essay about art nouveau

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Art nouveau.

Factory of Olivier de Sorra

Vase with peacock feathers

Auguste Delaherche

"Ombellifères" (cow parsley) Cabinet

Emile Gallé

Moulin Rouge: La Goulue

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Designed by Louis C. Tiffany

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer

Edvard Munch

Designed by Philippe Wolfers

Monumental vase

Georges Hoentschel

Edward Colonna

Alexandre Bigot

Cabinet-vitrine

Gustave Serrurier-Bovy

Dress panel

Hector Guimard

Georges Fouquet

Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat

Coffeepot (part of a service)

• Sèvres Manufactory

René-Jules Lalique

Henry van de Velde

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Designed by Henri-Jules-Ferdinand Bellery-Desfontaines

Maude Adams (1872–1953) as Joan of Arc

Alphonse Mucha

Tea service

Josef Hoffmann

Mäda Primavesi (1903–2000)

Gustav Klimt

Cybele Gontar Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2006

From the 1880s until the First World War, western Europe and the United States witnessed the development of Art Nouveau (“New Art”). Taking inspiration from the unruly aspects of the natural world , Art Nouveau influenced art and architecture especially in the applied arts, graphic work, and illustration. Sinuous lines and “whiplash” curves were derived, in part, from botanical studies and illustrations of deep-sea organisms such as those by German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel (1834–1919) in Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature, 1899). Other publications, including Floriated Ornament (1849) by Gothic Revivalist Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–1852) and The Grammar of Ornament (1856) by British architect and theorist Owen Jones (1809–1874), advocated nature as the primary source of inspiration for a generation of artists seeking to break away from past styles. The unfolding of Art Nouveau’s flowing line may be understood as a metaphor for the freedom and release sought by its practitioners and admirers from the weight of artistic tradition and critical expectations.

Additionally, the new style was an outgrowth of two nineteenth-century English developments for which design reform (a reaction to prevailing art education, industrialized mass production, and the debasement of historic styles) was a leitmotif—the Arts and Crafts movement and the Aesthetic movement. The former emphasized a return to handcraftsmanship and traditional techniques. The latter promoted a similar credo of “art for art’s sake” that provided the foundation for non-narrative paintings, for instance, Whistler ‘s  Nocturnes . It further drew upon elements of Japanese art (“ japonisme “), which flooded Western markets , mainly in the form of prints, after trading rights were established with Japan in the 1860s. Indeed, the gamut of late nineteenth-century artistic trends prior to World War I, including those in painting and the early designs of the Wiener Werkstätte, may be defined loosely under the rubric of Art Nouveau.

The term art nouveau first appeared in the 1880s in the Belgian journal L’Art Moderne to describe the work of Les Vingt, twenty painters and sculptors seeking reform through art. Les Vingt, like much of the artistic community throughout Europe and America, responded to leading nineteenth-century theoreticians such as French Gothic Revival architect Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814–1879) and British art critic John Ruskin (1819–1900), who advocated the unity of all the arts, arguing against segregation between the fine arts of painting and sculpture and the so-called lesser decorative arts. Deeply influenced by the socially aware teachings of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement , Art Nouveau designers endeavored to achieve the synthesis of art and craft, and further, the creation of the spiritually uplifting Gesamtkunstwerk (“total work of art”) encompassing a variety of media. The successful unification of the fine and applied arts was achieved in many such complete designed environments as Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde’s Hôtel Tassel and Hôtel Van Eetvelde (Brussels, 1893–95), Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald’s design of the Hill House (Helensburgh, near Glasgow, 1902–4), and Josef Hoffmann and Gustav Klimt’s Palais Stoclet dining room (Brussels, 1905–11) ( 2000.350 ; 1994.120 ; 2000.278.1–.9 ).

Painting styles such as Post-Impressionism and Symbolism (the “Nabis” ) shared close ties with Art Nouveau, and each was practiced by designers who adapted them for the applied arts, architecture, interior designs, furnishings, and patterns. They contributed to an overall expressiveness and the formation of a cohesive style ( 64.148 ).

In December 1895, German-born Paris art dealer Siegfried Bing opened a gallery called L’Art Nouveau for the contemporary décor he exhibited and sold there ( 1999.398.3 ). Though Bing’s gallery is credited with the popularization of the movement and its name, Art Nouveau style reached an international audience through the vibrant graphic arts printed in such periodicals as The Savoy, La Plume, Die Jugend, Dekorative Kunst, The Yellow Book , and The Studio . The Studio featured the bold, Symbolist-inspired linear drawings of Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898). Beardsley’s flamboyant black and white block print J’ai baisé ta bouche lokanaan for Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé (1894), with its brilliant incorporation of Japanese two-dimensional composition, may be regarded as a highlight of the Aesthetic movement and an early manifestation of Art Nouveau taste in England. Other influential graphic artists included Alphonse Mucha, Jules Chéret, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , whose vibrant poster art often expressed the variety of roles of women in Belle Époque society—from femme nouvelle (a “new woman” who rejected the conventional ideals of femininity, domesticity, and subservience) to demimonde ( 20.33 ; 32.88.12 ). Female figures were often incorporated as fairies or sirens in the jewelry of René Lalique, Georges Fouquet, and Philippe Wolfers ( 1991.164 ; 2003.560 ; 2003.236 ).

Art Nouveau style was particularly associated with France, where it was called variously Style Jules Verne, Le Style Métro (after Hector Guimard’s iron and glass subway entrances), Art belle époque , and Art fin de siècle ( 49.85.11 ). In Paris, it captured the imagination of the public at large at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, the last and grandest of a series of fairs organized every eleven years from 1798. Various structures showcased the innovative style, including the Porte Monumentale entrance, an elaborate polychromatic dome with electronic lights designed by René Binet (1866–1911); the Pavillon Bleu, a restaurant alongside the Pont d’Iena at the foot of the Eiffel Tower featuring the work of Gustave Serrurier-Bovy (1858–1910) ( 1981.512.4 ); Art Nouveau Bing, a series of six domestic interiors that included Symbolist art ( 26.228.5 ); and the pavilion of the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, an organization dedicated to the revival and modernization of the decorative arts as an economic stimulus and expression of national identity that offered an important display of decorative objects ( 1991.182.2 ; 26.228.7 ; 1988.287.1a,b ). Sharing elements of the French Rococo (and its nineteenth-century revivals ), including stylized motifs derived from nature, fantasy, and Japanese art, the furnishings exhibited were produced in the new taste and yet perpetuated an acclaimed tradition of French craftsmanship. The use of luxury veneers and finely cast gilt mounts in the furniture of leading cabinetmakers Georges de Feure (1868–1943), Louis Majorelle (1859–1926), Edward Colonna (1862–1948), and Eugène Gaillard (1862–1933) indicated the Neo-Rococo influence of François Linke (1855–1946) ( 26.228.5 ).

The Exposition Universelle was followed by two shows at which many luminaries of European Art Nouveau exhibited. They included the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1901 that featured the fantastical Russian pavilions of Fyodor Shekhtel’ (1859–1926) and the Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte Decorativa Moderna at Turin in 1902 that showcased the work of furniture designer Carlo Bugatti of Milan ( 69.69 ).

As in France, the “new art” was called by different names in the various style centers where it developed throughout Europe. In Belgium, it was called Style nouille or Style coup de fouet . In Germany, it was Jugendstil or “young style,” after the popular journal Die Jugend ( 1991.182.2 ). Part of the broader Modernista movement in Barcelona, its chief exponent was the architect and redesigner of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) cathedral (Barcelona, begun 1882), Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). In Italy, it was named Arte nuova, Stile floreale , or Lo stile Liberty after the London firm of Liberty & Co., which supplied Oriental ceramics and textiles to aesthetically aware Londoners in the 1870s and produced English Art Nouveau objects such as the Celtic Revival “Cymric” and “Tudric” ranges of silver by Archibald Knox (1864–1933). Other style centers included Austria and Hungary, where Art Nouveau was called the Sezessionstil . In Russia, Saint Petersburg and Moscow were the two centers of production for Stil’ modern . “Tiffany Style” in the United States was named for the legendary Favrile glass designs of Louis Comfort Tiffany .

Although international in scope, Art Nouveau was a short-lived movement whose brief incandescence was a precursor of modernism, which emphasized function over form and the elimination of superfluous ornament. Although a reaction to historic revivalism, it brought Victorian excesses to a dramatic fin-de-siècle crescendo. Its influence has been far reaching and is evident in Art Deco furniture designs, whose sleek surfaces are enriched by exotic wood veneers and ornamental inlays. Dramatic Art Nouveau—inspired graphics became popular in the turbulent social and political milieu of the 1960s, among a new generation challenging conventional taste and ideas.

Gontar, Cybele. “Art Nouveau.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/artn/hd_artn.htm (October 2006)

Further Reading

Arwas, Victor. Art Nouveau: The French Aesthetic . London: Andreas Papadakis, 2002.

Escritt, Stephen. Art Nouveau . London: Phaidon, 2000.

Fahr-Becker, Gabriele. Art Nouveau . Cologne: Könemann, 1997.

Greenhalgh, Paul, ed. Art Nouveau, 1890–1914 . Exhibition catalogue. London: V&A Publications; Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2000.

Weisberg, Gabriel P. Art Nouveau Bing: Paris Style 1900 . Exhibition catalogue. New York: Abrams, 1986.

Weisberg, Gabriel P., Edwin Becker, and Évelyne Possémé, eds. The Origins of L'Art Nouveau: The Bing Empire . Exhibition catalogue. Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, 2004.

Additional Essays by Cybele Gontar

• Gontar, Cybele. “ Empire Style, 1800–1815 .” (October 2004)
• Gontar, Cybele. “ Neoclassicism .” (October 2003)
• Gontar, Cybele. “ Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875) .” (October 2004)
• Gontar, Cybele. “ The Neoclassical Temple .” (October 2003)

Related Essays

• The Arts and Crafts Movement in America
• Design Reform
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• Exoticism in the Decorative Arts
• Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959)
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Artist or Maker

• Bellery-Desfontaines, Henri-Jules-Ferdinand
• Bigot, Alexandre
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• Massier, Clément
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• Mucha, Alphonse
• Munch, Edvard
• Scherf, Walter
• Schiele, Egon
• Serrurier-Bovy, Gustave
• Tiffany & Company
• Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company
• Tiffany, Louis Comfort
• Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de
• Van De Velde, Henry
• Whistler, James McNeill
• Wiener Werkstätte
• Wolfers, Philippe
• Wright, Frank Lloyd

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Europe 1800 - 1900

Course: europe 1800 - 1900   >   unit 6, art nouveau, a modern style using modern materials, an international style, luxury design for the masses, a holistic approach, glasgow style, vienna secession style, want to join the conversation.

Art Nouveau

Summary of Art Nouveau

Generating enthusiasts in the decorative and graphic arts and architecture throughout Europe and beyond, Art Nouveau appeared in a wide variety of strands, and, consequently, it is known by various names, such as the Glasgow Style, or, in the German-speaking world, Jugendstil. Art Nouveau was aimed at modernizing design, seeking to escape the eclectic historical styles that had previously been popular. Artists drew inspiration from both organic and geometric forms, evolving elegant designs that united flowing, natural forms resembling the stems and blossoms of plants. The emphasis on linear contours took precedence over color, which was usually represented with hues such as muted greens, browns, yellows, and blues. The movement was committed to abolishing the traditional hierarchy of the arts, which viewed the so-called liberal arts, such as painting and sculpture, as superior to craft-based decorative arts. The style went out of fashion for the most part long before the First World War, paving the way for the development of Art Deco in the 1920s, but it experienced a popular revival in the 1960s, and it is now seen as an important predecessor - if not an integral component - of modernism .

Key Ideas & Accomplishments

• The desire to abandon the historical styles of the 19 th century was an important impetus behind Art Nouveau and one that establishes the movement's modernism. Industrial production was, at that point, widespread, and yet the decorative arts were increasingly dominated by poorly-made objects imitating earlier periods. The practitioners of Art Nouveau sought to revive good workmanship, raise the status of craft, and produce genuinely modern design that reflected the utility of the items they were creating.
• The academic system, which dominated art education from the 17 th to the 19 th century, underpinned the widespread belief that media such as painting and sculpture were superior to crafts such as furniture design and ironwork. The consequence, many believed, was the neglect of good craftsmanship. Art Nouveau artists sought to overturn that belief, aspiring instead to "total works of the arts," the famous Gesamtkunstwerk , that inspired buildings and interiors in which every element worked harmoniously within a related visual vocabulary. In the process, Art Nouveau helped to narrow the gap between the fine and the applied arts, though it is debatable whether this gap has ever been completely closed.
• Many Art Nouveau practitioners felt that earlier design had been excessively ornamental, and in wishing to avoid what they perceived as frivolous decoration, they evolved a belief that the function of an object should dictate its form. In practice this was a somewhat flexible ethos, yet it would be an important part of the style's legacy to later modernist movements, most famously the Bauhaus .

Key Artists

Overview of Art Nouveau

Gustav Klimt famously said, “Enough of censorship…I refuse every form of support from the state, I’ll do without all of it,” – because he was attacked for his work’s swirling erotic forms, he went on pioneer his Gold Period – one of the highlights of Art Nouveau.

Artworks and Artists of Art Nouveau

Cover design for Wren's City Churches

Artist: Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo

Mackmurdo's woodcut is an example of the influence of English design, particularly the Arts and Crafts movement, on Art Nouveau. The woodcut as a genre points to the handcrafted, unique quality of the work and the simplicity of Mackmurdo's use of positive and negative space both contribute to this association. Meanwhile, Mackmurdo's abstract-cum-naturalistic forms and the trademark whiplash curves are characteristic of the visual sense of free movement and energy that would eventually define Art Nouveau. The emphasis on the floral and vegetal imagery adorning the cover which refuses any real consonance with the professed subject matter of the book also highlights its purposefully decorative quality, hinting at how Mackmurdo's work is of an experimental nature rather than a definitive, mature example of Art Nouveau. The woodcut proves far more valuable than the actual content, which consists of a rambling, loose description of the architecture of the Baroque London churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

Woodcut on handmade paper

La Goulue at the Moulin Rouge

Artist: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Toulouse-Lautrec is one of Art Nouveau's most important graphic artists who were responsible for raising the poster from the realm of advertising ephemera to high art during the 1890s (the same decade that saw the establishment of artistic magazines solely dedicated to this medium). Lautrec and his fellow graphic artists understood that they were innovative, though the stylistic label "Art Nouveau" was probably never applied to them until after Lautrec's death in 1901. La Goulue at the Moulin Rouge takes the flourish and messiness of a French can-can dancer's dress and breaks it down to a few simple, rhythmic lines, thereby suggesting the sense of movement and space. The flattening of forms to mere outlines with the flat infill of color recalls Art Nouveau's debt to Japanese prints as well as the lighting in such nightclubs that naturally would render the surface details of figures and other objects indistinct. Likewise, the repetitive red lettering of the cabaret's name suggests the pulsating energy of the performances for which dancers like La Goulue (stage name of Louise Weber, one of Lautrec's friends) took center stage.

Lithograph - The Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Peacock Skirt

Artist: Aubrey Beardsley

Beardsley's The Peacock Skirt is an illustration made for Oscar Wilde's 1892 play Salome , based on the Biblical narrative centered on Salome's order to behead and serve on a platter the head of John the Baptist. (Salome was a popular subject for many other Art Nouveau artists, including Victor Prouvé.) Beardsley's Salome is comparatively tame in comparison with some of the illustrator's more erotic and nearly pornographic works. It is a fine example of how many artists influenced by Art Nouveau laid great emphasis on line, often abstracting their figures to produce the fashionable sinuous curves so characteristic of the style. One might also take it as an example of how the formal vocabulary of the style could be used with exuberant excess, a quality that would later attract criticism. The influence of Japonese prints on Art Nouveau is also evident in Beardsley's work in its flattened rendition of form. But this illustration might also be taken as an example of the contemporaneous Aesthetic movement, and in that respect it demonstrates how Art Nouveau overlapped and interacted with various other period styles.

Ink illustration

The Budapest Museum of Applied Arts

Artist: Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos

Designed by Ödön Lechner, sometimes known as the "Hungarian Gaudi," with his partner Gyula Pártos, the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts is an example of the way that the Hungarian "national" strand of Art Nouveau (often called the Hungarian Secession because of its closeness to Vienna) consisted more of an amalgamation of various historical styles than a precise search for new ones. This building, on a trapezoidal site, encircles a courtyard that is largely filled by a glass atrium to the rear of the main facade. The forms used inside and out derive from a mixture of Islamic and Persian architecture, as seen in its elaborate multi-lobed arches, as well as Central European-derived baroque, bell-shaped domes and spires with onion-shaped carved finials. As with Gaudi's work, the highly ornamental building, articulated everywhere by tilework, stained glass and stone produces a lively, polychromed effect that keeps the viewer's eye moving and reminds one of the harmonious unity of the applied arts here in creating a "total work of art."

Budapest, Hungary

Entrances to Paris Subway Stations

Artist: Hector Guimard

When Hector Guimard was commissioned to design these famous subway station entrances, Paris was only the second city in the world (after London) to have constructed an underground railway. Guimard's design answered the desire to celebrate and promote this new infrastructure with a bold structure that would be clearly visible on the Paris streetscape. The entrances use the twisted, organic forms typical of Art Nouveau that appear at first to be nearly seamless, yet they are constructed out of several cast iron parts that were easily mass produced, at Osne-le-Val to the east of Paris. In effect, Guimard had concealed an aspect of the object's modernity beneath its sinuous continuity, a strategy that is symptomatic of Art Nouveau's ambivalent attitude to the modern age. Guimard's design was thus instrumental in bringing Art Nouveau's otherwise complex, labor-intensive designs to a mass audience for whom the style seemed like a symbol of unattainable luxury.

Paris, France

Ernst-Ludwig-Haus, Darmstadt

Artist: Joseph Maria Olbrich

This is the centerpiece of the new Darmstadt Artists Colony (Kunstlerkolonie), formed in 1899 under the patronage of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, an admirer of the Arts & Crafts movement. It was designed by J.M. Olbrich, one of the Colony's founding artists, whom the Duke poached from the Vienna Secession. (Olbrich had designed the Secession's exhibition building three years before.) Like the Secession building, the Ernst-Ludwig-Haus is highly rectilinear, with a gleaming white exterior capped by a gently sloping roof, set on the brow of a hill. This is offset by the arched, centrally-located main entrance, delineated by its gold-plated, cloudlike geometric pattern surrounding the doorway, which is fronted by Ludwig Habisch's twin male and female sculptures personifying Strength and Beauty. The sloping skylights stretching the length of the rear of the structure disclose its function as one of the rare Art Nouveau buildings designed solely as studio space, and it served as the centerpiece of the opening exhibition of the Darmstadt group in 1901. Although the Colony only lasted until the outbreak of war in 1914, today the structure serves as a museum of their artistic endeavors.

Darmstadt, Germany

Model #342, “Wisteria” Lamp

Artist: Clara Driscoll for Tiffany Studios, New York

Table lamps are some of the most famous Art Nouveau items produced by Louis Comfort Tiffany's firm. The model #342, commonly called "Wisteria," is one of the most prized. The bronze base resembles the roots and lower trunk of a tree, with the leaded glass shade that appears like the branches of a wisteria at its crown cast in bronze. These suspend the flowering petals that appear to drip like drops of water, created from nearly 2,000 individually-selected pieces of glass whose screen produces a warm, yet soft glow, suggesting the filtering of sunlight. The irregularity of the armature at the crown along with the border of the bottom of the shade add to the naturalism of the design, but they also recall the influence of Impressionism and Japonism on Art Nouveau, as wisteria are native to both the eastern United States, where Tiffany was based, and to China, Japan, and Korea. Recently-discovered evidence proves that Model #342 was designed by Clara Driscoll, head of Tiffany Studios Women's Glass Cutting Department and creator of over thirty of the company's famed lamps, including the Daffodil, Dragonfly, and Peony models. It thus also represents an important moment for women designers at the turn of the century, who were put in charge of a significant sector of the firm's production. Driscoll herself commanded $10,000 a year as one of the highest-paid women of her time, until she was required to leave Tiffany Studios when she married in 1909.

Leaded glass and patinated bronze

Artist: Gustav Klimt

Klimt's work, like Aubrey Beardsley's, involves the distortion and exaggeration of forms and, often, highly sexually-charged subject matter. Unlike Beardsley, however, Klimt is famous, particularly in his post-1900 paintings, for his frequent use of gold leaf, often in concert with a kaleidoscope of other bright hues. This combination helped create Klimt's signature mature style, often summarized as a set of dreamy, visually luscious (and materially luxurious) paintings of women, sometimes real portraits but often imagined or allegorical personifications, including his Hope II . The nearly-surreal imagery of exaggerated and flattened bodily forms, highlighted by the emphasis on pattern and the lack of depth and detached from a recognizable environment, underscores the way that Klimt focused on creating a literal "new art" that was free from prescribed rules or principles. As a founding member of the Vienna Secession, he rejected the tenets of academic painting under which he had been trained. The shocking reactions that Klimt's work has provoked - during his lifetime up to the present day - helps contribute to his renown as the most innovative Art Nouveau painter and a master of modernism.

Oil and gold leaf on canvas - The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Artist: Antoni Gaudi and Josep Maria Jujol

Antoni Gaudi, the foremost architect of Catalan Modernisme , may be best-known for his work on the still-unfinished Expiatory Church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, but his signature designs can be seen in dozens of buildings throughout the city. One of the last projects that Gaudi, a devout Catholic, undertook before devoting himself entirely to the Sagrada Familia in 1914 was a speculative hillside suburban community for his chief patron, the textile magnate Eusebi Guell. The development displays Gaudi's innovative design capabilities, even though the only homes completed were his own house plus one other residence and the project is generally considered a financial failure. The park's design is thoroughly integrated into the landscape, with rough-hewn inclined columns seemingly excavated out of the hillsides and covered by vines. The centerpiece consists of a columned market space supporting an open plaza bounded by a serpentine bench covered with a conglomerate of discarded ceramic tiles, called trencadís , a hallmark of Catalan craftsmanship. The market is connected to the Parc's entrance by a grand staircase with a tiled fountain sporting the face of a dragon and the striped Catalan flag. There, the gatehouse and concierge's residence consist of rocky lodges crowned by irregular, conical spires, appearing to be crafted out of gingerbread. The undulating forms, inspired by inverted catenary arches, and brilliantly-colored tilework point to the collaborative nature of Catalan Art Nouveau, involving teams of craftsmen specializing in different media and the reliance on the honest treatment of ecologically-sensitive materials.

Beginnings of Art Nouveau

The advent of Art Nouveau - literally "New Art" - can be traced to two distinct influences: the first was the introduction, around 1880, of the British Arts and Crafts movement, which, much like Art Nouveau, was a reaction against the cluttered designs and compositions of Victorian-era decorative art. The second was the current vogue for Japanese art, particularly wood-block prints, that swept up many European artists in the 1880s and 90s, including the likes of Gustav Klimt , Emile Gallé , and James Abbott McNeill Whistler . Japanese wood-block prints in particular contained floral and bulbous forms, and "whiplash" curves, all key elements of what would eventually become Art Nouveau.

It is difficult to pinpoint the first work(s) of art that officially launched Art Nouveau. Some argue that the patterned, flowing lines and floral backgrounds found in the paintings of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin represent Art Nouveau's birth, or perhaps even the decorative lithographs of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , such as Moulin Rouge: La Goulue (1891). But most point to the origins in the decorative arts, and in particular to a book jacket by English architect and designer Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo for the 1883 volume Wren's City Churches . The design depicts serpentine stalks of flowers emanating from one flattened pad at the bottom of the page, clearly reminiscent of Japanese-style wood-block prints.

Art Nouveau Exhibitions

Art Nouveau was often most conspicuous at international expositions during its heyday. It enjoyed center stage at five particular fairs: the 1889 and 1900 Expositions Universelles in Paris; the 1897 Tervueren Exposition in Brussels (where Art Nouveau was largely employed to show off the possibilities of craftsmanship with the exotic woods of the Belgian Congo); the 1902 Turin International Exposition of Modern Decorative Arts; and the 1909 Exposition International de l'Est de la France in Nancy. At each of these fairs, the style was dominant in terms of the decorative arts and architecture on display, and in Turin in 1902, Art Nouveau was truly the style of choice of virtually every designer and every nation represented, to the exclusion of any other.

The Regional Names for Art Nouveau

Siegfried Bing, a German merchant and connoisseur of Japanese art living in Paris, opened a shop named L'Art Nouveau in December 1895, which became one of the main purveyors of the style in furniture and the decorative arts. Before long, the store's name became synonymous with the style in France, Britain, and the United States. Art Nouveau's wide popularity throughout Western and Central Europe, however, meant that it went by several different titles. In German-speaking countries, it was generally called Jugendstil (Youth Style), taken from a Munich magazine called Jugend that popularized it. Meanwhile, in Vienna - home to Gustav Klimt , Otto Wagner , Josef Hoffmann and the other founders of the Vienna Secession - it was known as Sezessionsstil (Secession Style). It was also known as Modernismo in Spanish, Modernisme in Catalan, and Stile Floreale (floral style) or Stile Liberty in Italy (the latter after Arthur Liberty's fabric shop in London, which helped popularize the style). In France it was commonly called Modern(e)-Style and occasionally Style Guimard after its most famous practitioner there, the architect Hector Guimard , and in the Netherlands it was usually called Nieuwe Kunst (New Art). Its numerous detractors also gave it several derogatory names: Style Nouille (noodle style) in France, Paling Stijl (eel style) in Belgium, and Bandwurmstil (tapeworm style) in Germany - all names which made playful reference to Art Nouveau's tendency to employ sinuous and flowing lines.

Art Nouveau: Concepts, Styles, and Trends

Art nouveau graphics and design.

Art Nouveau's ubiquity in the late-19 th century must be explained in part by many artists' use of popular and easily reproduced forms, found in the graphic arts. In Germany, Jugendstil artists like Peter Behrens and Hermann Obrist had their work printed on book covers and exhibition catalogs, magazine advertisements and playbills. But this trend was by no means limited to Germany. The English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley , perhaps the most controversial Art Nouveau figure due to his combination of the erotic and the macabre, created a number of posters in his brief career that employed graceful and rhythmic lines. Beardsley's highly decorative prints, such as The Peacock Skirt (1894), were both decadent and simple, and represent the most direct link we can identify between Art Nouveau and Japonism / Ukiyo-e prints . In France, the posters and graphic production of Jules Chéret , Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , Pierre Bonnard , Victor Prouvé , Théophile Steinlen , and a handful of others popularized the lavish, decadent lifestyle of the belle époque (roughly the era between 1890-1914), usually associated with the seedy cabaret district of Montmartre in northern Paris. Their graphic works used new chromolithographic techniques to promote everything from new technologies like telephones and electric lights to bars, restaurants, nightclubs and even individual performers, evoking the energy and vitality of modern life. In the process, they soon raised the poster from the ranks of the pedestrian advertisement to high art.

Art Nouveau Architecture

In addition to the graphic and visual arts, any serious discussion of Art Nouveau must consider architecture and the vast influence this had on European culture. In urban hubs such as Paris, Brussels, Glasgow, Turin, Barcelona, Antwerp, and Vienna, as well as smaller cities like Nancy and Darmstadt, along with Eastern European locales like Riga, Prague, and Budapest, Art Nouveau architecture prevailed on a grand scale, in both size and appearance, and is still visible today in structures as varied as small row houses to great institutional and commercial buildings. In architecture especially, Art Nouveau was showcased in a wide variety of idioms. Many buildings incorporate a prodigious use of terracotta and colorful tilework. The French ceramicist Alexandre Bigot, for example, made his name largely through the production of terracotta ornament for the facades and fireplaces of Parisian residences and apartment buildings. Other Art Nouveau structures, particularly in France and Belgium ( Hector Guimard and Victor Horta were important practitioners), show off the technological possibilities of an iron structure joined by glass panels.

In many areas across Europe, local stone such as yellow limestone or a rocky, random-coursed rural aesthetic with wood trim characterized Art Nouveau residential architecture. And in several cases, a sculptural white stucco skin was used, particularly on Art Nouveau buildings used for exhibitions, such as the pavilions of the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900 and Secession Building in Vienna. Even in the United States, the vegetal forms adorning Louis Sullivan's skyscrapers like the Wainwright Building and Chicago Stock Exchange are often counted among the best examples of Art Nouveau's wide architectural scope.

Art Nouveau Furniture and Interior Design

Like the Victorian stylistic revivals and the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau was intimately associated with interior decoration at least as much as it was conspicuous on exterior facades. Also like these other styles of the 19 th century, Art Nouveau interiors also strove to create a harmonious, coherent environment that left no surface untouched. Furniture design took center stage in this respect, particularly in the production of carved wood that featured sharp, irregular contours, often handcrafted but occasionally manufactured using machines. Furniture makers turned out pieces for every use imaginable: beds, chaises, dining room tables and chairs, armoires, sideboards, and lamp stands. The sinuous curves of the designs often fed off the natural grain of woods and was often permanently installed as wall paneling and molding.

In France, the chief Art Nouveau designers included Louis Majorelle, Emile Gallé, and Eugène Vallin, all based in Nancy; and, Tony Selmersheim, Édouard Colonna and Eugène Gaillard, who worked in Paris - the latter two specifically for Siegfried Bing's shop named L'Art Nouveau (later giving the whole movement its most common name). In Belgium, the whiplash line and reserved, more angular contours can be seen in the designs of Gustave Serrurier-Bovy and Henry van de Velde, who both admired the works of the English Arts & Crafts artists. The Italians Alberto Bugatti and Augustino Lauro were well-known for their forays in the style there. Many such designers moved freely between media, often making them hard to categorize: Majorelle, for example, manufactured his own wooden furniture designs and opened up an ironworking foundry, which also produced many of the metal fittings for the glasswork put out by the Daum Brothers' glassworks.

Painting and "The High Arts"

Few styles can claim to be represented across nearly all forms of visual and material media as thoroughly as Art Nouveau. Besides those who worked mainly in the graphics, architecture, and design, Art Nouveau counts some prominent representatives in painting, such as the Vienna Secessionist Gustav Klimt, known for Hope II and The Kiss (both 1907-08), and Victor Prouvé in France. But Art Nouveau painters were few and far between: Klimt counted virtually no students or followers ( Egon Schiele went in the direction of Expressionism ), and Prouvé is known equally well as a sculptor and furniture designer. Instead, Art Nouveau was arguably responsible, more than any style in history, for narrowing the gap between the decorative or applied arts (to utilitarian objects) and the fine or purely ornamental arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture, which traditionally had been considered more important, purer expressions of artistic talent and skill. (It is debatable, however, as to whether that gap has ever been completely closed.)

Art Nouveau Glasswork and Jewelry

Art Nouveau's reputation for luxury was also evident by its exploitation by some of the best-known glass artists in history. Emile Gallé, the Daum Brothers, Tiffany, and Jacques Gruber all first found renown, at least in part, through their Art Nouveau glass and its applications in many utilitarian forms. Gallé and Daum's firms established their reputations in vase designs and art glass, pioneering new techniques in acid-etched pieces whose sinuously curved, shapely surfaces seemed to flow between translucent hues effortlessly. The Daum Brothers and Tiffany also exploited the artistic possibilities of glass for utilitarian purposes such as lampshades and desk utensils. Both Tiffany and Jacques Gruber, who had trained in Nancy with the Daum Brothers, became specialists in stained glass that celebrated the beauty of the natural world in large-scale luminant panels

In jewelry, René Lalique, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Marcel Wolfers created some of the most prized pieces of the turn of the century, producing everything from earrings to necklaces to bracelets to brooches, thereby assuring that Art Nouveau would always be associated with fin-de-siècle luxury, despite the hope that its ubiquity might make it universally accessible.

Retailing and Corporate Identity

Art Nouveau rose to prominence at the same time that retailing expanded to attract a truly mass audience. It was featured prominently by many of the major urban department stores established during the late-19 th century, including La Samaritaine in Paris, Wertheim's in Berlin, and the Magasins Reunis in Nancy. Furthermore, it was marketed aggressively by some of the most famous design outlets of the period, beginning with Siegfried Bing's shop L'Art Nouveau in Paris, which remained a bastion of the dissemination of the style until its closure in 1905 shortly after Bing's death. His was far from the only store in the city to specialize in Art Nouveau interiors and furniture.

Meanwhile, Liberty & Co. was the major distributor of the style's objects in Britain and to Italy, where Liberty's name became nearly synonymous with the style as a result. Many Art Nouveau designers made their names working exclusively for these retailers before moving in other directions. The architect Peter Behrens, for example, designed virtually everything from tea kettles to book covers to advertising posters to exhibition pavilions' interiors to utensils and furniture, eventually becoming the first industrial designer when in 1907 he was put in charge of all design work for AEG ( Allgemeine Elektrisitats-Gesellschaft , the German General Electric).

Later Developments - After Art Nouveau

If Art Nouveau quickly took Europe by storm in the last five years of the 19 th century, artists, designers and architects abandoned it just as quickly in the first decade of the 20 th century. Although many of its practitioners had made the doctrine that "form should follow function" central to their ethos, some designers tended to be lavish in their use of decoration, and the style began to be criticized for being overly elaborate. In a sense, as the style matured, it started to revert to the very habits it had scorned, and a growing number of opponents began to charge that rather than renewing design, it had merely swapped the old for the superficially new. Even using new mass-production methods, the intensive craftsmanship involved in much Art Nouveau design kept it from becoming truly accessible to a mass audience, as its exponents had initially hoped it might. In some cases, such as in Darmstadt, lax international copyright laws also prevented artists from monetarily benefitting from their designs.

Art Nouveau's association with exhibitions also soon contributed its undoing. To begin with, most of the fair buildings themselves were temporary structures that were torn down immediately after the event closed. But more importantly, the expositions themselves, though held under the guise of promoting education, international understanding, and peace, instead tended to fuel rivalry and competition among nations due to the inherently comparative nature of display. Many countries, including France and Belgium, considered Art Nouveau as potential contenders for the title of "national style," before charges of Art Nouveau's foreign origins or subversive political undertones (in France, it was variously associated with Belgian designers and German merchants, and was sometimes the style used in Socialist buildings) turned public opinion against it. With a few notable exceptions where it enjoyed a committed circle of dedicated local patrons, by 1910 Art Nouveau had vanished from the European design landscape.

From Wiener Werkstätte to Art Deco

Art Nouveau's death began in Germany and Austria, where designers such as Peter Behrens, Josef Hoffmann, and Koloman Moser began to turn towards a sparer, more severely geometric aesthetic as early as 1903. That year, many designers formerly associated with the Vienna Secession founded the collective known as the Wiener Werkstätte, whose preference for starkly angular and rectilinear forms recalled a more precise, industrially-inspired aesthetic that omitted any overt references to nature. This reification of the machine-made qualities of design was underscored in 1907 by two key events: the installation of Behrens as AEG's chief of all corporate design, from buildings to products to advertising, making him the world's first industrial designer; and the founding of the German Werkbund, the formal alliance between industrialists and designers that increasingly attempted to define a system of product types based on standardization. Combined with a newfound respect for classicism, inspired in part by the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and given an official blessing by the City Beautiful movement in the United States, this machine-inspired aesthetic would eventually develop, in the aftermath of World War I, into the style that we now belatedly call Art Deco. Its distinctly commercial character was expressed most succinctly at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, the event which would, in the 1960s, give Art Deco its name.

Postmodern Influences

Despite its brief life, Art Nouveau would prove influential in the 1960s and '70s to designers wishing to break free of the confining, austere, impersonal, and increasingly minimal aesthetic that prevailed in the graphic arts. The free-flowing, uncontrolled linear qualities of Art Nouveau became an inspiration for artists such as Peter Max, whose evocation of a dreamy, psychedelic alternative experience recalls the imaginative, ephemeral, and free-flowing aesthetic world of the turn of the century.

Always recognized from the start as an important step in the development of modernism in both art and architecture, today Art Nouveau is understood less as a transitional bridge between art periods as it is an expression of the style, spirit, and intellectual thought of a certain time frame, centered around 1900. In its search to establish a truly modern aesthetic, it became the defining visual language for a fleeting moment of the age.

Useful Resources on Art Nouveau

• Art Nouveau: Utopia: Reconciling the Irreconcilable (Taschen) Our Pick By Klaus-Jurgen Sembach
• Art Nouveau By Gabriele Fahr-Becker
• Art Nouveau: An Anthology of Design and Illustration from "The Studio" (Dover Pictorial Archive)
• Art Nouveau (Architecture & Design Library) By Robert Fitzgerald
• Art Nouveau Architecture Our Pick By Keiichi Tahara
• Treasures of Art Nouveau: Painting, Sculpture, Decorative Arts in the Gillion Crowet Collection By Michel Draguet
• An Art Nouveau Master Remembered in Prague Our Pick By Dinah Spritzer / The New York Times / September 1, 2010
• Guest Column: The Social Agenda of Art Nouveau By Elisabeth Horth / Collectors Weekly / August 21, 2009
• An Art Nouveau Room Thick With Wisteria Our Pick By Carol Vogel / The New York Times / November 23, 2007
• Louis Tiffany's Eclecticism a Harbinger of Art Nouveau By Roberta Smith / Taipei Times / November 30, 2006

Similar Art

Jupiter and Semele (1895)

L'Indolence (Laziness) (1896)

Related artists, related movements & topics.

Content compiled and written by Justin Wolf

Edited and revised, with Summary and Accomplishments added by Peter Clericuzio

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Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau was an artistic movement that united the architecture and decorative arts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These were the European enthusiasts who practiced the variety of styles. The objectives of Art Nouveau were to escape the traditional historical styles and modernize a design. Consequently, the representatives of the movement united natural and flowing forms with the angular figures and evolved elegant designs. One should mention that both geometric and organic forms inspired the artists to create. As a result, the traditional hierarchy of the arts was abolished as the representatives of Art Nouveau did not consider sculpture and painting superior to craft-based decorative arts. Besides, this essay explores the relationship between the history of Art Nouveau and the emergence of global modernity.

The Key Ideas of Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau was the result of leaving behind the historical styles and the way of transferring to modernism and creativity. Earlier periods were characterized by poorly made objects and the decorative arts were necessary to make the revolution in art. One should mention that the representatives of Art Nouveau raised the status of craft, produced modern and genuine design and revived good workmanship. Such forgotten crafts as silver-smoothing and furniture design had become the most sophisticated work and proved the necessity of craftsmanship.

The artists of Art Nouveau changed the vision and beliefs about crafts and inspired others to create the art of buildings and interiors. The attention was paid to the smallest objects and details that were decorated to be ornamental and unique. The representatives of Art Nouveau believed that this was the object that should dictate its form. The movement was short-lived as it was less collective. Not every artist supposed geometric forms of plants such as rectangles and squares attractive and exciting. Architects, visual artists, and designers were united to create the style of design for the modern art. Additionally, Art Nouveau was the reaction against Victorian-era decorative art that was too predictable and traditional.

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One should mention that the movement did not have boundaries presenting graphic art, printing of works on playbills, magazine advertisements, and exhibition catalogs. New forms of Art Nouveau were controversial, debatable and ambiguous. The natural world was the key muse of the artists. As a result, they were free in the choice of objects, forms, and meaning. The main features of Art Nouveau were curvy, elongated and sinuous lines, exotic woods, semi-precious stones and silver, female forms, stylized nature and vertical lines. Art Nouveau was influenced by botanical research, rococo style and crafts.

It is evident that objects were in the center of Art Nouveau. The artists designed flowers, ornaments, fireplaces, lighting, door handles, stained glass, furniture, tiles, wallpaper, walls color schemes and floors. The conceptual traits of Art Nouveau were imaginary, abstraction, conceptualization, minimalism, orientation on the natural world and simplicity. The ambiguity that provoked a lot of interpretations was another feature of Art Nouveau that proved transferring to the global modernity and leaving behind traditionalism of Victorian era. Art Nouveau was so rich that it was difficult to predict whether it evoked magic atmosphere and charm or shock and fear. The distinction of lines and colors was a proof of modernization of art and its movement to era of technologies. Calmness and non-aggressiveness of colors of the depicted objects made them different from the traditional art forms.

Conceptual meaning of objects was more important than their depiction. As a result, abstract expressionism did not always provoke astonishment and approval. It means that the representatives of Art Nouveau should not only present their vision of the modern art but fight against stereotypes and traditionalism of art forms that deprived craftsmanship of the place during the Victorian period. Imagery and physicality of objects were the driving forces of the representatives of Art Nouveau. Expressionism, minimalism, and cubism were the ways of the depiction of the natural world differently through colors, compositions, space and abstraction. The artists ruined the boundaries and limitations between the real and imaginary. The attention was paid to the perception and vision of the depicted objects.

The advantage of the artists of Art Nouveau was that they were not afraid to experiment with different materials making them look alive and realistic. They could make panels and floors depict the state of consciousness and perception. They fused with the objects involving creativity and creating mystery. Presently, it often remains a mystery for students who are assigned to write about this art form and share their perceptions. Our art essay writing service can help with this task and enable you to learn more based on vivid textual representations and comprehensive explanations offered by professionals.

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Georgia O’Keefe and her Works

Georgia O’Keefe was one of the brightest and most talented artists of Art Nouveau whose works revealed the traits of that movement and presupposed modernization not only of art but even of its perception. Her vision of the modern art was not aimed at shifting art trends. On the contrary, it intended to look for abstract and essential forms in nature. It means that Georgia O’Keefe concentrated her attention on natural objects. One should mention that her great finesse and powers of observations made her paintings unusual and untraditional. She ruined the canons of Victorian art that was too pompous, sophisticated and complicated.

Bones, flowers, and landscapes fascinated her the most. Her life experience and place of living were the sources for her creative ideas. She contributed to Art Nouveau as she was one of the American representatives, and she was a woman that was a rare case among painters. One should mention that Georgia O’Keefe had developed as an artist and a painter under the influence of the modernist photographers and painters.

Her work “Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue” was created in 1931. Her depiction of this painting on canvas made it a bit traditional. However, the subject of that work was really shocking and unexpected for the audience. The colors of the painting were meaningful and symbolic as red, white and blue were the colors of the American flag. It means that Georgia O’Keefe wanted to identify and promote the American artistic style as it lagged behind the European one. Her symbols of America are not stereotypical as she did not use landscapes and natural beauty as regionalist artists did. On the contrary, she managed to reveal urban problems and represent American enduring spirit.

“Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue” was an iconic painting as it symbolized also the American West and was like a joke on the American art scene. One should mention that the work was based on perception and cultural background of the audience. Cow’s skull was an unusual object for depiction that provoked fear and disgust. However, peaceful colors and association with the American flag changed the opinion about the work. Vertical lines also made “Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue” calmer and not so aggressive. Minimalism and abstractness reinforced the depth and symbolism of the depicted objects.

Another distinctive work of Georgia O’Keefe was “White Canadian Barn” that was painted with oil on canvas. That painting differed from the previous one with the commitment to the geometric forms. Summer trip to Gaspe Peninsula of Canada inspired her to create such work that belonged to the theme series. The barn was the key object that was stark in design and color. The narrow and horizontal proportion of “White Canadian Barn” and flat rectangular forms of the walls and roof proved its belonging to Art Nouveau. Three distinct areas such as ground, building and denoting sky divided the space into three areas.

One can say that “White Canadian Barn” is made in three-dimensional form that made it modernist and innovative. It is evident that commitment to geometry and form proved the orientation of Georgia O’Keefe toward Art Nouveau and violation of traditional and old-fashioned subjects and forms. Frontal presentation put forward the barn as an object of the painting. The massive size and somber coloring added it some mystery and unpredictability. Every detail from the geometric shape and architectural element to black doorways proved the breadth of the painting and depiction of every object as a small and important painting with its own meaning and form.

In conclusion, one should say that Art Nouveau is the movement and design, creativity and modernization that violates the canons of the traditional and stereotypical art vision and benefits the emergence of global modernity. The value of Art Nouveau is that it managed to turn the usual objects in the masterpieces and symbolic things. Flowers, ornaments, fireplaces, lighting, door handles, stained glass, furniture, tiles, wallpaper, walls color schemes and floors could be the inspiring subjects for the artists of Art Nouveau. The conceptual traits of Art Nouveau are imaginary things, abstraction, conceptualization, minimalism, orientation toward the natural world and simplicity.

Georgia O’Keefe is not only a revolutionary artist of Art Nouveau but also of the American painting that was not as famous as a European one. Her modernist vision of art is reflected in her works “White Canadian Barn” and “White Canadian Barn”. Both paintings are oriented toward the abstractionism and geometric simplicity. However, design of every object showed depth of meaning and symbolism. Live Chat Order Now

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Art Nouveau and Art Deco History

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 21, 2018 | Original: September 8, 2017

Art Nouveau was an art and design movement that grew out of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th Century. Art Nouveau highlighted curvaceous lines, often inspired by plants and flowers, as well as geometric patterns. Art Deco was a sprawling design sensibility that wound its way through numerous early 20th Century art and design forms, from fine art and architecture to fashion and furniture, as well as everyday appliances and even modes of transportation.

Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts movement, a precursor to Art Nouveau, focused on hand craftsmanship in the decorative arts and was personified by influential textile designer William Morris.

In Art Nouveau, the style of an object is not predetermined and imposed but developed organically through the process of creation, an idea derived from Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Mackintosh believed style came from function, and structures should be built from the inside out. One of his best-known buildings is the Glasgow School of Art, finished in 1910.

Art Nouveau was embraced by architects through the use of curves, iron and glass in designs. The result was buildings like Antoni Gaudí’s sinuous, organic Casa Battló in Barcelona, Spain, completed in 1906.

Art Nouveau in the Visual Arts

Mackintosh’s ideas had a significant effect on the visual arts. Austrian painter Gustav Klimt adopted his abstract patterning, indicative of winding plants, as backgrounds for figurative paintings. Illustrator Aubrey Beardsley brought Art Nouveau to book design, illustrating Sir Thomas Mallory’s La Mort d’Arthur and serving as art editor of the popular Yellow Book magazine in England.

Posters were the main medium through which Art Nouveau was spread. Czech artist Alphonse Mucha’s images of sultry, glamorous women captured the public imagination. His 1894 poster Gismonda , created for entertainer Sarah Bernhardt, brought him his first huge success.

Art Nouveau in Design

Art Nouveau featured object designers rather than sculptors. The best-known is Louis Comfort Tiffany, a former painter who created decorative items for his affluent customers.

Tiffany’s chief innovations were with stained glass, which was crucial to the design of his most famous offering, the Tiffany lamp. Tiffany is also known for his jewelry, boxes, clocks and pottery designs. Clara Driscoll, who worked for the Tiffany from 1888 to 1909, designed most of Tiffany’s most famous lamps, as well as many other items for the company.

French vase maker Emelie Galle formed the influential “Ecole de Nancy” in his hometown of Nancy, France, with bronze sculptor Louis Majorelle, to gather Art Nouveau masters of various disciplines like furniture design and jewelry-making.

By the end of World War I , Art Nouveau had dissipated as a force in the art world. Modernist movements took its place, most notably Art Deco.

Introducing Art Deco

Art Deco was announced to the world in the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, not as a new movement but one that had been in development for more than a decade.

The exposition was a World’s Fair-styled spectacle lasting six months and covering 57 acres in Paris. A popular show based on the exposition toured the United States the following year.

In 1927, Macy’s department store held an influential Art Deco exhibition highlighting eight architects, including Raymond M. Hood, chief designer of Rockefeller Center, and Joseph Urban, set designer and architect of Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida .

Art Deco Spreads

The rise of Art Deco coincided with the scramble to erect skyscrapers, and its influence is felt across America.

Designed in 1928, the Chrysler Building is considered one of the most iconic and most ubiquitous examples. The work of architect William Van Alen, its stainless steel spire with a scalloped base make it instantly recognizable.

Art Deco was the design choice for movie theaters of the era, such as Grauman’s Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles and Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Art Deco was also the guiding principle for stylish transportation, such as Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic automobiles, trains like Henry Dreyfuss’ 20th Century Limited and luxury liners like the Queen Mary.

Art Deco permeated people’s personal lives in its effect on furnishings and decorative items. The design works of Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann in furniture, Jean Besnard in pottery, Rene Lalique in glass, Albert-Armand Rateau in metal, Georges Fouquet in jewelry and Serge Gladky in textiles were just a few to have major and lasting impacts.

Images of Art Deco

In the visual arts, Art Deco promoted a sophisticated sensibility. French painter Jean Dupas is well-known for his murals and print advertising. His famous Les Perruches was shown at the 1925 exhibition. Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka was renowned for her portraits of the rich and famous.

Like Art Nouveau, the graphic arts were crucial in embedding Art Deco in the public imagination and defining the culture linked to it. Charles Gesmar is best known for his posters of French entertainer Mistinguett, which gave identity to the Jazz Age. French artist Paul Colin’s posters of Josephine Baker were prime factors in launching Baker’s career. Jean Carlu pulled inspiration from Cubism and gained fame with his poster for Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 film The Kid .

Art Deco also shaped the public view of travel. Ukranian artist Cassandre specialized in transportation posters, most notably his 1935 poster of the French cruise ship Normandie , and is also known for his distinctive advertising work.

Animals were a popular subject among Art Deco artists. Paul Jouve’s paintings and sculptures focused on African animals. Sculptor Francois Pompon’s famous bronze Polar Bear statue debuted at the 1925 exhibition.

Art Deco in Sculpture

Art Deco sculpture frequently found homes in public view. Paul Manship’s most famous work, 1933’s Prometheus , rests in the fountain at Rockefeller Center. Italian-Brazilian sculptor Victor Brecheret found fame with his Monument to the Banderas in Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, Brazil, which was started in 1921 and completed in 1954.

The imposing, 98-foot tall, 700-ton Christ the Redeemer sculpture on the 2,300-foot peak of Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was designed by French sculptor Paul Landowski, with the face by Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida. The statue was completed in 1931 and can be seen from just about anywhere in the city.

American sculptor Lee Lawrie is one of the most-seen and lesser-known Art Deco artists. His work adorns buildings across the United States—the National Academy of the Sciences in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles Public Library, the Nebraska State House, Rockefeller Center in New York City and many other locations.

The Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) is also credited for spreading the Art Deco form in the United States with artists like Rockwell Kent, Diego Rivera and Reginald Marsh.

Art Deco Wanes

Art Deco was often aligned with the tastes of the wealthy. The 1929 stock market crash redirected the movement towards mass production.

By the early 1930s, an updated Art Deco called Streamline Moderne (or Art Moderne) took hold in America, simplifying designs and, in architecture, focusing on one story structures to better service more common building needs like gas stations and diners. By World War II , Art Deco and Art Nouveau had fallen out of favor and were largely replaced by Modernism .

Modern Art: Impressionism To Post-Modernism. Edited by David Britt. Art Nouveau. By Jean Lahor. The Spirit and Splendour of Art Deco. By Alain Lesieutre. Art Deco. By Victor Arwas . French Art Deco. Metropolitan Museum of Art .

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Art Nouveau Essay Samples

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Women , Theater , Artists , Culture , Life , Nature , Art Nouveau , Art

Words: 2500

Published: 08/10/2021

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In this essay I will discuss the style label Art Nouveau. I will focus on graphic media, posters in particular in the year period of 1900s. I will discuss the so called fin-de-siecle poster. This means the main focus of this paper is on French art and design in this period. It is in France where Art Nouveau was originated and developed the most intensively.

Art Nouveau is a style in art that “exploded onto the art and design scene in the early 1890s and spread rapidly throughout the Western world” (Greenhalgh, 2000: 7). The style united art searches of artists in the field of architecture, graphics, sculpture, arts and crafts and quickly extended worldwide. The concept of Art Nuoveau is initially “originated from the gallery de L’Art Nouveau in Paris, opened by Zigrfrid Bing in 1895” (Weisberg et al., 2002: 127). Here first works of the new art were presented.

The development of this style is defined by aspiration of artists to break link with art styles of the past. The new art was a response based on the new technological and esthetic achievements of the new era. It was fed by needs of producers for the style suitable for new technologies of mass industrial production.

Many researchers connect the development of colonies to the development of the new style. And in Art Nuoveau “new exotic breeds of trees, national motives of the occupied territories are actively used” (Arwas, 2002: 193). The achievements of art of Japan, the countries of North Africa, the Middle East are actively adopted.

The style suggested the new relation to the nature and revaluation of a role and a place of the person in the natural world. The style is characterized by the new asymmetric, wavy rounded-off and smooth lines. Natural vegetable forms and motives get the increasing role in the new style. It can be plants and the flowers represented in the stylized form. New symbolical value of the stylized forms of animals, insects and reptiles are getting of more meaning in this period. The typical motives for works in Art Nouveau are the images of curling water plants (lilies, water-lilies). Images of female figures with streaming curly are wide used that, the opinion of some researchers, makes “the new art [] conceptually erotic”. The forms of “circle, oval and square are widely used” (Wood, 2000: 87). Even the symbolical image of a human body or even its separate parts (for example kidneys) is actively applied in new style, emphasizing communication of the person with the nature. Natural and organic twisting lines reflect eternal variability of the nature. The prominent features of the new style were complexity and contradiction, decoration and ornament. They are inherent in fin-de-siecle posters originated in France. The prominent features of the new style were “complexity and contradiction, decoration and ornament” that are “inherent in fin-de-siecle posters originated in France” (Jobling & Crowley, 1996).

“Although international in scope, Art Nouveau was a short-lived movement whose brief incandescence was a precursor of modernism [] Although a reaction to historic revivalism, it brought Victorian excesses to a dramatic fin-de-siècle crescendo.” (Gontar, 2006).

In the opinion of Arwas (2002) “the style of Art Nouveau is presented in the works of such artists as A. Toulouse-Lautrec, J. Cheret, A. Mucha, O. Beardsley, etc”. Each of the works in the new style “contains a lot of paradoxes, particularly the combination of the newly declared forms with reference to images of culture that is much older than the western” (Arwas, 2002: 78). The artists created advertising posters with the help of their rich imagination. It went beyond traditional standards of the art.

The style is epistomed by the painter/designer Alphonse Mucha who was Czech by birth, but became famous worldwide and in France. The so-called "Mucha style" is “equivalent to an official name of the Art Nouveau” (Greenhalgh, 2000: 29). It served as role model to a whole generation of designers.

In the center of Mucha’s posters are the idealized images of women that are characterized by the smooth lines, proximity to natural forms, and waiver of sharp angles. These signs are typical for the Art Nouveau. Initially, the female images were used for promotional purposes. Then they helped Mucha to gain success in creating posters. Nowadays this experience is widely used by the leading experts in the advertising industry worldwide. Mucha’s works, as for many experts,”are influenced by the medieval scenes and the Celtic mythology” (Greenhalgh, 2000: 49).

Floral motifs are borrowed from the Eastern culture. The artists widely used “floating stems and pale petals fully meet the concepts of Art Nouveau. Mucha uses the confirmation of pastels, exotic shapes, the repeating images of a beautiful lady. The women are curly, long-haired, dressed in the light Greek tunics that create a unique harmony and unity. Mucha also uses geometric figures in the works, such as a circle as a symbol of the endless repetition, circulation, and as a symbol of the feminine principle. Mucha also uses a symbolic representation of a horseshoe in a larger size, with the painted ornament inside. Here is the reference to a pagan and mythical worldview. These figures are related to the ​​“emotionally filled concept in advertisements” (Sterner, 1982: 59).

The first big success came to Alphonse Mucha in 1894, when he made a poster for the great actress Sarah Bernhardt (Sarah Bernhardt, 1844-1923). As it was told later by the artist, at the end of 1893, he was called by the owner of the printing house named de Brunof, with whom he maintained a business relationship. Mucha was asked to create a poster for the great actress.

On the Img1 one can see the actress in her best, with the fluffy hair, decorated with orchids, in a richly ornamented dress with goldly embroidered sleeves, with a palm branch in his right hand.

The poster is performed in the technique of the multi-color lithography. The figure is flat, not shaded, but very decorative. The poster is performed predominantly in the gold tones. On the top of the image on a gold background the name of the play «GISMONDA» is written. It is the typical example of the work in the Art Nouveau style. The author successfully reaches the features of the style with the help of using his rich imagination. He interprets the female image according to the peculiarities of this new style. Image 1. Alfons Mucha. Gismonda Poster.

On the Img2 one can see an actress in the image of Samaritan. By this work, Mucha references to the Greek mythology. He is trying to show a positive character. As for the new style, it is met by feminine image of a beautiful lady. The modern style is correlating with the traditional culture. The image of Samaritan is borrowed from the Eastern culture and relates to the Christian religion. The woman has red fluffy hair, the body is curvy, the hair is curly, Floral motives resembles the Japanese culture. It also influenced on the Art Nouveau artists, as mentioned above.

Contemporary painting in this period is an important factor in this study. The “famous painter Toulouse-Lautrec was also connected to this group” (Iskin, 2013: 34). His works differ from Mucha’s paintings in certain way. But he has made a great contribution to the development of Art-Nouveu.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is one of the most brilliant artists of the period of new art. He was able to “convey the atmosphere of his time by referring to the image of women from an artistic medium” (Iskin, 2013: 35). The usual accent is on the observation that is often ironic and dynamic. His works often depict the images of Paris's famous actresses, singers and dancers, and other images of women of the creative professions. Unlike the posters by Alphonse Mucha with his feminine images, Toulouse-Lautrec extremely realistically depicts female images. The artist finds the most expressive features of the model. He emphasizes her natural role in life.

Unlike Mucha who idealizes his female images, Lautrec often refers to the form of the grotesque, as a special mean of the artistic expression. Interestingly, “the irony and the grotesque strong start is a typical phenomenon for the artistic culture of modernity” (Iskin, 2013: 55). This technique can be seen in the works of such masters as Aubrey Berndsley, Konstantin Somov and Theodor Heine.

The most interesting image of a woman is a woman of artistic profession. Toulouse-Lautrec was able to transmit it through the lithographic posters or billboards. During his life the artist created about 30 posters, which are the most clearly expressed his magnificent talent as a painter. All posters are made in the lithograph technique. Unlike the other artists, who preferred to go to professional printers, Toulouse-Lautrec himself “learned the "technical" side of the process” (Sterner, 1982: 123).

Many works by Toulouse-Lautrec are worth mentioning and especially his poster "Moulin Rouge" that we can see on the Img3 where La Goulue and Valentin are shown dancing in the great theater hall, surrounded by black silhouettes. In the foreground, the artist depicted the cropped shape of Valentine as a gray-green shimmering silhouette, emphasizing the dim, dull color and the stylish curved line. The figure of Valentine partially closes the figure of circling partner behind him, and she is the only character who is not drawn as monochrome planar image of a man. However, he skillfully simplifies the figure of La Goulue and skillfully introduces her to his composition. The viewer sees La Goulue not in full: it is slightly covered by the right figure of Valentine; her shiny white skirts are hidden behind the yellow lamps from the left. Space depth of the hall is transmitted in two ways: lines in the background, and figures of the first and second plans that differ in their sizes. Large group of viewers are the solid black mass, and the contour of her is the artful arabesque, clearly marked out cylinders and hats with feathers. Black and red letters over the dancers and audience groups inform us about the cabarets and give an idea of ​​where this couple is dancing.

The Img3 is a good example of the Art Nouveau style label. Femininity and masculinity are vividly seen not only as the characters are dressed, but also like they behave in the cabaret. It seems that they feel free to be in such a provocative place as the Cabaret “Mouline Rouge”. This fully meets the requirements of free natural forms of the new style of that period. Natural features of the characters are good examples of their attitude to life. The author meets the requirements of new style in full. Image 3. Toulouse-Lautrec. Moulin Rouge Poster.

Alphonse Mucha and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec were quite progressive artists. However, this period is remarkable by the works of many other artists who used everyday themes in the Art Nouveau context. Every artist of that period worked in the frames of realities of the end of nineteenth-the beginning of twentieth century adding their new perspective to visualize images. The role of the drawing art began to increase in this period. The art began to get commercializing intensively. For instance, Alphonse Mucha was the first to establish the new kind of poster in the Art Nouveau style. Thereafter, this genre was widely used by theaters and big trademarks. In comparison to Mucha’s works, Lautrec’s images “were not as much commercialized”. (Iskin, 2013). In any case, the new world progressive trends to commercialize art were popular among many painters.

Lautrec’s creativity influenced many artists. Swiss-born painter Felix Vallotton (1865-1925) was interested in the abstractive means that reflected reality. Vallotton created series of portraits of famous writers of that time. He “achieved the significant generalization in the characterization of his models” (Sterner, 1982: 177).

Theophile Steinlen (1859-1923) was another representative of the new art style. The artist is “no stranger to the discoveries of the artists in the period of 1860-1870-ies” (Sterner, 1982: 189). In comparison to the works of the other artists, Steinlen sharply and accurately conveys some specific moments in the mobile city life. In addition, he is trying to solve some particular socio-ethical problems. The social life in Paris is the central theme of his works.

In general, the term Art Nouveau is wide. However, it does have common themes and common stylistic prospective. The works of Alphonse Mucha, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Felix Valotton, Teophile Steinlen, etc. have much in common, as they are related to the same period of the development in art. The style label of Art-Nouveau came to the world culture in the period of fien-de-siecle, in the end of the 19th century, when new progressive trends were coming to life.

Reference List

Books Arwas, V 2002, Art Nouveau: The French Aesthetic, London: Andreas Papadakis. Greenhalgh, P, ed. 2000, Art Nouveau: 1890-1914, London: Victoria and Albert Museum; Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art. Jobling P & Crowley, D 1996, Graphic Design: Reproduction & Representation since 1800. Manchester; New York: Manchester University Press. Distributed in the USA by St. Martin’s Press. Iskin, RE 2013, Identity and Interpretation: Receptions of Toulouse-Lautrec’s Reine de joie Poster in the 1890s. Sterner, G 1982, Art Nouveau, an Art of Transition: From Individualism to Mass Society. 1st English ed. Weisberg, G, Becker, E, and Possémé, E, eds. 2004, The Origins of L'Art Nouveau: The Bing Empire, Exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum. Wood, Gh 2000, Art Nouveou and the Erotic, Harry N. Abrams, English Language edition. List of Illustrations Image 1. Alfons Mucha. Gismonda Poster. Three Rock Mountains. At: http://www.threerockmountain.com/user/mucha%20-%20gismonda_big.gif (Accessed on 15/12/2013) Page 5 Image 2. Alphonse Mucha. The Samaritan Poster. At: http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/alphonse-mucha/the-samaritan-1897 (Accessed on 15/12/2013) Page 6 Image 3. Toulouse-Lautrec. Moulin Rouge Poster. At: http://artseverydayliving.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Lautrec_moulin_rouge_la_goulue_poster_18911.jpg (Accessed on 15/12/2013) Page 7

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Art nouveau.

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            In this introduction I will be talking about art nouveau and what art nouveau is and what it stands for and how it influenced art, architecture and fashion. Also I will be talking about how posters in the art nouveau period were designed and produced in mass with not many colours. Finally I will discuss the many famous art nouveau designers of the time, I will discuss them their work and what kind of effect they had on the public.              Art Nouveau, literally new art, It found expression in a wide range of art forms "architecture, interior design, furniture, posters, glass, pottery, textiles, and book illustration "and was characterized by its devotion to curving and undulating lines, often referred to as whiplash lines. The term Art Nouveau is derived from Maison de l'Art Nouveau, a Paris shop opened in 1896 by the dealer Siegfried Bing.Art Nouveau was an art movement, which lasted from the 1880's to the beginning of 1914; this movement changed many people's lives and lead the way to a new centaury of art and a new art form. Art nouveau influenced the design of everything in that period, architecture, interiors, furniture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, graphic posters, coffee pots, lamps, cutlery, cake tins and bikes. At Nouveau represented life and how it can be flowing and back to nature.              This form of art took mankind back to nature, as its main theme was the human womanly form and the buds of many plants. Art took the form of women's long exotic flowing hair, which often flowed into fames or water. The feminine art' or art nouveau is and was basically made up of a sensualist flowing line that often turns and twists into it. This one art movement expressed what the female body was about using her curves and lines to bring painting back to nature giving a very popular design. Art Nouveau took up and elaborated the Arts and Crafts manifesto, calling for the creation of a completely new style and a devotion to handicrafts.

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Bolsonaro Faces New Legal Jeopardy After Stay at Hungarian Embassy

The Brazilian Supreme Court and the federal police are demanding answers from former President Jair Bolsonaro after a New York Times investigation.

By Jack Nicas

Jack Nicas broke the news about former President Jair Bolsonaro’s stay at the Hungarian Embassy. He reported from Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to explain why he spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy, and the Brazilian federal police began investigating whether the February stay violated earlier court orders, police and court officials have said.

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The Times report, based on three days of footage from the embassy’s security cameras, showed that the former president had appeared to be seeking political asylum from Hungary, whose prime minister is a fellow hard-right leader, Viktor Orban.

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That account was not enough for Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Brazilian Supreme Court, who has overseen a series of investigations into Mr. Bolsonaro. On Monday night, Mr. Moraes gave the former president 48 hours to explain his stay at the embassy, according to Mariana Oliveira, a court spokeswoman.

On Feb. 8, Justice Moraes authorized raids and arrests on several of Mr. Bolsonaro’s former top aides and ministers on accusations that they had plotted a coup after Mr. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 election . As part of that operation, the justice ordered Mr. Bolsonaro to hand over his passport and not to leave the country as the police investigated his involvement.

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Some legal analysts in Brazil have said that Mr. Bolsonaro’s apparent bid for asylum could lead to his arrest if the authorities believe that he is likely to face criminal charges and could in the future try to evade detention.

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Supreme Court justices in Brazil have broad power, and Justice Moraes has previously acted aggressively against Mr. Bolsonaro and his allies, saying that their actions had threatened the country’s democracy. Many right-wing Brazilians have in turn accused the justice of abusing his power .

Two leftist members of Brazil’s Congress said on Monday that they had filed formal requests with the Supreme Court and attorney general, asking for Mr. Bolsonaro’s pretrial detention.

Mr. Bolsonaro is a target of various criminal investigations. In one case, the federal police recommended criminal charges against him last week on accusations that he had taken part in a plot to falsify his Covid-19 vaccination records. Prosecutors have yet to weigh in on that case.

There was also fallout for Hungarian diplomats in Brazil. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Miklos Halmai, Hungary’s ambassador, to explain Mr. Bolsonaro’s stay at the embassy.

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The official said that Maria Luisa Escorel, Brazil’s secretary for Europe and North America, had told Mr. Halmai that it was highly unusual to host a former president for multiple nights in a city where he also has a home, particularly since he is under criminal investigation.

Paulo Motoryn contributed reporting from Brasília, and Leonardo Coelho from Rio de Janeiro.

Jack Nicas is the Brazil bureau chief for The Times, based in Rio de Janeiro, where he leads coverage of much of South America. More about Jack Nicas