Hosted by Séverine CHABAUD, Communication and Collections Manager at La Samaritaine, Art Historian, graduate of the Ecole du Louvre
Iconic department store in the heart of Paris, La Samaritaine is admired by its visitors thanks, in particular, to Magasin 2 designed in the Art Nouveau style by the architect Frantz Jourdain at the beginning of the 20th century. Indeed, its facades are decorated with a unique set of several hundred enamelled lava panels decorated with flowers and vegetal scrolls.
The history of these lavas takes place over a long time from the Art Nouveau period between 1904 and 1912 then almost two decades later, at the time of Art Deco, between 1926 and 1930, during the construction of the extension of the Magasin 2 side Seine by the architect Henri Sauvage.
Then comes the period of «disenchantment» which sees the disappearance of lava for several decades and finally the time of «rebirth» thanks to the pharaonic construction of LVMH which resulted in the reopening of the department store in 2021.
This conference is an opportunity to highlight the exceptional decoration of the enamelled lava, to retrace a still unknown history of the Samaritan woman and having been the subject of almost no publication so far.