Design History Society

Review
Reviewed Work(s): Art Nouveau 1890-1914 by Paul Greenhalgh; Prague 1900: Poetry and
Ecstasy by Edwin Becker, Roman Prahl and Petr Wittlich
Review by: Rebecca Houze
Source: Journal of Design History, Vol. 15, No. 2 (2002), pp. 117-120
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of Design History Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3527202
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Journal of Design History Vol. 15 No. 2 ( 2002 The Design History Society. All rights reserved

Reviews

Art Nouveau 1890-1914 focuses on the interrelationship of artistic, literary

Paul Greenhalgh (ed.). V&A Publications, and political currents in the development of Czech
2000.
modernism,
496 pp., 507 illus., 407 colour plates. /40 cloth. arguing that Prague artists sought to
ISBN 0810942194. recover a mystical Bohemian history in their struggle
against Austro-Hungarian domination. Both cata-
Prague 1900: Poetry and Ecstasy logues are welcome additions to the history of dec-
orative
Edwin Becker, Roman Prahl and Petr Wittlich arts, with many new illustrations of objects as
(eds.).
Reaktion (in conjunction with the Van Gogh Museum,bibliographies of primary and secondary
well as rich
sources. Together these books assert the importance
Amsterdam, Museum of Applied Art, Frankfurt-am-Main
and Waanders Uitgevers, Zwolle), 2000. 224 and prevalence
pp., illus. of ornament at the turn of the century.
/35 cloth. ISBN 9040093911. Art Nouveau 1890-1914 is divided into three
sections: 'The Creation of Meaning', 'The Material
of Invention', and 'The Metropolis and the
Two beautifully illustrated catalogues of recent
exhibitions on the decorative arts, Art Nouveau Designer', with a compelling introduction and con
1890-1914 (Victoria & Albert Museum, London, clusion by the exhibition's organizer, Paul Green-
National Gallery, Washington, DC, 2000) and halgh. The first of these sections outlines Ar
Prague 1900: Poetry and Ecstasy (Van GoghNouveau's sources in the nineteenth century-espe
Museum, Amsterdam, Museum of Applied Art,cially its debt to the Symbolist movement, evolu
Frankfurt-am-Main, Waanders Uitgevers, Zwolle, tionary biology and the exoticism of Europea
1999-2000), re-examine the role of design in the contact with North Africa, Indonesia and Japa
formation of a modern cultural identity at the turneach of which are convincingly represented in th
of the century. Until recently, Art Nouveau had beencatalogue. (One of the most striking examples is th
largely excluded from the history of modern art andcomparison of a glass flask by Tiffany & Co. (1896) t
architecture as an aberration-an irrational, feminine,two virtually identical contemporary Persian flasks
decorative, commercial style against which rationalthe same type.) The second section, 'The Materials
purists such as Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier reacted.1 Invention', emphasizes that Art Nouveau was, abov
But now, at the turn of the twenty-first century, many all, a movement in the decorative arts, and sugges
scholars have begun to reassess the popular and dec- that artists discovered new forms in the possibilities
orative aspects of visual culture.2 As these catalogues craft media, such as embroidery, wrought iron an
demonstrate, Art Nouveau was not simply the fashion-blown glass. The broad range of essays in the fin
able application of curvilinear ornament to architec-section, 'The Metropolis and the Designer', reflec
ture, advertisements and furnishings. Rather, it was a the paradox of Art Nouveau (alternatively known
meaningful strategy for coming to terms with the Jugendstil, Secession or Stile Floreale) as a cosmopo
paradoxes of moder life. Designers sought to invent litan style that simultaneously conveyed nationalis
a new style, independent of the historicist revivals ofideas. This structure is useful. It allows the reader to
the nineteenth century, which could incorporate all engage with Art Nouveau from several different
aspects of living into agesamtkunstwerk-a total work ofpoints of view-political and economic as well as
art. This artistic approach addressed the physical dwell-formal and art historical. The organization of the
ing space as well as the emotional and psychologicalcatalogue also complements the display of objects in
dimensions of living in modern society. Washington and London, which were arranged to
Art Nouveau 1890-1914 presents a complex picture give the viewer a sense of Art Nouveau's historical
of modernity at the turn of the century, in which precedents and distinctly urban character.
aesthetic style was shaped by the confrontation of The strength of Art Nouveau 1890-1914 is its
urbanism, international commerce and technology persuasive argument, illustrated vith numerous ex-
with local craft and folk traditions. Prague 1900amples in large colour plates, that this new aesthetic

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 Reviews

Emile Galle and the Daum Freres (1896-1905), to the

was able to synthesize the contradictory impulses that
plant-derived furniture designed by Louis Majorelle,
characterized modern life at the turn of the century.
Art Nouveau, the book shows, was at once decadent including his Orchidee Desk (c.1903) featured on the
and rejuvenating, decorative and functional, inter- jacket of the cloth edition of the catalogue. This part
national and nationalist. Rene Lalique's jewelled of the exhibition also included a number of exquisite
Dragonfly Woman (c. 1897-8), which illustrates the pieces of jewellery derived from highly detailed
cover of the paperback edition of the catalogue, biological illustration, many of which are presented
was one of the showpieces of the exhibition. This in Clare Phillips' chapter on 'Jewelry and the Art of
piece may be read, on the one hand, as an examplethe of Goldsmith'. The orchid hair ornament designed
fin-de-siecle decadence: the insect-woman hybrid by Philippe Wolfers (1902) is particularly spectacular.
emerges from the mouth of a taloned serpent, evok- Unfortunately the catalogue does not include an
ing erotic symbolist images of mythological creatures.illustration of the intriguing glass, wax and ceramic
Indeed, Lalique's jewellery-particularly his use'teaching'
of models of various plants and creatures that
precious stones and blue-green colours-was were displayed in the exhibition and are every bit as
described in the contemporary press as 'decadent',captivating as the refined products they inspired.
evoking the favourite colours of ancient Egypt and Greenhalgh writes further in his introductory
Byzantium.3 On the other hand, the Dragonflychapter, 'The Style and the Age', that Art Nouveau
Woman's exquisite filigree wings suggest the natural- first emerged in the 1890s as a linear style associated
istic detail of scientific illustration. The wingedwith several designers in London, Brussels and Paris,
woman, a pervasive Art Nouveau motif, representedincluding Aubrey Beardsley, Victor Horta and Henry
the rejuvenating metamorphosis of the natural world.van de Velde, but quickly spread to many urban
Winged insects, such as dragonflies and butterflies,centres, where it took on local dimensions, such as
were attractive to Art Nouveau designers because Vienna and Glasgow. Between 1900 and 1914, the
they symbolized the transformative biological lifestyle became widely known and discussed as the
cycle. Their showy colours and ephemeral nature
visual signifier of the 'modern' and of the thrill of
also made them common symbols of femininity and contemporary life. Art Nouveau thus occupied a dual
fashion in the nineteenth century. Lalique's brooch is
role. For many, Greenhalgh adds, 'the achievement
thus an intriguing example of the way in which Artof a distinct cultural identity was synonymous with
Nouveau embodied contradictory characteristics, andthe embracing of modernity' (p. 31). The essays in
must be understood as a style that resists straightfor-Part IV, 'The Metropolis and the Designer', are
ward interpretation. In his introduction to the cata-
assembled to support this view; they include but
logue, Greenhalgh writes: 'The contradictions point move beyond the familiar topics of Paris, Brussels,
to the fact that this was a multi-faceted, complexVienna, Munich and Glasgow to explore the emer-
phenomenon that defied-then and now-anygence of the new style in Barcelona, Budapest,
attempt to reduce it to singular meanings andPrague, Helsinki, Moscow and Turin. New York
moments' (p. 17). and Chicago represent the American manifestation of
Some of the most stunning objects in the exhibi-Art Nouveau in the chapters on Louis Sullivan and
tion were those exploring the theme of biology.
Louis Comfort Tiffany. These well-researched, in-
Many examples are discussed and illustrated informative articles are especially valuable. They will
Greenhalgh's chapter, 'The Cult of Nature', includ-interest the general reader as well as the informed art
ing pages from Ernst Haeckel's well-known manual,historian, and they contribute to a growing awareness
Kunstform der Nature. Haeckel's extraordinary illus-
of the expansive reaches of the style.
trations of sea creatures, plants and insects were The most thought-provoking and problematic
widely used by Art Nouveau designers to foster aspect of this book is its portrayal of Art Nouveau
their own biological imagery in a variety of media. as urban and individualistic. Although the structure of
These ranged from stylized floral patterns, such as thethe catalogue emphasizes the fashionable metropolis
lovely embroideries designed by Hermann Obrist as the primary site for Art Nouveau, many of the
(1895) described in Linda Parry's chapter on 'Theessays discuss the local and national identity of various
New Textiles', to the many organic glass wares by artists' groups that might even be understood as 'anti-

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 Reviews

modern' in their retreat from the city and from illustrations seem to tell a different story. An unmistak-
able resemblance must be noted between the beautiful
industry. The woven tapestries designed by Aladair
Korosfoi-Kriesch for the Godollo workshops near pendants designed by Eugen Pflaumer (c.1908), for
Budapest, for example, alluded to Hungarianexample,folk and contemporaneous works by the Vien-
traditions in a demonstration of national pride, nese
while Carl Otto Czeschka for the Wiener Werkstatte.
The Czech architectJan Kotera's chair for the Laichter
simultaneously asserting an international modernist
aesthetic. The fact that so many of the individual
house, from the same year, similarly reveals his rela-
tionship to both his Viennese contemporary, Josef
authors underline the significance of artists groups
such as those at G6odll6 raises questions about Hoffmann,
Art and Kotera's Viennese teacher, Otto
Nouveau as a distinctly urban phenomenon.Wagner.The Other objects in the exhibition indicate less
model Jugendstil artists' colony at Darmstadt,offor
a local specificity than a connection with contem-
poraneous Art Nouveau and Jugendstil in other cen-
instance, which was not a turn-of-the-century metro-
tres. Karl Babka's vase (c. 1900), for instance, strongly
polis but rather a small community, is only briefly
resembles Peter Behrens' well-known woodcut, The
mentioned in this catalogue. The fact that so many
Kiss
designers at the turn of the century embraced folk and (1899), illustrated in Art Nouveau 1890-1914.
These striking visual relationships do not neces-
craft traditions, especially in their often collaborative
sarily indicate that Prague was dependent on Vien-
designs for domestic interiors, indicates that many
nese
artists were actually responding to the urban environ- models; rather they convey a sense of
interdependence between Austrian and Bohemian
ment with ambivalence-negotiating a liveable space
within the parameters of modern society. traditions. One might just as easily read these
images as evidence of Prague's influence upon
Prague 1900 expands upon the discussion intro-
duced by Art Nouveau 1890-1914 by describingVienna. one One example of Czech nationalism to
place in which the tensions between modernist emerge in the decorative arts, according to Sylva
cosmopolitanism and nationalist struggles converged Petrova's essay, 'From Ecstatic Decoration to Indi-
vidual
to form a particular style in the visual arts as well as in Modernism: Applied Art 1897-1910', was the
music and literature. This catalogue contributesuse
to aof the native Bohemian garnet for jewellery
design. The elegant brooches produced by the
field that has historically overlooked Central Europe,
Turov Technical College (1900) and exemplified
with several essays by Czech scholars in English
by Josef Ladislav Nemec (1907) could be seen as
translation, and an extensive section of photographs
precedents for Josef Hoffmann's and Kolo Moser's
and biographies of Czech artists. The interdisciplinary
approach to the catalogue, with chapters on liter- manifesto, 'The Work-Programme of the Wiener
ature, music, applied art and the modern movement Werkstatte' (1905), in which the Viennese designers
extol the virtues of semi-precious stones in jewellery-
in painting, is characteristic of late twentieth-century
cultural studies, especially those focused onmaking.5
the The Wiener Werkstatte depended on the
intellectual and artistic flowering in Vienna around
long-established glass and textile manufacturing cen-
tres
1900.4 According to the authors of several essays in in Bohemia and Moravia. Many of Moser's
designs
the catalogue, Prague felt itself to be in the shadow of as well as those of his colleagues, such as
the more powerful capital of the Austro-Hungarian Otto Prutscher, were produced in Czech manufac-
empire, and at the end of the nineteenth century turies like Johann Loetz Witwe and Harrochov glass-
works. Glass-making techniques learned at the
struggled for the cultural and political independence
that Budapest had already achieved in 1867. Czech Prague School of Applied Arts were exchanged
modernism differed from its Viennese counterpart among
by students and teachers at the Vienna School
drawing out elements of Bohemian historyof Applied Arts and at international exhibitions. The
and
Vienna Museum for Art and Industry held annual
folklore, such as the stories illustrated in the interior
paintings of the Czech National Theatre (1867-
exhibits featuring student work not only from its own
1883), discussed by Roman Prahl in his chapter,
School of Applied Arts but also from other design and
'Between Salon and Secession' (p. 41). technical colleges throughout the empire, including
Whereas the essays in Prague 1900 emphasize
the Prague School of Applied Arts. This essay, which
Czech independence from Viennese models,begins
the to acknowledge Czech influence on the art of

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 Reviews

the Vienna Secession-through institutions and more complicated in its assessment of multiple
workshops-looks towards a future of fruitful cultural influences upon our need to live with
scholarship, which will reveal the importancethings.of In his concluding chapter, 'A Strange
Bohemian industry and education in the develop- Death', Greenhalgh writes: 'For designers at work
ment of Central European design. at our own fin-de-siecle there appears to be the
Both catalogues examine the role of objects aes-potential for the creation of a narrative-driven,
complex design idiom that might map onto our
thetically as well as sociologically, and demonstrate
own plural and ornate lifestyles' (p. 436). The
the way in which such things as furniture, advertise-
spectacular objects and intriguing essays assembled
ments and jewellery contributed to the political and
in these two catalogues attest to the fact that, a
economic dimensions of modern identity at the turn
century later, the ideological roots of Art Nouveau
of the century. Prague 1900 differs from Art Nouveau
continue to captivate us.
1890-1914 primarily in its inclusion of the traditional
'fine' arts-painting, sculpture and architecture-
Rebecca Houze
alongside decorative media such as glass, furniture,
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
jewellery, posters, book illustration and interior
design in a comprehensive treatment of Czech Notes
modernism that also addresses poetry and music. Art
1 This view, canonized by Nikolaus Pevsner's book, Pioneers of t
Nouveau's place in Czech modernism emerges fromModern Movement (1936), may be seen, for example, in th
this collection of essays and objects as an integratedexhibition catalogue Vienna 1900: Art, Architecture and Design
Museum of Modem Art, New York, 1986, which assesses
stylistic and ideological movement that grew out of
Viennese design at the turn of the century as a chic, yet
nineteenth-century Symbolism, folklore and aca- ultimately marginal moment in the history of modem art.
demic painting. Prague artists absorbed these sources
2 Two recent general books on Art Nouveau that emphasize t
along with French Post-Impressionism to produce cultural significance of the movement include Stephen Escritt
Art Nouveau, Phaidon, London, 2000 and Jeremy Howard, Ar
their own imaginative, expressionistic, 'ecstatic' art,
Nouveau: International and National Styles in Europe, Manchester
exemplified by Jan Preisler's tryptich, Spring (1900),
University Press, Manchester and New York, 1996. Othe
painted for the interior ofJan Kotera's Peterka house
books that rigorously examine design at the turn of the century
on Wenceslas Square-Prague's first Art Nouveau
from psychological, sociological and economic points of view
include Debora Silverman, Art Nouveau in Fin-de-Siecle Franc
building. Petr Wittlich, in his essay, 'Towards a New
Politics, Psychology, and Style, University of California Pres
Synthesis', identifies this type of Czech modernism asBerkeley and Los Angeles, 1989; Leora Auslander, Taste an
'synthetic' in its ability to express the artist's emo-Power: Furnishing Modern France, University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1996; and Frederic Schwartz, Th
tional and perceptual experience with a visual lan- Werkbund: Design Theory & Mass Culture Before the First Worl
guage of colour and line (p. 87). In both cases the
War, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1996.
authors of these catalogues identify a turn-of-the-3 A typical anti-French response to the display of Lalique
century need to 'synthesize' the elements of moderjewellery at the Exposition Universelle was written, for ex
ample, by the editors of the journal Wiener Kunststickereien, vol. I,
life in order to produce something new.
no. 1, 1901, who described the work as 'degenerate', in contras
Perhaps it is the elusive, synthetic nature of Artto the 'healthy' displays of German and Austrian design.
Nouveau-its ability to absorb and re-create-that
4 Carl Schorske's classic book, Fin-de-Siecle Vienna: Politics an
has made it so compelling to us again today. ArtCulture, New York: Vintage Books, 1961, for example, exam-
Nouveau experienced a resurgence of interest in theines the city from the point of view of architecture, politics
psychoanalysis, music and painting. Allan Janik and Stephen
1960s, when the sensuous mood evoked by sinuous
Toulmin expanded upon this method in their 1973 book
plant-like forms and the decadent eroticism of
Wittgenstein's Vienna, reprint, Ivan R. Dee, 1996, which look
Gustav Klimt's paintings was embraced by a youth-at some of the key thinkers offin-de-siecle Vienna within their
cultural context. This interdisciplinary approach was emulated
ful, pleasure-seeking culture of excess. Indeed,
in a number of exhibitions onfin-de-siecle Vienna that were held
Jugendstil lettering and Art Nouveau design dom-in the 1980s, including 'Traum und Wirklichkeit: Wien 1870-
inated popular visual culture, appearing on record 1930', Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Vienna, 1985.
album covers and posters, and in fashion and film.5 'The Work-Programme of the Wiener Werkstatte' (1905), i
Art Nouveau 1890-1914 and Prague 1900, however,Tim & Charlotte Benton (eds.), with Dennis Sharp, Architectur
and Design, 1890-1939: An International Anthology of Origina
attest to a different interest in turn-of-the-centuryArticles, The Whitney Library of Design, New York, 1975
design-one that is more subtle and sophisticated,
pp. 36-7.

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