Art Nouveau
Art nouveau /ɑʀ nuvo/ (
French for "new art") is a style in art, architecture and design that peaked in popularity at the beginning of the
20th century. Other, more localized terms for the cluster of self-consciously radical, somewhat mannered reformist chic that formed a prelude to 20th-century
modernism, included
Jugendstil in
Germany and the
Netherlands, named for the avant-garde periodical
Jugend ('Youth'),
Młoda Polska ('Young Poland' style), or
Sezessionsstil ('Secessionism') in
Vienna, where forward-looking artists and designers seceded from the mainstream
salon exhibitions, to exhibit on their own work in more congenial surroundings.
In Russia, the movement revolved around the art magazine
Mir iskusstva ('World of Art'), which spawned the revolutionary
Ballets Russes. In Italy,
Stile Liberty was named for the London shop,
Liberty & Co, which distributed modern design emanating from the
Arts and Crafts movement, a sign both of the Art Nouveau's commercial aspect and the "imported" character that it always retained in Italy.
In
Catalonia, the movement was centred in Barcelona and was known as
modernisme, with
Antoni Gaudí as the most noteworthy practitioner. Art Nouveau was also a force in Eastern Europe, with the influence of
Alfons Mucha in
Prague and
Moravia (part of the modern
Czech Republic) and Latvian Romanticism (
Riga, the capital of
Latvia, is home to over 800 Art Nouveau buildings). The entrances to the
Paris Metro designed by
Hector Guimard in 1899 and 1900 are famous examples of Art Nouveau.
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Bookcover of Arthur Mackmurdo, Wren's City Churches, 1883 |
Though Art Nouveau climaxed in the years
1892 to
1902, the first stirrings of an Art Nouveau can be recognized in the
1880s, in a handful of progressive designs such as the architect-designer
Arthur Mackmurdo's often-illustrated bookcover design for his essay on the city churches of
Sir Christopher Wren, published in 1883. Some free-flowing wrought iron from the 1880s could also be adduced, or some flat floral textile designs, most of which owed some impetus to vegetal-derived patterns of High Victorian design.
The name "Art Nouveau" derived from the name of a shop in Paris, Maison de l'Art Nouveau, at the time run by
Samuel Bing, that showcased objects that followed this approach to design.
A high point in the evolution of Art Nouveau was the
Universal Exposition of
1900 in Paris, in which the "modern style" triumphed in every medium. It probably reached its apogee, however, at the
1902 Turin Exposition in Italy, where designers exhibited from almost every European country where Art Nouveau flourished. Ironically, Art Nouveau made use of many technological innovations of the late
19th century, especially the broad use of exposed iron and large, irregularly-shaped pieces of glass in architecture, but by the start of the
First World War the highly stylized nature of Art Nouveau design " which itself was expensive to produce " began to be dropped in favor of more streamlined, simply rectilinear modernism that was cheaper and thought to be more faithful to the rough, plain industrial aesthetic.
Dynamic, undulating and flowing, curved "whiplash" lines of syncopated rhythm characterize much of Art Nouveau. Another feature is usage of
hyperbolas and
parabolas. Conventional moldings seem to spring to life and "grow" into plant-derived forms.
As an art movement it has affinities with the
Pre-Raphaelites and the
Symbolism (arts) movement, and artists like
Aubrey Beardsley,
Alfons Mucha,
Edward Burne-Jones,
Gustav Klimt, and
Jan Toorop could be classed in more than one of these styles. Unlike Symbolist painting, however, Art Nouveau has a distinctive visual look; and unlike the backwards-looking Pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau artists quickly used new materials, machined surfaces, and abstraction in the service of pure design.
 |
Daum, Nancy (c. 1900). |
Art Nouveau in architecture and interior design eschewed the eclectic historicism of the
Victorian era. Though Art Nouveau designers selected and "modernized" some of the more abstract elements of
Rococo style, such as flame and shell textures, in place of the historically-derived and basically tectonic or realistic naturalistic ornament of high Victorian styles, Art Nouveau advocated the use of highly-stylized nature as the source of inspiration and expanded the "natural" repertoire to embrace seaweed, grasses, and insects. Correspondingly organic forms, curved lines, especially floral or vegetal, and the like, were used.
Japanese wood-block prints with their curved lines, patterned surfaces and contrasting voids, and flatness of their picture-plane, also inspired Art Nouveau. Some line and curve patterns became graphic
clichés that were later found in works of artists from all parts of the world.
Art Nouveau did not negate the machine, as other movements such as the
Arts and Crafts Movement, but used it to an advantage. For sculpture the principle materials employed were glass and wrought iron, leading to sculpturesque quality even in architecture.
Art Nouveau is considered a "total" style, meaning that it encompasses a hierarchy of scales in design —
architecture,
interior design,
jewellery, furniture and textile design, utensils and art objects, lighting, etc. (See
Hierarchy of genres.)
2-dimensional Art Nouveau pieces were painted, drawn, and quite popular in printed material like advertising, posters, labels, magazines and the like.
Glass making was an area in which the style found tremendous expression — for example, the works of
Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York and
Émile Gallé and the
Daum brothers in
Nancy,
France.
Jewelry of the Art Nouveau period revitalised the jeweller's art, with nature as the principal source of inspiration, complemented by new levels of virtuosity in
enamelling and the introduction of new materials, such as opals and semi-precious stones. The widespread interest in
Japanese art and the more specialised enthusiasm for Japanese metalworking skills, fostered new themes and approaches to ornament.
For the previous two centuries the emphasis in fine jewelry had been on gemstones, particularly on the
diamond, and the jeweller or
goldsmith had been principally concerned with providing settings for their advantage. With Art Nouveau, a different type of jewelry emerged, motivated by the artist-designer rather than the jeweller as setter of precious stones.
The jewellers of Paris and Brussels created and defined Art Nouveau in jewelry, and in these cities it achieved the most renown. Contemporary French critics were united in acknowledging that jewelry was undergoing a radical transformation, and that the French designer-jeweller
René Lalique was at its heart. Lalique glorified nature in jewelry, extending the repertoire to include new aspects of nature —
dragonflies or grasses — inspired by his encounter with Japanese art.
The jewellers were keen to establish the new style in a noble tradition, and for this they looked back to the
Renaissance, with its jewels of sculpted and enamelled gold, and its acceptance of jewellers as artists rather than craftsmen. In most of the enamelled work of the period precious stones receded. Diamonds were usually given subsidiary roles, used alongside less familiar materials such as moulded glass,
horn and
ivory.
Centers of the style are:*
Émile André (
1871-
1933)
*
Georges Biet (
1868-
1955)
*
Paul Charbonnier (
1865-
1953)
*
Raimondo Tommaso D'Aronco (
1857-
1932)
*
Mikhail Eisenstein (
1867 -
1921),
*
August Endel (
1871-
1925)
*
Antoni Gaudi (
1852-
1926)
*
Victor Horta (
1861-
1947)
*
Josef Hoffmann (
1870-
1956)
*
Hector Guimard (
1867-
1942)
*
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (
1868-
1928)
*
Louis Sullivan (
1856-
1924)
*
Eugène Vallin (
1856-
1922)
*
Fyodor Shekhtel (
1859-
1926)
*
Henry Van de Velde (
1863-
1957)
*
Otto Wagner (
1841-
1918)
*
Lucien Weissenburger (
1860-
1929)
*
Marian Peretiatkovich (
1872-
1916)
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Lithographic poster by Mucha, Dancel (1898) |
*
Valentin Serov (
1865-
1911)
*
Aubrey Beardsley (
1872-
1898)
*
Gaston Gerard (
1878-
1969)
*
Konstantin Korovin (
1861-
1939)
*
Alfons Mucha (
1860-
1939)
*
Edvard Munch (
1863-
1944)
*
Konstantin Somov (
1869-
1939)
*
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (
1864-
1901)
*
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (
1876-
1942)
*
Pierre Bonnard (
1867-
1947)
*
Léon Bakst (
1866-
1924)
*
Carlo Bugatti (
1856-
1940)
*
Eugène Gaillard (
1862-
1933)
*
Louis Majorelle (
1859-
1926)
*
Henry van de Velde (
1863-
1957)
*
Antonio Gaudi 1852-
1926-http://www.gaudidesigner.com/
* Daum Frères --
Auguste Daum (
1853-
1909) and
Antonin Daum (
1864-
1930)
*
Émile Gallé (
1846-
1904)
*
Jacques Gruber (
1870-
1936)
*
René Lalique (
1860-
1945)
*
Louis Comfort Tiffany (
1848-
1933)
*
Stanisław Wyspiański (
1869-
1907)
*
Charles Robert Ashbee (
1863-
1942)
*
William Bradley (
1868-
1962)
*
Jules Brunfaut (
1852-
1942)
*
Auguste Delaherche (
1857-
1940)
*
Georges de Feure (
1868-
1928)
*
Hermann Obrist (
1863-
1927)
*
Philippe Wolfers (
1858-
1929)
*
Mikhail Vrubel (
1856-
1910)
*
Gustav Klimt (
1862-
1918)
*
Antoni Gaudi and
Alfons Mucha*
Réseau Art Nouveau Network, a European network of Art Nouveau cities.
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Europa 1900, a worldwide, collaborative archive for sharing texts and photos related to art nouveau
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Brussels Capital of Art Nouveau, History, artists, tours, pictures, links all about Art Nouveau in Brussels
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The Art Nouveau in Brussels, only available in French, with pictures of Art Nouveau buildings
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Art Nouveau World Wide, the most complete site with texts and links
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LE CERCLE GUIMARD - The association for the protection and the promotion of the work of Hector Guimard
*
lartnouveau.com Artists and their works in Paris, Nancy and in Europe
*
Art Nouveau - Museumsportal Schleswig-Holstein
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Art Nouveau Architecture in Georgia*
Art Nouveau 1890-1914 The best ever exhibition on Art Nouveau
*
1900 architecture Short guide about Art Nouveau / Art Deco architecture (in various countries)
