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| Art Nouveau Movement |
Art Nouveau Movement , even after the revolution in style caused by the Aesthetic and Art and Crafts Movements, designers continued to search for ways to reflect the changing world of the late 19th century. In the last quarter of the century, international trade was more important than it had ever been.
At the same time, there was a consciousness, particularly among artists and designers, that this was a new, modern age that should be reflected in their work - they needed a 'new art'. This was not a purely British movement but was seen worldwide in Europe, Australia, the USA, Canada and Japan.
So what are the characteristics of Art Nouveau Movement . It was a
conscious attempt at modernism and a departure from traditional Victorian forms
of design, most of which looked back to the past for inspiration. Designers
rejected the inspiration of classical European art and instead looked to
Japanese, Celtic and other folk art as a basis for their work. Typical motifs
come from nature: flowers, insects and birds. Lines curve and wind;
straight lines were scorned.
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| Art Nouveau Movement |
Symbolism is important in the designs. For example, a leaf
may be just a leaf or perhaps might represent part of the female body.
Designers used forms from the natural world in ways that suggested they might
represent human limbs. They used traditional materials like wood, glass, and
pewter.
It is only
comparatively recently that Art Nouveau was accepted as a style and accorded
any real recognition. It had been
Art Nouveau
was not universally acclaimed, particularly in England. Many critics of the
period saw it as decadent and self indulgent. For example, the sculptor Sir
Alfred Gilbert, who created Eros in Piccadilly Circus, said: "LArt
Nouveau, forsooth! Absolute nonsense! It bpi^ngs to the young lady's seminary
and the duffer's paradise..." This was not untypical of the feelings of
the time.
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| Art Nouveau Movement |
In London,
Liberty's had been instrumental in encouraging and promoting Arts and Crafts.
Arthur Lasenby Liberty, its proprietor, knew many of the designers and promoted
Art Nouveau in both the London and Paris stores during the 1890s. Indeed, in
Italy, Art Nouveau was known as Stile Liberty, so synonymous was Liberty &
Co with the style.
Liberty
sold work by designers such as Lindsay P Butterfield, who produced textiles
Many gifted designers embraced Art Nouveau, such as Rene
Lalique, who produced glass and jewellery. Much of the jewellery is exquisitely
delicate and depicts natural forms like flowers, leaves and seed pods.
Unusually for a jewellery designer of the time, Lalique's pieces often had
relatively little intrinsic value because he did not often use large gemstones
in his work.
He refined the use of glass in jewellery, not as imitation
diamonds or other precious stones, but as a painter uses paint. This technique
continued into vases, statuettes, car mascots and glass panels.
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| Art Nouveau Movement |
Louis Comfort Tiffany is another of the period's great
designers. Like Lalique, he designed using both glass and jewellery, and is
perhaps best known for his lamps and smaller glass objects. Some of his most
stunning work in glass, however, was on a much bigger scale.
Examples can be
seen in the Tiffany Chapel, reassembled at the Morse Museum of American Art in
Florida. Constructed using Favrile glass (Tiffany's own invention), the reredos
- or altar wall - shows a bunch of grapes between two peacocks over which
hovers an enormous crown. The chapel also contains Tiffany's leaded windows.
Antoni Gaudi in Spain might
be one of the most controversial Art Nouveau designers. The keynotes of his
architecture were fluid lines and extravagant exterior decoration, much of it
done by using a mixture of applied materials to the outside walls.
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| Art Nouveau Movement |
His best-known building is probably the cathedral, Temple de la
Sagrada Familia, still incomplete, and from which the outside seems to have
seeped and flowed in places while in others it is moulded into organic shapes.
There were many gifted
designers who emerged during the Art Nouveau Movement period, many of whose work is now
highly valued and very collectible.
When comparing and contrasting the work of
these designers,it is easy to see why the style is so hard to categorise
and why there has been such a prolonged debate about what is about what isn't
Art Nouveau.
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