Art Nouveau is an architectural and design style developed in the late nineteenth century as part of an aesthetic movement to liberate design from historicism and pastiche, which had dominated 19th-century decorative arts.
This movement advocated an expansive vision of design and the reintegration of the fine arts with more practical aspects of everyday life. Additionally, it sought to elevate the status of artisans and integrate them into modern society.
Origins
Art Nouveau is an artistic movement that emerged in the late 19th century, popularly credited to French artists but actually spread throughout Europe.
The movement was largely an outcry against the hyper-industrialization of Europe in the late 19th century, which seemed to have taken away true craftsmanship and originality in design. This resulted in a new style of architecture and art that combined traditional techniques with luxurious, sensual pieces.
Origins of modern design can be traced back to two primary influences: the British Arts and Crafts movement, which valued high standards of craftsmanship over Victorian-era decorative art; and Japanese wood block print craze that captured many European artists during this time. Both styles featured natural forms and shapes as well as “whiplash” curves – highly stylized lines that suggest motion.
Art Nouveau movement
In addition to introducing these elements to European art, the Art Nouveau movement also popularized glass and wrought iron sculpture. These materials, which were relatively unknown at its inception, evoked nature’s organic qualities in sculpture and allowed artists to craft stunning objects that truly showcased beauty.
John Ruskin was another major influence on the growth of Art Nouveau in Britain. A British art critic, Ruskin advocated for an integrated approach to all arts and sought reform through art.
Thus, many artists in this movement adopted the ideas of Ruskin and his predecessors – Viollet-le-Duc and the Gothic Revival movement. It is this unified approach to design that made Art Nouveau so successful; its distinctive combination of ornamentation and craftsmanship still finds a home today in both interiors and furniture designs.
Beyond the visual arts, Art Nouveau had a major influence on architecture as well. Urban centers such as Paris, Brussels, Glasgow and Turin as well as smaller cities like Nancy or Darmstadt saw this movement take hold in large scale with buildings ranging from row houses to large institutional and commercial structures.
Influence
Art Nouveau formed from a convergence of various artistic movements in response to 19th century designs that heavily influenced by historicism and neoclassicism. Artists saw no distinction between art and craft, creating beautiful decorative pieces that challenged traditional hierarchy between ‘great’ fine art (painting and sculpture) and ‘lesser’ decorative art (furniture and household items).
The style heavily influenced by the flood of Japanese art that arrived in Europe after new trading rights granted to Japan during the 1860s. Particularly, wood-block prints featuring floral and bowed forms as well as whiplash curves had a major influence on this style.
Symbolism was an influential force within Art Nouveau, best illustrated in the work of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt (1907), whose iconic works include his erotically charged The Kiss (1907).
Art Nouveau design
This artwork showcases sensual curves and lines typical of Art Nouveau design. The painting’s eroticism further highlighted by its use of gold throughout and flattened form.
Walter Crane was another artist heavily influenced by Art Nouveau style, creating textiles and wallpapers that became iconic worldwide. As a pioneer of poster art, his colour lithograph of Hau Champagne serves as an excellent example of how he used flat areas of color to create sophisticated yet elegant designs.
Art Nouveau designs once mostly found in high-end homes, but can now seen in many everyday objects and buildings. Perfume bottles, jewellery and patterned fabrics all bear witness to this style as do floral wallpapers, parquet flooring and stained-glass panels.
The Art Nouveau style had a brief but profound influence on modern art. Renowned designers such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Georges Fouquet and Rene Lalique used this aesthetic to seamlessly merge glassmaking and jewellery-making techniques – an achievement unparalleled in either field.
Art Nouveau Symbolism
Symbolism was an art movement that stressed the significance of shapes, lines, colors and tones as opposed to Impressionism. It utilized abstract, suggestive forms in order to convey cognitive truth and believed there was a spiritual reality behind the physical world. Symbolist artists frequently influenced by literary Romanticism, Gothic Horror and Transcendentalism.
In the late 19th century, many artists became interested in exploring personal symbols, fantasies and ideas as a means of expression and escape from daily stressors. This trend reflected social and moral upheaval of that time. Symbolists found inspiration from myths, biblical tales, fairy tales as well as personal beliefs.
They also created works that were more abstract, often employing wide strokes of unmodulated color to convey a flat and ambiguous form. Art seen by them as the means to transcend both material and spiritual realms and reach into one’s subconscious.
In France, Gustave Moreau and Odilon Redon were two prominent Symbolist artists. Moreau used his artwork as a way of expressing Romanticism and the exotic. Additionally, his thoughts heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud’s theories, which would later influence many other Symbolists as well.
Symbolist artists
Some Symbolist artists painted with a figurative style, creating scenes that combined symbolism and realism. These artworks often explored topics such as erotism, sexuality, fear and death.
Paul Gauguin was another influential figure in Symbolist painting. His pieces often featured imagery drawn from the Bible and mythology, providing him with opportunities to explore religious symbolism. Additionally, he painted several nocturnal works featuring figures from dreams or visions.
He developed his own language of symbols and motifs that inspired by Symbolist art. His paintings had a beautiful lyricism, with vibrant hues.
Symbolism was an influential element of Art Nouveau, an early Twentieth Century artistic movement that rejected realism in favor of aesthetics. It formed part of the larger debate between materialism and idealism and sought to create a “total work of art” that would incorporate every aspect of society. Symbolism gained popularity throughout Europe from the 1880s until World War I broke out.
Art Nouveau Styles
Art Nouveau was an influential style that permeated all areas of design, from furniture to clothing. It had a powerful aesthetic impact and seen as a spiritually elevating Gesamtkunstwerk–or “total work of art.”
Art Nouveau characterized by its use of flowing lines, often inspired by natural forms like tree branches, flower stems and coastline. These sometimes referred to as “whiplash lines” due to their sharp and sudden curves.
The Art Nouveau movement emerged as a reaction to the growing industrialization of Europe and its emphasis on mass production at the expense of traditional craftsmanship. Artists and designers sought to unify all disciplines of art and craft into one style that would reflect modern technology and industrial innovation.
Many of the artists responsible for developing modernism – such as Aubrey Beardsley, Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec – took inspiration from nature and human figures. They employed expressive lines to convey sensual messages while celebrating femininity and sexuality.
Japanese woodblock prints
Some Art Nouveau pieces featured floral decorations inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. These floral patterns were similar to the floral designs popular during the Arts and Crafts movement.
Art Nouveau artists employed curved lines and figural elements to express ideas about life, love, and the natural world. These elements combined with asymmetric shapes and other abstract designs to create an original style.
The style was born out of a response to both the rigid, cold lines of historical art, which had been dominating art education from the 17th century on, and harsh living conditions and soulless products produced by industrialization. The final outcome sought to embrace all these contradictions while remaining extraordinary but never frivolous.
Art Nouveau was known by various names throughout Europe, such as Jugendstil (German), Sezessionstil (Austrian), Stile Floreale (Italian) and Modernismo (Spanish). In Germany it heavily influenced by the Viennese Secessionists, while in England and Ireland it was associated with Glasgow School of Art.
Recommended readings:
- What is Aesthetics?
- What Is Symbolism?
- What is Beauty?
- What Is Drama?
- The History and Symbolism of Halloween
