The Orient Express myth reinvented
What if a single train could embody a century of elegance? The Orient Express is reborn at the heart of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in an exhibition that links Art Deco and the future of travel.
A centenary that speaks to the present
From October 21, 2025 to February 22, 2026, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs celebrates 100 years of Art Deco with an ambitious exhibition: 1925-2025, One Hundred Years of Art Deco. More than a step back in time, this exhibition examines our times through the prism of excellence in French craftsmanship and design.
Guest of honour: Orient Express, the emblem of luxury travel, whose new version – still in the planning stage – will be revealed to the public in the Nave of the museum. A world first.
Maxime d’Angeac: architect of a reinvented myth
As artistic director of the future Orient Express, Maxime d’Angeac doesn’t just reinterpret the past. He’s extending it. Each line of the train was drawn by hand, in Indian ink, with an obsession for detail and technical consistency. This is a total artistic gesture, as much as an engineering challenge.
Its rigorous approach calls on more than 30 trades – from cabinetmakers to glassmakers – for a project that combines high technology, durability and material sensuality. Nothing is decorative, everything is intentional.
A dialogue between past and future
In this exhibition, Orient Express is no static showcase. It becomes a vibrant place, in direct echo of the 1925 Exhibition that consecrated French Art Deco. Visitors will be able to contemplate the first models, furniture and sketches of the train of tomorrow, set against historical archives.
The whole forms a visual and sensory dialogue between two eras united by the same idea: travel as a global aesthetic experience.
Craftsmanship, slowness, intelligence of gesture
This rebirth is part of a philosophy of taking the long view, in contrast to contemporary speed. Orient Express 2025 is imagined as a destination in itself, a place where refinement is never ostentatious, but always felt. Every detail has a meaning, every material a choice.
The project calls on exceptional workshops: Rinck, Offard, Jouffre, Chevalier… all names that reflect a desire to place the human hand at the heart of innovation. Here, luxury isn’t flaunted, it’s seen in the precision.
An exhibition to help you learn to travel again
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs exhibition doesn’t just document history. It reflects on the meaning of travel today: slowing down, contemplating, immersing oneself. As in 1925, travel is becoming a way of life.
Orient Express 2025 doesn’t play the nostalgia card. It offers visionary continuity, a work of architecture and design applied to movement. Discover it exclusively, even before its official launch on the rails.
Practice
Address: Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
Dates: October 21, 2025 to February 22, 2026
Reservations: recommended via madparis.fr
Instagram: @orientexpress
What next?
Want to discover other exhibitions that revisit heritage and design? Check out our selections on parisselectbook.com, and explore Paris through visual narratives and exceptional gestures.
