Art
Nouveau
Art Nouveau, in literal sense, means new art. An offspring of
William Morris' Arts and Crafts movement, which opposed the Industrial
Revolution, Art Nouveau is an internationally recognized art style
that developed in the late 19th century Europe and became widely
recognized at the turn of the 20th century. Art nouveau artists
work with the focus of unifying various art forms with life.
Dawn, Growth of Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is considered a response to the Industrial Revolution,
when artists broke free from the classical styles of art to introduce
nature and organic forms in their paintings. They derived their
inspiration from nature, for they believed the greatest beauty
stemmed from nature. The movement brings down barriers between
applied arts and fine arts and attempts to redefine art. To many,
the approach was new and revolutionary, thus the name Art Nouveau.
The Art Nouveau style is characterized by organic forms of nature,
sinuous curves, and other ornamental themes. Right-angled forms
also became popular when the movement entered Scotland and Austria.
This movement inspired artists to work on everything to make art
a part of everyday life. Thus since the beginning of the movement,
artists have not overlooked any object, and this reflects in their
works of art, be it painting, architecture, pottery, glassware,
sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, jewelry, or graphic design.
In French, Art Nouveau was nicknamed 'the noodle style' because
of the typical flat decorative patterns and organic forms of flowers.
This art form uses reduced shading to eliminate three-dimensional
effect and abstract patterns for recognizable subject matter and
beautiful objects of art, such as insects, flowers, birds, and
polymorphic femme fatale.
Inspiration From Contemporary Style
The movement inspired artists to come up with new ideas to encompass
all art forms to produce a total work of art. While some artists
openly welcomed the notion of using machines, modern materials,
and industrial techniques for their artistic works, those from
the old school did not accept innovation, for the fear of losing
touch with the traditional standards of design and craftsmanship.
The old school of artists felt that high standards associated
with craftsmanship were lost through the manufacturing process.
The use of wrought iron, irregularly shaped glass pieces, and
ceramics clearly reflected in the works of the Art Nouveau artists.
With its rich, voluptuous style, Art Nouveau became widely popular
with the elite who initially inspired artists to produce far beyond
the traditional norm. However, in the beginning of World War I,
this highly stylized art form came to be criticized as nonfunctional
and ugly and made way for a more streamlined, rectilinear art,
known as Art Deco, which was cheaper than the expensive Art Nouveau.
Resurrection of Art Nouveau
It wasn't long before Art Nouveau was resurrected in the 1960s
to replace the unimaginative glass and steel rectilinear art.
Popularity of Art Nouveau
The art form flourished in almost all European countries and
influenced a range of art and design movements. It was known by
different names in Europe. In France, it was known as style Guimard,
named after famous designer Hector Guimard; Modernisme in Spain;
stile Floreale in Italy; stile Liberty in Britain; Jugendstil
in Germany; and Sezessionstil in Austria.
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