Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau (French for "new art") is an art and design style 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, named for the snappy avant-garde periodical Jugend ('Youth') or "Sezessionstil" in Vienna, where forward-looking artists and designers seceded from the mainstream salon exhibitions, to exhibit on their own in more congenial surroundings.

Character of Art Nouveau

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.

Related Topics:
Hyperbola - Parabola

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As an art movement it has affinities with the Pre-Raphaelites and the Symbolism 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.

Related Topics:
Pre-Raphaelites - Symbolism - Aubrey Beardsley - Alfons Mucha - Edward Burne-Jones - Gustav Klimt - Jan Toorop

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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.

Related Topics:
Victorian era - Rococo

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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.

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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.

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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, and etc. (See Hierarchy of genres.)

Related Topics:
Architecture - Interior design - Jewellery - Hierarchy of genres

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Art Nouveau is viewed as a forerunner of innovative cultural movements of the 20th century, such as expressionism, cubism, surrealism, and Art Deco.

Related Topics:
Cultural movement - 20th century - Expressionism - Cubism - Surrealism - Art Deco

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