Relationship with contemporary styles and movements

As an art movement, Art Nouveau has affinities with the Pre-Raphaelites and the Symbolist movement, 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 visual look; 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 the machine as the Arts and Crafts Movement did, but used it to its advantage. For sculpture, the principal materials employed were glass and wrought iron, leading to sculptural qualities even in architecture. Ceramics were also employed in creating editions of sculptures by artists such as Auguste Rodin.^[40]

Art Nouveau architecture 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. By the start of the First World War, however, the highly stylised nature of Art Nouveau design—which itself was expensive to produce—began to be dropped in favour of more streamlined, rectilinear modernism, which was cheaper and thought to be more faithful to the rough, plain, industrial aesthetic that became Art Deco.

Vase by Daum (c. 1900).

Chair designed by Henry Van de Velde for his house "Bloemenwerf" in Brussels.

"Majolikahaus" (det.) 1898 by Otto Wagner[41]

Bechstein Art Nouveau grand piano 1902 made for Julius Gütermann

Gallery

Building in Riga by Mikhail Eisenstein	Hôtel Ciamberlani in Brussels by Paul Hankar	House of the architect Peter Behrens on the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt	Building in Łódź by Gustaw Landau Gutenteger
The House with Chimaeras in Kiev by Vladislav Gorodetsky.	Casas del cuito building in Oviedo	Hungarian art nouveau: Palatul Prefecturii, 1907 (Târgu Mureş, Romania)	Cifrapalota, 1902 (Kecskemét, Hungary)
The centre of Ålesund, Norway, was rebuilt after a fire in 1904, much of it in Art Nouveau style.	Gresham Palace, in Budapest, Hungary	Kiskunfélegyháza, Hungary	Kecskemét
Budapest	Varna, Bulgaria	Katajanokka area (Helsinki, Finland)	Lucerna passage Prague
The Macca-Vilacrosse passage, Bucharest, Romania	Entrance door detail of the Villino Lampredi by Giovanni Michelazzi, Florence	Gümüşsu Palas in Istanbul, Turkey	Prešeren Square, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Objets d'art and other examples, Jewellery of the Art Nouveau

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, 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 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 at its heart. 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 looked back to 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 given subsidiary roles, used alongside less familiar materials such as moulded glass, horn and ivory.

The Peacock Skirt, by Aubrey Beardsley, (1892).

Aperitif Mugnier, Jules Cheret 1894 poster for the French aperitif

Ivan Bilibin's illustration to The Tale of the Golden Cockerel.

Poster of Maude Adams as Joan of Arc, by Alphonse Mucha, 1909

Glass

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

Ceramics

Louis Comfort Tiffany's 1890 window Education

Glass

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

Ceramics

Art nouveau Ceramics were influenced by the work of Japan. The development of high temperature (grand feu) porcelain with crystallized and matte glazes, with or without other decoration, is typical of these works. It was a period where lost techniques were rediscovered, such as the oxblood glaze, and entirely new methods were developed. Leading French potters include: Ernest Chaplet, Taxile Doat, Alexandre Bigot Adrien-Pierre Dalpayrat, Edmond Lachenal and Albert Dammouse

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 follows the qualities of the rest of the iron work in the structure.^[38]

Art Nouveau in architecture and interior design eschewed the eclectic revival styles 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, they also advocated the use of highly stylized organic forms as a source of inspiration, expanding the 'natural' repertoire to embrace seaweed, grasses, and insects.

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 all parts of the world.

Other areas Art Nouveau

Other areas

Italy's Stile Liberty reflected the modern design emanating from the Liberty & Co store, a sign both of Art Nouveau's commercial aspect and the 'imported' character that it always retained in Italy.

The spread of Art Nouveau in Portugal suffered a delay due to slowly developing industry, although the movement flourished. especially in cities like Oporto and Aveiro, in which can be found numerous buildings influenced by European models, particularly by French architecture.

Art Nouveau was also popular in the Nordic countries, where it became integrated with the National Romantic Style. Good examples are the neighbourhoods of Katajanokka and Ullanlinna in Helsinki, Finland, as well as the Helsinki Central railway station, designed by the architect Eliel Saarinen. As in Germany, Jugendstil is the prevailing term used for the style. The Norwegian coastal town of Ålesund burned to the ground in 1904, and was rebuilt in a uniform Jugendstil architecture, kept more or less intact up to today.

Although no significant artists in Australia are linked to the Art Nouveau movement, many buildings throughout 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 reflect the Art Nouveau style.

Modernisme building by Argentine architect Julián García Núñez

Montevideo, in South America's Rio de la Plata, offers a striking example of the influence of the Art Nouveau movement 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 key 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 in the Paraná River.

Latvia Art Nouveau

A decorative Art Nouveau building in Riga by Mikhail Eisenstein

Art Nouveau architecture was popular in Riga, the capital of Latvia, in late 19th century and the beginning of 20th century - about 40% of the buildings from this time period were built in this style.^[35] Several substyles formed during this period. Early on elements of the new style were added to Eclectic architecture forming "Eclectic" Art Noveau. "Decorative" Art Noveau refers to style making use only of decorative elements of the Art Noveau, first such building was built in 1899, however by 1906 decorative styles had become unfashionable.^[36] Therefore the decorative style is not very widespread in Riga.^[35] Most popular style in Riga is known as "Romantic" Art Noveau - simplistic and modern in form, these buildings were decorated with elements from other historic styles and constitute about one third of all buildings in the central Riga. From 1905-1911 Latvian National Romantism peaked - while being a substyle of Art Noveau it attempted to copy forms of traditional architecture and incorporated traditional decorative elements.^[37] As the Art Noveau matured emphisis on vertical lines became more popular, known as "Vertical" Art Noveau this style was most popular shortly before the WWI.^[36] The center of Riga is now designated as UNESCO World Heritage site in part for its Art Noveau architecture.

Prague and the Czech lands Art Nouveau

The influence of Alphonse Mucha was felt in Prague and Moravia (part of the modern Czech Republic), whose style of Art Nouveau became associated with the Czech National Revival. Fin de siècle sections of Prague reveal modest buildings encrusted with leaves and ladies that curve and swirl across the façades.^[34] 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.^[34] In Czech, Art Nouveau is known as Secese

Hungary Art Nouveau

Church of St. Elisabeth in Bratislava, by Ödön Lechner.

Budapest, Museum of Applied Arts

Szeged, Hungary REÖK Palace

In contrast to Historicism, Hungarian Art Nouveau is based on supposed national architectural characteristics. Ödön Lechner (1845–1914), the most important figure in Hungarian Art Nouveau, was initially inspired by Indian and Syrian architecture, and later by traditional Hungarian decorative designs. In this way, he created an original synthesis of architectural styles. Turning away from the style of Lechner, yet taking inspiration from his approach, 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, to achieve the same end. Besides the two principal styles, Hungarian archiecture also displays local versions of trends originating from other European countries. The Sezession from Vienna, the German Jugendstil, Art Nouveau from Belgium and France, and the influence of English and Finnish architecture are all reflected in the buildings constructed at the turn of the 20th century. Béla Lajta initially adopted Lechner's style, subsequently drawing his inspiration from English and Finnish trends; after developing an interest in the Egyptian style, he finally arrived at modern architecture. Aladár Árkay took almost the same route. István Medgyaszay developed his own style, which differed from Lechner's, using stylised traditional motifs to create decorative designs in concrete. In the sphere of applied arts, those chiefly responsible for promoting the spread of Art Nouveau were the School and Museum of Decorative Arts, which opened in 1896

Spain Art Nouveau

The Casa Batlló, already built in 1877, was remodelled in the Barcelona manifestation of Art Nouveau, modernisme, by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol in 1904–1906

In Spain, the movement was centred in Barcelona and was an essential element of the Catalan movement Modernisme. Architect Antoni Gaudí, whose decorative architectural style is so highly personal that he is sometimes seen as practising an artistic language separate from Art Nouveau, is nonetheless united with the movement by his use of floral and organic forms.^[32] His designs from around 1903, the Casa Batlló (1904–1906) and Casa Milà (1906–1908), are most closely related to the stylistic elements of Art Nouveau.^[33] However, famous structures such as the Sagrada Familia characteristically contrast the modernising Art Nouveau tendencies with revivalist Neo-Gothic.^[33] Besides the dominating presence of Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner also explored the Art Nouveau language in Barcelona in buildings such as the Casa Lleó Morera (1905).^[33] Another key figure is Josep Maria Jujol.

Britain art nouveau

The Edward Everard building in Bristol, England

In the United Kingdom, Art Nouveau developed out of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The first stirrings of an Art Nouveau "movement" can be recognized in the 1880s, in a handful of 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 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 patterns of High Victorian design. The most important centre in Britain eventually became Glasgow, with the creations of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his circle.

Other notable British Art Nouveau designers include Walter Crane, Arthur Lasenby Liberty, Charles Ashbee and Aubrey Beardsley.^[5]

The Edward Everard building in Bristol, built in 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.

Malta art nouveau

Malta

The Balluta Buildings

The stunning art nouveau Balluta Buildings are apartment buildings on the eastern shore of the Balluta Bay. It is situated on the northeast coast of Malta within St. Julian's.

German Art Nouveau

The villa Schutzenberger in Strasbourg, now seat of the European Audiovisual Observatory, was built 1897-1900 by Berninger & Krafft and is considered a superb example of Jugendstil style.^[31]

German Art Nouveau is commonly known 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 movement was centred in Hamburg and was an essential element of the German movement. Within the field of Jugendstil art, there is a variety of different methods, applied by the various individual artists. Methods range from classic to romantic. One feature that sets Jugendstil apart is the typography used, whose letter and image combination 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.

Henry Van de Velde, who worked most of his career in Germany, was a Belgian theorist who influenced many others to continue in this style of graphic art including Peter Behrens, Hermann Obrist and Richard Riemerschmid. August Endell is another notable Art Nouveau designer.^[5]

Magazines were important in spreading the visual idiom of Jugendstil, especially the graphical qualities. Besides Jugend, other important ones were the satirical Simplicissimus and Pan.