SWEET AND SALTY

By Meghan Edwards

Since the 1960’s, New York’s South Street Seaport Museum has been a stalwart proponent of historical preservation and maritime culture. By the time it was founded in 1967, the surrounding Seaport District along with its row houses and commercial spaces had fallen into such disuse and neglect that they were planned for demolition. Prompted by the pending destruction, a group of locals founded the museum and swiftly pulled together the cash needed to buy back eleven blocks of historic buildings. A decade later, the museum launched a 268 million project to restore and revive the Seaport, where, luckily for us, it has been churning out dozens of nautically-inclined exhibitions ever since. We’re betting that the museum’s latest show, which opened just last week, will bring well-deserved gratitude to one of New York’s finest.

On view through January 31, 2011, “Decodance: Legendary Interiors and Illustrious Travelers Aboard the SS Normandie” returns us to the 1930’s when transatlantic ocean-liner SS Normandie set a new standard of industry and luxury. Touted as the most powerful steam turbo-electric propelled passenger ship ever built, the Normandie operated for the French line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique from 1935-1940 and made hundreds of commercial trips between France and New York. During the German occupation of France, the US took control of the ship and renamed it the USS Lafayette. As it was being converted into a military vessel in 1942, the ship caught fire, sank in the New York Harbor, and in 1946 was eventually scrapped.

But at its zenith, the ship’s epic Art Deco interiors were rivaled only by their illustrious passengers, the likes of Ernest Hemmingway, Marlene Dietrich, Walt Disney, Salvador Dali, James Stewart, and Bing Crosby. The exhibition, incorporating over 100 objects, vivid photos, and recreated interiors showcasing the work of René Lalique, Hermés, Jean Dupas, Jean Patou, and Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, does its best to recreate an nautical world of sumptuous decadence. Divided into two sections, the show begins with “The Ultimate Ocean Liner”, which mimics the experience of traveling on the ship via promotional pamphlets and travel posters that lead into re-created sections of the ship, interior renderings, and souvenirs from its maiden voyage.

The second section, “Art Deco Luxury Afloat”, focuses on the interiors by filling three galleries with furnishings taken from three spaces on the ship: the Grande Salon, the First Class Dining Room and the Suites de Grand Luxe. The ship’s grand perspectives, spectacular entryways, and stunning long, wide staircases are effectively recaptured in photography, film footage, artifacts, and furnishings. Highlights include chairs from the Grand Salon, the baby grand piano from the Deauville Suite, bronze plaques, etched glass wall panels, silver, crystal and textiles.

The exhibition’s two merchandising partnerships highlight the spell Art Deco still casts on contemporary design and aesthetics. Renowned manufacturer of French decorative objects and crystal, Lalique, is reintroducing a limited run of its 1931 Cabochon ring, a popular design during the time of the Normandie. In honor of the exhibit, the ring will be offered in three colors in the museum store and through Lalique. A playful exhibition-themed t-shirt by fashion designer Jeremy Scott is also available.

On its website, the museum states its purpose as telling “the story of New York and the Seaport through the interpretation of its buildings, streets, ships, and salty history.” Never has the incarnation of this goal been so sweet; the exhibit returns us to an era of unabashed indulgence in beauty and luxury. These days don’t we all deserve a little decadence?

South Street Seaport Museum, 212-748-8733; http://www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org/ .