Art Nouveau, 1890-1914, explores a new style in the visual arts and architecture that developed in Europe and North America at the end of the nineteenth century. The exhibition is divided into three sections: the first focuses on the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, where Art Nouveau was established as the first new decorative style of the twentieth century; the second examines the sources that influenced the style; and the third looks at its development and fruition in major cities in Europe and North America.
At its height exactly one hundred years ago, Art Nouveau was a concerted attempt to create an international style based on decoration. It was developed by a brilliant and energetic generation of artists and designers, who sought to fashion an art form appropriate to the modern age. During this extraordinary time, urban life as we now understand it was established. Old customs, habits, and artistic styles sat alongside new, combining a wide range of contradictory images and ideas. Many artists, designers, and architects were excited by new technologies and lifestyles, while others retreated into the past, embracing the spirit world, fantasy, and myth.
Art Nouveau was in many ways a response to the Industrial Revolution. Some artists welcomed technological progress and embraced the aesthetic possibilities of new materials such as cast iron. Others deplored the shoddiness of mass-produced machine-made goods and aimed to elevate the decorative arts to the level of fine art by applying the highest standards of craftsmanship and design to everyday objects. Art Nouveau designers also believed that all the arts should work in harmony to create a "total work of art," or Gesamtkunstwerk: buildings, furniture, textiles, clothes, and jewelry all conformed to the principles of Art Nouveau.
Origins
The origins of Art Nouveau are found in the resistance of the artist
William Morris to the cluttered compositions and the
revival tendencies of the 19th century and his theories that helped initiate the
Arts and crafts movement.
[24] However,
Arthur Mackmurdo's book-cover for
Wren's City Churches (1883), with its rhythmic floral patterns, is often considered the first realisation of Art Nouveau.
[24] About the same time, the flat perspective and strong colors of Japanese wood block prints, especially those of
Katsushika Hokusai, had a strong effect on the formulation of Art Nouveau.
[25] The
Japonisme that was popular in Europe during the 1880s and 1890s was particularly influential on many artists with its organic forms and references to the natural world.
[25]Besides being adopted by artists like
Emile Gallé and
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Japanese-inspired art and design was championed by the businessmen
Siegfried Bing and
Arthur Lasenby Liberty at their stores
[26] in Paris and London, respectively.
[25]
[edit]Character
Although Art Nouveau acquired distinctly localised tendencies as its geographic spread increased, some general characteristics are indicative of the form. A description published in
Pan magazine of
Hermann Obrist's wall hanging
Cyclamen (1894) described it as "sudden violent curves generated by the crack of a whip", which became well known during the early spread of Art Nouveau.
[27]Subsequently, not only did the work itself become known better as
The Whiplash but the term "whiplash" is frequently applied to the characteristic curves employed by Art Nouveau artists.
[27]Such decorative "whiplash" motifs, formed by dynamic, undulating, and flowing lines in a syncopated rhythm, are found throughout the architecture, painting, sculpture, and other forms of Art Nouveau design.
[edit]Philosophy and geography
Art Nouveau is now considered a 'total' style, meaning that it includes a
hierarchy of scales of design — architecture; interior design;
decorative artsincluding
jewellery, furniture, textiles, household silver and other utensils and
lighting; and the
visual arts (see
Hierarchy of genres.) According to the philosophy of the style, art should be a way of life. For many Europeans, it was possible to live in an art nouveau-inspired house with art nouveau furniture, silverware, crockery, jewellery, cigarette cases, etc. Artists desired to combine the fine arts and applied arts, even for utilitarian objects.
[3]
[edit]International expos
[edit]Belgium, Switzerland and France
In Paris, the
Maison de l'Art Nouveau, at the time managed by
Siegfried Bing, showcased art nouveau objects. Artists such as Émile Gallé,
Louis Majorelleand
Victor Prouvé in Nancy, France, initiated the
École de Nancy, giving Art Nouveau a new influence. In
Brussels, Belgium the style was developed with the help of the architects
Victor Horta and
Henry Van de Velde.
[28] Other Art Nouveau designers in Belgium, Switzerland, and France include
Theophile Alexandre Steinlen,
Hector Guimard, and
Jules Lavirotte.
[3] The Czech artist
Alphonse Mucha worked in Paris for a number of years.
[edit]Germany
Musicroom of the house Behrens with Schiedmayer grand piano 1901
German Art Nouveau is known commonly by its German name,
Jugendstil. Drawing from traditional German
printmaking, the style uses precise and hard edges, an element that was rather different from the naturalistic style of the time. The style was used mainly in
Hamburg. Jugendstil art includes a variety of different methods, applied by the various individual artists. Methods range from classic to romantic. One feature of Jugendstil is the
typography used, the letter and image combination of which is unmistakable. The combination was used for covers of novels, advertisements, and
exhibition posters. Designers often used unique display
typefaces that worked harmoniously with the image.
Magazines were important for spreading the visual idiom of
Jugendstil, especially the graphical qualities. Besides
Jugend, other important magazines were the satirical
Simplicissimus and
Pan.
[edit]Austria
There are
art nouveau buildings called the Balluta Buildings. They are apartment buildings on the eastern shore of
Balluta Bay, on the northeast coast of
Malta within the district St. Julian's.
[edit]Britain
In the United Kingdom, Art Nouveau developed out of the
Arts and Crafts Movement. The beginning of an Art Nouveau style can be recognized during the 1880s, in a few progressive designs such as the architect-designer
Arthur Mackmurdo's
book cover design for his essay on the city churches of
Sir Christopher Wren, published during 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 patterns of 19th century design. The most important location in Britain eventually became
Glasgow, with the creations of
Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his colleagues. The cluster of artists known as the Dunbar School were active in, what was known in Scotland, as Art Noo-voo.
The Edward Everard building in Bristol, built during 1900–01 to house the printing works of Edward Everard, features an Art Nouveau façade. The figures depicted are of
Johannes Gutenberg and
William Morris, both eminent in the field of printing. A winged figure symbolises the Spirit of Light, while a figure holding a lamp and mirror symbolises light and truth.
The Art Nouveau European Route
[29] provides details of the heritage in Europe and worldwide of the Art Nouveau style featuring considerable information about Italy's
Stile Liberty. This represented the modern designs from the Liberty & Co store of London, indicating both Art Nouveau's commercial aspect and the 'imported' character that it retained in some parts of
Italy, though not in
Palermo, isolated from developments in the north and evolving an independent character due largely to designers such as architect
Ernesto Basile and Vittorio Ducrot, who specialised as a cabinetmaker. According to the Art Nouveau European Route, Basile and Ducrot were responsible for the idea of the complete work of art in Italy. Important Italian Liberty cities or sites are the spa centres of
Salsomaggiore Terme, in the
Emilia-Romagna region, and
San Pellegrino Terme in
Lombardy, as well as
Cernobbio on
Lake Como also in Lombardy. Some large cities have a considerable number of Liberty-style decorations and buildings, especially
Turin,
Milan,
Naples, and large sections of the sea-side town of
Viareggio in
Tuscany. The Liberty Style was used by Italian designers and architects in many overseas areas, especially in Argentina and Chile, such as at Valparaiso in Chile where architects Renato Schiavon and Arnaldo Barison, trained in
Trieste, arrived after the earthquake of 1906. Here they built outstanding structures such as the Palace Barburizza (1915), now the city's Museum of Fine Arts. Other important Italian art nouveau designers were the Bugatti family (
Carlo,
Ettore,
Jean and
Rembrandt) best known for their cars built in
France, and furniture and art constructed in their native Milan. Carlo Bugatti, born February 1856 in Milan was himself the son of an architect and sculptor Giovanni Luigi Bugatti. Carlo received his training at the renown Milan Academy,
Brera and later the
Académie des Beaux-Arts in
Paris. His work was wide-ranging including silverware, textiles, ceramics, and musical instruments, but he is best remembered for his innovative furniture designs, shown first first in the 1888 Milan Fine Arts Fair.
[edit]Hungary
In contrast to Historicism,
Hungarian Art Nouveau is based on supposed national architectural characteristics.
Ödön Lechner (1845–1914), the most important person of Hungarian Art Nouveau, was inspired initially by
Indian and Syrian architecture, and later by traditional Hungarian decorative designs. In this manner, he created an original synthesis of architectural styles. Disusing the style of Lechner, yet being inspired by his method, the group of 'Young People' (Fiatalok), which included
Károly Kós and Dezső Zrumeczky, applied the characteristic structures and forms of traditional Hungarian architecture, especially the Transylvanian vernacular. Besides the two principal styles, Hungarian architecture also displays local versions of trends originating from other European countries. The
Vienna Secession, the German
Jugendstil, Art Nouveau from Belgium and France, and the influence of English and Finnish architecture are all represented in the buildings constructed at the beginning of the 20th century.
Béla Lajta initially adopted Lechner's style, subsequently adopting English and Finnish trends; after developing an interest in the Egyptian style, he finally developed a modern architectural style.
Aladár Árkay did almost the same.
István Medgyaszay developed his own style, which differed from Lechner's, using stylised traditional motifs to create decorative designs in concrete. For applied arts, those mainly responsible for promoting the spread of Art Nouveau were the School and
Museum of Applied Arts, which opened during 1896.
The
Casa Batlló, already built in 1877, was remodelled in the Barcelona manifestation of Art Nouveau,
modernisme, by Antoni Gaudí and
Josep Maria Jujolduring 1904–1906
In Spain, the style was based mainly in
Barcelona and was an essential element of the Catalan
Modernisme. Architect
Antoni Gaudí, whose decorative architectural style is so personal that he is sometimes considered as practising an artistic style different from Art Nouveau, nonetheless uses Art Nouveau's floral and organic forms.
[30] His designs from about 1903, the
Casa Batlló (1904–1906) and
Casa Milà (1906–1908), are most closely related to the stylistic elements of Art Nouveau.
[31] However, famous structures such as the
Sagrada Familia characteristically contrast the modernising Art Nouveau tendencies with revivalist
Neo-Gothic.
[31] Besides the dominating presence of Gaudí,
Lluís Domènech i Montaner also used Art Nouveau in Barcelona in buildings such as the
Casa Lleó Morera (1905).
[31] Another major art nouveauist was
Josep Maria Jujol.
[edit]Prague and the Czech lands
Alphonse Mucha used the style in
Prague and
Moravia (part of the modern
Czech Republic); his style of Art Nouveau became associated with the so-called
Czech National Revival.
Fin de siècle sections of Prague reveal modest buildings encrusted with images of leaves and women that curve and swirl across the façades.
[32] Examples of Art Nouveau in the city, along with the exteriors of any number of private apartment and commercial buildings, are the
Municipal House, the Hotel Pariz, Smíchov Market Hall, Hotel Central, the windows in the St. Wenceslas Chapel at
St. Vitus Cathedral, the
main railway station, the Grand Hotel and the
Jubilee Synagogue. The
Olsany Cemetery and the
New Jewish Cemetery are also important examples of Art Nouveau.
[32] In Czech, Art Nouveau is known as Secese, a name adopted from the Austrian term "Secessionism".
Art Nouveau architecture was popular in
Riga, the capital of
Latvia, during the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – about 40% of the buildings from this time were built in this style.
[33] Several substyles formed during this period. Early elements of the new style were added to
Eclecticarchitecture forming "Eclectic" Art Nouveau. "Decorative" Art Nouveau refers to style using only decorative elements of the Art Nouveau; the first such building was built during 1899, however by 1906 decorative styles had become unfashionable.
[34] Therefore the decorative style is not very widespread in Riga.
[33] Most popular style in Riga is known as "Romantic" Art Nouveau. Simplistic and modern in form, these buildings were decorated with elements from other historic styles and constitute about one-third of all buildings in central Riga. From 1905 to 1911, Latvian National Romantism maximised. While being a substyle of Art Nouveau, it copied forms of traditional architecture and incorporated traditional decorative elements.
[35] As Art Nouveau matured, emphasis on vertical lines became more popular, known as "Vertical" Art Nouveau, this style was most popular soon before
World War I.
[34] The center of Riga is now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in part for its Art Nouveau architecture.
[12]
Significant number of Art Nouveau structures is located also in other cities and towns of Latvia, including
Liepāja (hundreds of buildings),
Jūrmala (notable example – Dubulti Lutheran Church, 1907),
Daugavpils and others. The use of Art Nouveau outside urban centres has been rare, but there some exquisite examples such as Luznava manor house (eastern Latvia).
[edit]Central and Eastern Europe
The Polish style was centred in
Krakow and was part of the
Mloda Polska style.
Stanisław Wyspiański was the main Art Nouveau artist in Poland; his paintings, theatrical designs, stained glass, and building interiors are widely admired and celebrated in the National Museum in Kraków. Art Nouveau buildings survive in most Polish cities (
Łódź, Kraków), with the exception of Warsaw, where Communist authorities destroyed the few examples that survived the Nazi razing of the city on the grounds that the buildings were decadent.
[edit]Other areas
The spread of Art Nouveau (
Arte nova) in
Portugal, although delayed due to slowly developing industry, flourished in cities like
Oporto and
Aveiro, in which can be found numerous buildings influenced by European models, in particular by French architecture.
Although no significant artists in Australia are associated with Art Nouveau, many buildings in Australia were designed in the Art Nouveau style. In Melbourne, the Victorian Arts Society, Milton House, Melbourne Sports Depot,
Melbourne City Baths,
Conservatorium of Music and Melba Hall, Paston Building, and Empire Works Building all represent the Art Nouveau style.
Montevideo, in South America's
Rio de la Plata, offers a good example of the influence of the Art Nouveau style across the Atlantic. The style is very apparent in the architecture both of downtown and of the periphery of the city. Montevideo maintained intense communication with Paris, London, and Barcelona during Art Nouveau's heyday, when the city was also receiving massive immigration, especially from Italy and Spain. Those were also the years Montevideo developed the structure of its urban spaces, all of which factors help explain the widespread presence of Art Nouveau there.
[citation needed]
In the other side of the
Rio de la Plata, Buenos Aires still conserves some of its Art Nouveau architecture, also brought by Italian and Spanish immigrants, which developed the jugendstil (Edificio Otto Wulff, by Morten Ronnow, Danish), liberty (Casa de los Pavos Reales, by Virginio Colombo, Italian), modernisme (various buildings by Julián García Núñez, Spanish-Argentine) and Art Nouveau (Chile Hotel by Louis Dubois, French) varieties. Another Argentinean city where this architecture has been recently
[when?] protected is
Rosario, an important port on the
Paraná River.
[edit]Architecture
Art Nouveau is rarely so fully in control of architecture: doorway at place Etienne Pernet, 24 (
Paris 15e), 1905 Alfred Wagon, architect.
In architecture,
hyperbolas and
parabolas in windows, arches, and doors are common, and decorative
mouldings 'grow' into plant-derived forms. Like most design styles, Art Nouveau sought to harmonise its forms. The text above the Paris Metro entrance uses the qualities of the rest of the iron work in the structure.
[36]
Art Nouveau in architecture and interior design eschewed the eclectic revival styles of the 19th century. Though Art Nouveau designers selected and 'modernised' some of the more abstract elements of
Rococo style, such as
flame and
shell textures, they also advocated the use of very stylised organic forms as a source of inspiration, expanding the 'natural' repertoire to use
seaweed,
grasses, and insects.
[edit]Painting and graphic arts
Two-dimensional Art Nouveau pieces were painted, drawn, and printed in popular forms such as
advertisements,
posters,
labels, magazines, and the like.
Japanese wood-block prints, with their curved lines,
patterned surfaces, contrasting voids, and flatness of visual plane, also inspired Art Nouveau. Some line and curve patterns became graphic
clichés that were later found in works of artists from many parts of the world.
[edit]Sculpture
[edit]Ceramics
[edit]Objets d'art and other examples
Jewellery 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 jewellery had been on
gemstones, in particular on the diamond, and the jeweller or
goldsmith had been concerned principally with providing settings for their advantage. With Art Nouveau, a different type of jewellery emerged, motivated by the artist-designer rather than the jeweller as setter of precious stones.
The jewellers of Paris and
Brussels defined Art Nouveau in jewellery, and in these cities it achieved the most renown. Contemporary French critics were united in acknowledging that jewellery was undergoing a radical transformation, and that the French designer-jeweller-glassmaker
René Lalique was popularising the changes. Lalique glorified nature in jewellery, extending the repertoire to include new aspects of nature—such as
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 used the
Renaissance, with its works 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 subsidiary, used alongside less familiar materials such as moulded glass,
horn and
ivory.
-
Aperitif Mugnier,
Jules Cheret 1894 poster for the French aperitif
-
-
-
Louis Comfort Tiffany's 1890 window
Education.
[edit]Relationship with contemporary styles and movements
As an art style, Art Nouveau has affinities with the
Pre-Raphaelites and the
Symbolist styles, and artists like
Aubrey Beardsley,
Alphonse 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 appearance; and, unlike the
artisan-oriented
Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau artists readily used new materials, machined surfaces, and
abstraction in the service of pure design.
Art Nouveau did not negate machines, as the Arts and Crafts Movement did. For sculpture, the principal materials employed were glass and wrought iron, resulting in sculptural qualities even in architecture. Ceramics were also employed in creating editions of sculptures by artists such as
Auguste Rodin.
[38]
Art Nouveau architecture made use of many
technological innovations of the late 19th century, especially the use of exposed iron and large, irregularly shaped pieces of glass for architecture. By the start of
World War I, however, the stylised nature of Art Nouveau design—which was expensive to produce—began to be disused in favour of more streamlined, rectilinear
modernism, which was cheaper and thought to be more faithful to the plainer
industrial aesthetic that became
Art Deco.
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