A Century of Art Deco Carpets
An online exhibition revisits the history of Art Deco carpets. In HALI 225, Ben Evans reviews this show hosted on Alberto Levi’s gallery website, which features fifty-six carpets from his collection.
Carpet designed by Jean Burkhalter for Pierre Chareau, France, circa 1925. Handknotted wool pile on a cotton foundation, 2.87 x2.25 m 5″ 4″). All carpets Alberto Levi Gallery, Milan
‘Art Deco 1925-2025: A Century of Progressive Design’ highlights the place of these carpets in the development of modernism, revealing how tradition and innovation converged throughout the movement’s evolution. The exhibition is complemented by an insightful essay that further explores the significance of carpets in the modernist narrative, and emphasises the breadth of Levi’s taste, interest and research.
Carpet from the Saber workshop, Mashad, northeast Persia, circa 1950. Handknotted in wool on a cotton foundation, 4.00 3.00 m (13′ 1″ x 9′ 10″)
‘The key to understanding the exhibition’s progression lies in tying together tradition and innovation, craft and art. To start us off, Levi rightly points to the importance of the iconic 1925 ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes’, whose abbreviated name gave rise to the term ‘Art Deco’, marking a significant turning point in the popularisation of modern and modernist aesthetics.’
Carpet design by Philipp Haas & Sochne, Ebergassing, Austria, circa 1910. Handknotted wool pile on a wool and flax foundation, 3.50 X 2.35 m (11′ 5″ 8″)
The carpets displayed highlight the complex history of modernist carpet design, showing how the broad popularity of Asian carpets supported—and in some cases revitalised—lesser-known weaving traditions and workshops across Europe.
While most pieces in the exhibition were produced in European workshops, Levi also features works from traditional Asian carpet-weaving regions. Together, they illustrate how modern Art Deco aesthetics spread from the West and helped reinvigorate and modernise design and production in workshops as distant as those in China, Iran and beyond.
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