Modernisme(s) traces the emergence of modernism within French Art Deco at the turn of the 1930s, as a generation of designers moved away from ornament towards simplified forms, function and a closer relationship between furniture and architecture.

At its centre is a unique model of chair designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens in 1932 for the Villa Cavrois, presented in three examples for the first time. Works by Pierre Chareau and other figures of the period reveal the markedly different responses that emerged from this rethinking of the decorative arts.