ART

APPRECIATION​
ART NOUVEAU
INTRODUCTION
ART NOUVEAU

2
WHAT IS ART
NOUVEAU?
 Art Nouveau is an international ornamental art style that
characterized architecture, fine art and especially
decorative arts across Europe and the United States at the
turn of the twentieth century. The term ‘Art Nouveau’
(literally ‘New Art’) was first used in 1884 in Belgium but

ART
the movement was known by many different names in
different countries: Jugendstil in Germany, Viennese
Secession in Austria, Glasgow Style in Scotland, Arte

NOVEAU Nuova or Stile Liberty in Italy, and Belle Époque in

France.

Art Nouveau artists believed that all arts should be united,

resulting in a unifying movement that encompassed many
different art forms and fields. With the aim to modernize art
and design, artists took inspiration from organic and
natural forms, resulting in elegant designs with sinuous,
asymmetrical curves and lines.

4
 Art Nouveau is usually deemed a matter of 'style' rather
than a philosophy: but, in fact, distinctive ideas and not
only fanciful desires prompted its appearance. Common to
all the most consistently Art Nouveau creators was a
determination to push beyond the bounds of historicism -

ART
that exaggerated concern with the notions of the past which
characterizes the greater part of 19th-century design: they
sought, in a fresh analysis of function and a close study of

NOVEAU
natural forms, a new aesthetic. It is true that the outer
reaches of Art Nouveau are full of mindless pattern-making
but there was, at and around the center, a marvelous
sequence of works in which the decorative and the
functional fuse to novel and compelling effect. Art Nouveau
means much more than a single look or mood: we are
reminded of tall grasses in light wind, or swirling lines of
stormy water, or intricate vegetation - all stemming from
organic nature: an interest in which should be understood
as proceeding from a sense of life's order lost or perverted
amidst urban industrial stress.

5
CHARACTERISTICS OF ART NOUVEAU
The distinguishing ornamental characteristic of Art Nouveau is its undulating asymmetrical line, often taking the form of flower stalks
and buds, vine tendrils, insect wings, and other delicate and sinuous natural objects; the line may be elegant and graceful or infused with
a powerfully rhythmic and whiplike force. In the graphic arts the line subordinates all other pictorial elements—form, texture, space, and
color—to its own decorative effect. In architecture and the other plastic arts, the whole of the three-dimensional form becomes engulfed
in the organic, linear rhythm, creating a fusion between structure and ornament. Architecture particularly shows this synthesis
of ornament and structure; a liberal combination of materials—ironwork, glass, ceramic, and brickwork—was employed, for example, in
the creation of unified interiors in which columns and beams became thick vines with spreading tendrils and windows became both
openings for light and air and membranous outgrowths of the organic whole. This approach was directly opposed to the traditional
architectural values of reason and clarity of structure.
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS
OF ART NOVEAU

8
COLOR

• The diverse use of flat colors

that are neither bright nor dull.
Color is often used without
regard to color harmony or
realism.

9
COMPLEXITY

• An embrace of complexity as
a reaction against the
standardization of the
industrial revolution
whereby products are
designed not to offend
anyone so that they can be
scaled out as a million of
exact copies
10
ART AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT

• Art Nouveau is related to the

arts and craft movement of
roughly to the same period of
time that featured works with
handmade folk style as a
reaction against the bland
minimalism of industrial design
for the masses.

11
TIME AND PLACE

• Art Nouveau was an art

movement that occurred at a
time and place that is never to
be repeated. Art captures the
spirit of an age such that future
artist who uses the same style
as viewed as revivalists. Art
Nouveau is an artifact of the
period 1890 to 1914 with few
earlier works that can be
considered precursors to the
main movement.
12
STYLIZATION

• Art Nouveau manages to be

both extremely diverse and
highly stylized such that it is
instantly recognizable from
style alone. This can be
contrasted with other art
movement such as romanticism
that are identified more
content.

13
ORIGINS OF ART NOUVEAU
The term "Art Nouveau" stemmed from the name of the Parisian art gallery, called "La Maison de l'Art
Nouveau", owned by the avant-garde art-collector Siegfried Bing (1838-1905), which showcased works
created in the Art Nouveau style. The gallery's reputation and fame was considerably boosted by its
installations of modern furniture, tapestries and objets d'art at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, after
which the gallery's name became almost synonymous with the style.

From the 1880s until the eve of World War One, Art Nouveau flourished across Europe. It was a
universal style intended to unify the fine and applied arts to create a Gesamtkunstwerk ('total work of
art'). Everything from furniture to book illustration was influenced by its elegant organic forms.

Art Nouveau was ubiquitous in Europe’s train stations, tea rooms and department stores: it belonged
equally to the public and private realms. Art Nouveau flourished during a period of rapid social and
technological change in Europe as industrialization, mass production and urbanization accelerated.

The roots of Art Nouveau can be traced back to the Arts and Crafts Movement in England during the
second half of the 19th century. Arts and Crafts is often seen as a response to growing industrialization in
Europe and the rise of factory mass production at the perceived expense of traditional craftsmanship.
APPLICATION OF ART NOUVEAU
Art Nouveau designs were most common in glassware, jewellery, and other
decorative objects like ceramics. But the style was also applied to textiles, household
silver, domestic utensils, cigarette cases, furniture and lighting, as well as drawing,
poster art, painting and book illustration. Theatrical design of sets and costumes was
another area in which the new style flourished. The best examples are the designs
created by Leon Bakst (1866-1924) and Alexander Benois (1870-1960) for Diaghilev
and the Ballets Russes. Art Nouveau also had a strong application in the field of
architecture and interior design. In this area it exemplified a more humanistic and
less functionalist approach to the urban environment. Hyperbolas and parabolas in
windows, arches, and doors were typical as were plant-derived forms for moldings.
Art Nouveau interior designers updated some of the more abstract elements of
Rococo style, such as flame and shell textures, and also employed highly stylized
organic forms, expanding the 'natural' repertoire to include seaweed, grasses, and
insects. Art Nouveau architectural designs made broad use of exposed iron and large,
irregular pieces of glass.
ART NOUVEAU GALLERY
THE ARCITECTURAL AND ARTWORK DESIGNS
 ARCHITECTURE

JUBILLE SYNAGOUGE OF MUSEUM OF APPLIED ARTS LA SAGRADA FAMILIIA OF

CZECH REPUBLIC IN BUDAPEST, HUNGARY BARCELONA SPAIN
 ARTWORK DESIGNS

THE KISS BY GUSTAV KLIMT SALOME BY AUBREY AT THE MAULIN ROUGUE BY

BEARDSLAY HENRI DE TOULOUSE-
LAUTREC

20
THANK
YOU