Art Nouveau (French for “New Art”) is a visual arts, design, and architecture style that flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (1890– 1914). Art Nouveau expanded simultaneously in most cultures and European countries, as well as in North America.
This modern style was thought to be an attempt to create an international style based on decorations. Art Nouveau was created by an active and creative group of designers and artists who strove to create a modern art form. It was, in many ways, a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. Artists who embraced the aesthetic possibilities of incorporating new materials in their work, such as cast iron, applauded technical progress. The Art Nouveau style was born in 1893 when Victor Horta introduced iron and casting into the homes of the bourgeoisie in Brussels for the first time.
After 1919, this style was regarded as out of date and limiting, and painters largely abandoned it as a unique decorative style.
The Art Nouveau Period: Architecture & Posters
Art Nouveau sought to modernize design by ignoring the varied historical styles that had previously been popular. Artists were inspired by both organic and geometric forms, creating attractive designs that combined flowing, natural forms mimicking plant stems and petals. It was popular in book production and poster printing, but artists utilized it for a range of other forms of work such as advertisements, magazines, labels, and typography. The typeface was so intricate that it was unsuitable for text but ideal for display work.
Characteristics
Highly stylized floral designs in balconies and railings. Otto Wagner stairway in Majolica House, Vienna (1898)
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21141517
The use of sinuous, flowing, organic lines, as well as temperate and dark colours, characterizes the style. The most common colours are mustard yellow, dark red, olive, brown, and a little violet and blue here and there. Asymmetrical and undulating lines, frequently in the form of flower stalks and buds, bug wings, vine tendrils, and other delicate natural objects, are the decorative elements of this modern style. Art Nouveau lines were either delicate and graceful, or they were filled with fiercely rhythmic and whip-like intensity. Other characteristics include hyperbolas, parabolas, and traditional mouldings that appear to come to life and expand into plant-shaped structures.
Art Nouveau In Architecture
Art Nouveau architecture arose in response to the eclectic styles that dominated European architecture in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It was expressed through aesthetic or sculptural embellishment. The use of people in various forms of sculpture was also common throughout a few styles of Art Nouveau.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24670726
Paul Hankar’s Hankar House (1893) in Brussels and Victor Horta’s Hôtel Tassel (1892-93) in Paris were the initial architectures where the style appeared.
While Art Nouveau-influenced architecture can be seen all over the world, it is notably apparent in Otto Wagner’s Viennese structures. The Majolika Haus (1898–1899), Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Rail Station (1898–1900), Austrian Postal Savings Bank (1903–1912), St. Leopold Church (1904–1907), and the architect’s residence, Wagner Villa II (1912), are among them. The Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Missouri, built by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, is an example of Art Nouveau in the United States. There’s also William Holabird’s and Martin Roche’s Marquette Building in Chicago, Illinois. Both of these structures are notable historical examples of Art Nouveau style in new skyscraper design.
Posters & Graphic Arts
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Art Nouveau posters and graphic arts blossomed and became a significant vehicle of the style, thanks to new colour lithography and colour printing technologies that allowed the style to be created and distributed to a large audience. Art was no longer limited to art galleries, but could also be found on walls and in illustrated magazines.
Women are usually seen in Art Nouveau posters and images, emphasizing glamour, beauty, and modernism. Men’s images in these posters are extremely rare. Posters and illustrations of the Art Nouveau period are found to have a high level of stylization.
Designers of Art Nouveau posters, particularly in the early years, had to work with the early technology of lithography, which limited the number of colours they could use in early editions. They were also heavily influenced by Japanese prints, particularly those of Hiroshige, with their flat planes and two dimensions.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/art/Art-Nouveau
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau
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