Art nouveau /ɑʀ nuvo/ (French for "new art") is a style in art, architecture and design that peaked in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. Other, more localized terms for the cluster of self-consciously radical, somewhat mannered reformist chic that formed a prelude to 20th-century modernism, included Jugendstil in Germany and the Netherlands, named for the avant-garde periodical Jugend ('Youth'), Młoda Polska ('Young Poland' style), or Sezessionsstil ('Secessionism') in Vienna, where forward-looking artists and designers seceded from the mainstream salon exhibitions, to exhibit on their own work in more congenial surroundings.

In Russia, the movement revolved around the art magazine Mir iskusstva ('World of Art'), which spawned the revolutionary Ballets Russes. In Italy, Stile Liberty was named for the London shop, Liberty & Co, which distributed modern design emanating from the Arts and Crafts movement, a sign both of the Art Nouveau's commercial aspect and the "imported" character that it always retained in Italy.

In Catalonia, the movement was centred in Barcelona and was known as modernisme, with Antoni Gaudí as the most noteworthy practitioner. Art Nouveau was also a force in Eastern Europe, with the influence of Alfons Mucha in Prague and Moravia (part of the modern Czech Republic) and Latvian Romanticism (Riga, the capital of Latvia, is home to over 800 Art Nouveau buildings). The entrances to the Paris Metro designed by Hector Guimard in 1899 and 1900 are famous examples of Art Nouveau.

History of Art Nouveau

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Though Art Nouveau climaxed in the years 1892 to 1902, the first stirrings of an Art Nouveau can be recognized in the 1880s, in a handful of progressive designs such as the architect-designer Arthur Mackmurdo's often-illustrated bookcover design for his essay on the city churches of Sir Christopher Wren, published in 1883. Some free-flowing wrought iron from the 1880s could also be adduced, or some flat floral textile designs, most of which owed some impetus to vegetal-derived patterns of High Victorian design.

The name "Art Nouveau" derived from the name of a shop in Paris, Maison de l'Art Nouveau, at the time run by Samuel Bing, that showcased objects that followed this approach to design.

A high point in the evolution of Art Nouveau was the Universal Exposition of 1900 in Paris, in which the "modern style" triumphed in every medium. It probably reached its apogee, however, at the 1902 Turin Exposition in Italy, where designers exhibited from almost every European country where Art Nouveau flourished. Ironically, Art Nouveau made use of many technological innovations of the late 19th century, especially the broad use of exposed iron and large, irregularly-shaped pieces of glass in architecture, but by the start of the First World War the highly stylized nature of Art Nouveau design — which itself was expensive to produce — began to be dropped in favor of more streamlined, simply rectilinear modernism that was cheaper and thought to be more faithful to the rough, plain industrial aesthetic.

Character of Art Nouveau

thumb, (1904). Entrance to the Creation exhibit.]]

Dynamic, undulating and flowing, curved "whiplash" lines of syncopated rhythm characterize much of Art Nouveau. Another feature is usage of hyperbolas and parabolas. Conventional moldings seem to spring to life and "grow" into plant-derived forms.

As an art movement it has affinities with the Pre-Raphaelites and the Symbolism (arts) movement, and artists like Aubrey Beardsley, Alfons Mucha, Edward Burne-Jones, Gustav Klimt, and Jan Toorop could be classed in more than one of these styles. Unlike Symbolist painting, however, Art Nouveau has a distinctive visual look; and unlike the backwards-looking Pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau artists quickly used new materials, machined surfaces, and abstraction in the service of pure design.
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right in Mexico City.]]

Art Nouveau in architecture and interior design eschewed the eclectic historicism of the Victorian era. Though Art Nouveau designers selected and "modernized" some of the more abstract elements of Rococo style, such as flame and shell textures, in place of the historically-derived and basically tectonic or realistic naturalistic ornament of high Victorian styles, Art Nouveau advocated the use of highly-stylized nature as the source of inspiration and expanded the "natural" repertoire to embrace seaweed, grasses, and insects. Correspondingly organic forms, curved lines, especially floral or vegetal, and the like, were used.

Japanese wood-block prints with their curved lines, patterned surfaces and contrasting voids, and flatness of their picture-plane, also inspired Art Nouveau. Some line and curve patterns became graphic clichés that were later found in works of artists from all parts of the world.

Art Nouveau did not negate the machine, as other movements such as the Arts and Crafts Movement, but used it to an advantage. For sculpture the principle materials employed were glass and wrought iron, leading to sculpturesque quality even in architecture.

Art Nouveau is considered a "total" style, meaning that it encompasses a hierarchy of scales in design — architecture, interior design, jewellery, furniture and textile design, utensils and art objects, lighting, etc. (See Hierarchy of genres.)

Art Nouveau media

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2-dimensional Art Nouveau pieces were painted, drawn, and quite popular in printed material like advertising, posters, labels, magazines and the like.

Glass making was an area in which the style found tremendous expression — for example, the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York and Émile Gallé and the Daum brothers in Nancy, France.

Jewelry of the Art Nouveau period revitalised the jeweller's art, with nature as the principal source of inspiration, complemented by new levels of virtuosity in enamelling and the introduction of new materials, such as opals and semi-precious stones. The widespread interest in Japanese art and the more specialised enthusiasm for Japanese metalworking skills, fostered new themes and approaches to ornament.

For the previous two centuries the emphasis in fine jewelry had been on gemstones, particularly on the diamond, and the jeweller or goldsmith had been principally concerned with providing settings for their advantage. With Art Nouveau, a different type of jewelry emerged, motivated by the artist-designer rather than the jeweller as setter of precious stones.

thumb. Demon Seated in a Garden, 1890]]

The jewellers of Paris and Brussels created and defined Art Nouveau in jewelry, and in these cities it achieved the most renown. Contemporary French critics were united in acknowledging that jewelry was undergoing a radical transformation, and that the French designer-jeweller René Lalique was at its heart. Lalique glorified nature in jewelry, extending the repertoire to include new aspects of nature — dragonflies or grasses — inspired by his encounter with Japanese art.

The jewellers were keen to establish the new style in a noble tradition, and for this they looked back to the Renaissance, with its jewels of sculpted and enamelled gold, and its acceptance of jewellers as artists rather than craftsmen. In most of the enamelled work of the period precious stones receded. Diamonds were usually given subsidiary roles, used alongside less familiar materials such as moulded glass, horn and ivory.

Geographical scope of Art Nouveau

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Centers of the style are:

Noted Art Nouveau artists

Architecture

right exhibits Hector Guimard's only surviving enclosed edicule of the Paris Métro.]]

* Émile André (1871-1933)
* Georges Biet (1868-1955)
* Paul Charbonnier (1865-1953)
* Raimondo Tommaso D'Aronco (1857-1932)
* Mikhail Eisenstein (1867 - 1921),
* August Endel (1871-1925)
* Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926)
* Victor Horta (1861-1947)
* Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956)
* Hector Guimard (1867-1942)
* Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)
* Louis Sullivan (1856-1924)
* Eugène Vallin (1856-1922)
* Fyodor Shekhtel (1859-1926)
* Henry Van de Velde (1863-1957)
* Otto Wagner (1841-1918)
* Lucien Weissenburger (1860-1929)
* Marian Peretiatkovich (1872-1916)

Drawing, Graphics

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* Valentin Serov (1865-1911)
* Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898)
* Gaston Gerard (1878-1969)
* Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939)
* Alfons Mucha (1860-1939)
* Edvard Munch (1863-1944)
* Konstantin Somov (1869-1939)
* Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
* Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (1876-1942)
* Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947)
* Léon Bakst (1866-1924)

Furniture

* Carlo Bugatti (1856-1940)
* Eugène Gaillard (1862-1933)
* Louis Majorelle (1859-1926)
* Henry van de Velde (1863-1957)
* Antonio Gaudi 1852-1926-http://www.gaudidesigner.com/

Glassware and Stained glass

* Daum Frères -- Auguste Daum (1853-1909) and Antonin Daum (1864-1930)
* Émile Gallé (1846-1904)
* Jacques Gruber (1870-1936)
* René Lalique (1860-1945)
* Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933)
* Stanisław Wyspiański (1869-1907)

Other decorative arts

* Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942)
* William Bradley (1868-1962)
* Jules Brunfaut (1852-1942)
* Auguste Delaherche (1857-1940)
* Georges de Feure (1868-1928)
* Hermann Obrist (1863-1927)
* Philippe Wolfers (1858-1929)

Murals and mosaics

* Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910)
* Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
* Antoni Gaudi and Alfons Mucha

External links

*Réseau Art Nouveau Network , a European network of Art Nouveau cities.
*Europa 1900 , a worldwide, collaborative archive for sharing texts and photos related to art nouveau
*Brussels Capital of Art Nouveau , History, artists, tours, pictures, links all about Art Nouveau in Brussels
*The Art Nouveau in Brussels , only available in French, with pictures of Art Nouveau buildings
*Art Nouveau World Wide , the most complete site with texts and links
*LE CERCLE GUIMARD - The association for the protection and the promotion of the work of Hector Guimard
*lartnouveau.com Artists and their works in Paris, Nancy and in Europe
*Art Nouveau - Museumsportal Schleswig-Holstein
*Art Nouveau Architecture in Georgia
*Art Nouveau 1890-1914 The best ever exhibition on Art Nouveau
*1900 architecture Short guide about Art Nouveau / Art Deco architecture (in various countries)
*Art Nouveau
Category:Modern art
Category:Architectural styles
Category:French phrases

nrm:Art Nouvé