Introduction To Art Nouveau

 

Art Nouveau, was an ornamental style of art that flourished between about 1890 and 1910 throughout Europe and the United States. Art Nouveau is characterized by its use of a long, sinuous, organic line and was employed most often in architecture, interior design, jewelry and glass design, posters, and illustration.

 It was a deliberate attempt to create a new style, free of the imitative historicism that dominated much of 19th-century art and design. About this time the term Art Nouveau was coined, in Belgium by the periodical L’Art Moderne to describe the work of the artist group Les Vingt and in Paris by S. Bing, who named his gallery L’Art Nouveau.

The style was called Jugendstil in Germany, Sezessionstil in Austria, Stile Floreale (or Stile Liberty) in Italy, and Modernismo (or Modernista) in Spain.

In England the style’s immediate precursors were the Aestheticism of the illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, who depended heavily on the expressive quality of organic line, and the Arts and Crafts movement of William Morris, who established the importance of a vital style in the applied arts.

On the European continent, Art Nouveau was influenced by experiments with expressive line by the painters Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The movement was also partly inspired by a vogue for the linear patterns of Japanese prints (ukiyo-e).

The distinguishing ornamental characteristic of Art Nouveau is its undulating asymmetrical line, often taking the form of flower stalks and buds, vine tendrils, insect wings, and other delicate and sinuous natural objects; the line may be elegant and graceful or infused with a powerfully rhythmic and whiplike force.

In the graphic arts the line subordinates all other pictorial elements—form, texture, space, and colour—to its own decorative effect.

 In architecture and the other plastic arts, the whole of the three-dimensional form becomes engulfed in the organic, linear rhythm, creating a fusion between structure and ornament. Architecture particularly shows this synthesis of ornament and structure; a liberal combination of materials—ironwork, glass, ceramic, and brickwork—was employed, for example, in the creation of unified interiors in which columns and beams became thick vines with spreading tendrils and windows became both openings for light and air and membranous outgrowths of the organic whole. This approach was directly opposed to the traditional architectural values of reason and clarity of structure.

There were a great number of artists and designers who worked in the Art Nouveau style. Some of the more prominent were the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who specialized in a predominantly geometric line and particularly influenced the Austrian Sezessionstil; the Belgian architects Henry van de Velde and Victor Horta, whose extremely sinuous and delicate structures influenced the French architect Hector Guimard, another important figure; the American glassmaker Louis Comfort Tiffany; the French furniture and ironwork designer Louis Majorelle; the Czechoslovakian graphic designer-artist Alphonse Mucha; the French glass and jewelry designer René Lalique; the American architect Louis Henry Sullivan, who used plantlike Art Nouveau ironwork to decorate his traditionally structured buildings; and the Spanish architect and sculptor Antonio Gaudí, perhaps the most original artist of the movement, who went beyond dependence on line to transform buildings into curving, bulbous, brightly coloured, organic constructions.

After 1910 Art Nouveau appeared old-fashioned and limited and was generally abandoned as a distinct decorative style. In the 1960s, however, the style was rehabilitated, in part, by major exhibitions organized at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1959) and at the Musée National d’Art Moderne (1960), as well as by a large-scale retrospective on Beardsley held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 1966. The exhibitions elevated the status of the movement, which had often been viewed by critics as a passing trend, to the level of other major Modern art movements of the late 19th century.

Currents of the movement were then revitalized in Pop and Op art. In the popular domain, the flowery organic lines of Art Nouveau were revived as a new psychedelic style in fashion and in the typography used on rock and pop album covers and in commercial advertising.

Art Nouveau Interior Design

 

Art Nouveau Interior Design is not for everyone. It’s a beautiful style which requires dedication to decorate with.

During the 19th century, interior design was very much about neoclassicism.

Historicism was the order of the day and art nouveau  arose as a reaction to traditional art styles.

Between 1890 and the mid-1910s, art nouveau interior decorating emerged in London and Paris and aimed to incorporate art and design into everyday living. Even functional objects were beautified and turned into works of art.

Art nouveau style was promoted at the 1910 Paris Exposition Universelle, although it was still considered to be quite avant-garde and revolutionary at the time. Those who had grown up during the Victorian age found the style too extravagant and overdone and were appalled by the over-elaborate nature of art nouveau.

Different art styles influenced art nouveau. From Celtic art to Japonism, art nouveau could be applied to many artistic aspects including architecture, decoration and fine art as well as jewelry, glassware, and illustrations.  Art nouveau furniture, as well as art nouveau postures, were popular forms of interior decoration.

The movement spread worldwide, although it took on different names in different countries, is known, for example as Stile Liberty in Italy, Jugendstil in Germany, Sezessionstil in Austria and as Tiffany style in America.

The iconic style of arts included floral motifs, elongated curving lines, strong linear shapes, and feminine silhouettes.  Like all art movements, nouveau has had fluctuations in popularity.  Art nouveau found itself out of favor by the 1920s when the Art Deco movement took hold, although it did see a brief resurgence in the 1960s.

What Is Art Nouveau Style?

Both elongated curves and linear shapes were a major part of the nouveau art. Charles Rennie Mackintosh was especially well known for his art nouveau designs in this period and many pieces of jewelry are produced to this day that is influenced by his design style.

 

Much of art nouveau design inspiration was taken from nature, with stylized flowers, spider webs and feathers heavily featured on wallpapers and furnishings. Styles were extravagant and decadent with iridescent glass and semi-precious gems making an appearance.

 

How To Get The Art Nouveau Interior Design Look

There are many ways to emulate art nouveau style decor in your modern home. Here are some ways to copy the look and turn your house into an art nouveau paradise:

 

Walls in Art Noveau Décor

Art Nouveau design typically uses colors which are muted and soft. Copy this style with a palette of grays, mustard yellows, browns, olives, and lilacs. Spectacularly patterned wallpapers were popular. Today, art nouveau designs may be a little excessive to use on every wall.

Instead, choose a similarly themed paper to create a feature wall and simply paint your other walls plain white. Alternatively, opt for a tiled look using white tiles interspersed with the oddly patterned tile to create an authentic feel.  Art nouveau colors should be repeated throughout the room.

Floors in Art Nouveau interior design

To authentically recreate the art nouveau period, you should go for a parquet floor or wood finish.

Lights in Art Nouveau home design

The art nouveau interior can be summed up by the Tiffany lamp. Spectacularly stained glass shades on a heavy bronze base are the iconic look of the period.

 

Art Nouveau Décor

Art nouveau decor should be decorative and ornamental. Furnishings can feature curved or straight lines growing upwards from the ground while doors can sport stained glass and leaf and stalk shaped leading.

This colorful glass is especially effective when used on cabinets, wardrobes, and mirrors and is reminiscent of the art nouveau era.

Art Nouveau’s Influences

Despite its similarities to the Arts and Crafts movement, art nouveau differed in that it thrived on the technological developments that made mass production of goods possible.

Whereas the Arts and Crafts movement was strongly against anything that was manufactured, art nouveau embraced it and used these products willingly.

Nevertheless, the principle of the beautiful design was the same in both movements and the stylish was strongly favored over the functional.

By the end of the First World War, however, technological advancements had begun to streamline manufacturing processes even further and led to the abandonment of art nouveau in favor of Art Deco which relied even more heavily on mass production.

Art nouveau has still left a lingering legacy in two major ways. Firstly, several 20th-century designers have been strongly influenced by the movement, including the Bauhaus design school in Germany and the De Stijl design movement in the Netherlands which are both advocates of integrated design. It has also left a legacy in the graphic art world with a lasting influence upon poster designs and the creation of art nouveau illustration.

Despite being a relatively short-lived movement, the art nouveau period has left us with a number of enduring monuments embodying its style. Because it bridged the design gap between 19th century Neoclassicism and the modernist style, some art nouveau monuments even on the UNESCO World Heritage list including the entire town center of the Latvian town Riga, where more than 750 art nouveau buildings were constructed in the art nouveau architectural style.

 

Art nouveau has left us with iconic imprints that can still be seen in interior decorating to this day. In its time, art nouveau style was considered to be revolutionary and therefore its popularity was boosted among those who wanted to appear to be following the latest trends.

Unfortunately, that popularity was short-lived as it developed a worldwide reputation for being too over-blown, exaggerated, lavish and above all, expensive.  Art nouveau movements died down.

Nevertheless, it is still possible to incorporate the beautiful and stylish features that are represented by art nouveau design into your modern home. Modern art nouveau combines the baroque touch with more modern features gives an exciting contemporary feel.

***********             ******************                   ******************

Art History Project: Date 19^th September, 2020

1.Based on the above notes, do your research on Art Nouveau and its influence on Interior Design and make your ppt.

2.ARTIST TO RESEARCH

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Research on his work with Architecture, Interiors and Art and create your research ppt.