you have a background in research, events, education, communications, social media, or simply a passion for Art Deco, we’d love to hear from you!

Interested in volunteering with ADSNY? Click the link in our bio to explore our volunteer opportunities! Email us at [email protected]

08/22/2026

Meet Liv Elniski!

Liv Elniski is a researcher, writer, and events programmer based in New York City. She will begin her MA in Fashion & Textile Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology this Fall, with the hopes of working in museums and academia. Liv’s interest in Art Deco history is rooted in her love for q***r culture, fashion, and film costume design of the 20s and 30s. Outside of work and school, she can often be found reading, at museums, or movie theaters that screen classic Hollywood films. As a vintage wearer, she enjoys self fashioning inspired by some of her favorite glamorous figures of this period such as Alla N**imova, Natacha Rambova, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich.

Since joining ADSNY as a volunteer, Liv has become an invaluable member of our team, contributing her time and creativity to both the Social Media Team and Events Committee. Her dedication, enthusiasm, and willingness to take on new responsibilities have made her a wonderful asset to both teams and to ADSNY as a whole.

“I joined the ADSNY social media team and events committee with the goal of introducing more fashion-related content into the organization's programming and digital presence. I enjoy working with ADSNY because it allows me to be a part of a community driven by a shared love for history and a commitment to preserving early twentieth-century material culture, my favorite area of study. I have especially enjoyed learning more about architecture of the period, an area I was previously less familiar with. Volunteering with ADSNY has become a deeply fulfilling part of my life in New York, and I greatly enjoy being able to contribute to an organization whose work I admire!”

We’re incredibly grateful for the dedicated volunteers who help bring ADSNY’s mission to life. Their passion, creativity, and commitment make everything we do possible.

Inspired to get involved? We’d love to have you join us! Visit the link in our bio to learn more about our volunteer opportunities and find a way to make a difference with ADSNY.

Photo Credit: Elijah Christian

08/19/2026

Did you know that Texas constructed more than 50 Art Deco buildings for its centennial celebration in 1936?

In 1935, when Dallas was chosen to host the World’s Fair commemorating the centennial of the state’s independence from Mexico, the architect George Dahl was eager to create a complex of modern buildings. The buildings were designed to honor the past while using a style representative of the future.

The fair created 10,000 jobs during the Depression and boosted the local economy by 50 million dollars. With roughly 60% of the 1936 buildings standing today, Centennial Fair Park comprises the largest intact collection of Art Deco exposition architecture.

One of the largest buildings, the Hall of State, wasn't completed until after the fair. The designer, Donald Barthelme, intended it to be a monument to all the people of Texas, past, present, and future. Above the door is a Tejas Warrior statue against a background the color of the bluebonnet, the state flower. The large bronze doors have sculpted cotton bolls, wheat sheaves, pinecones, saw blades, oil rigs, lassos and livestock, representing the industries of Texas.

Directly in front of the Hall of State is a large reflecting pool flanked by statues of Tenor and Contralto, allegories for sound and athleticism symbolizing
speed and progress. These sculptures, originally created by Lawrence Tenney Stevens, were lost after the fair; in 2009 they were faithfully recreated by David Newton.

Flanking the reflecting pool are six various industry halls with porticos, each containing a goddess statue representing one of the six nations that held sovereignty over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederacy and the United States. Behind the statues are recreated Pierre Bourdelle murals in New Deal-style, depicting the industries featured inside the halls (medical, automotive, aviation, etc.).

The Centennial Fair Park buildings were designated a national landmark in 1986 and have been undergoing careful restoration and preservation ever since.

✍: ADSNY Volunteer Carson Dobos,

Address

PO Box 6205
New York, NY
10150

Website

http://www.artdeco.org/, https://artdecosocietyofnewyork.wildapricot.org/event-6742615

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