What is Art Nouveau?

Envious curves and rich details: a style ahead of its time

If you speak French or have a basic understanding of French, you would know that "Art Nouveau" literally just translates to "New Art." Though not new to our contemporary eyes, this movement was incredibly novel during the late 19th century with its approach to portraying the form and landscape.

The term came straight from an article in the Belgian journal L’Art Moderne in the 1880s. In this, the writer sought to create a name to explain the work of Les Vingt, a group of twenty artists seeking to reform the rigid art scene of the 19th century. The phrase was then popularized after a gallery in Paris opened in 1895 with the name Maison de l'Art Nouveau. It is important to note that this artistic term might be different in each country. For example, from personal research experience, Spain tends to call Art Nouveau: Modernisme.

Sensuous, flowing curves, an abundance of decorative motifs, and a muted color palette are a hallmark of Art Nouveau - gaining inspiration from Japanese woodblocks, Post-Impressionism, the Arts and Crafts movement, and, last but not least, nature itself. Though lasting only 20 years, from 1890 to 1910, this artistic style proliferated every aspect of life from two-dimensional art pieces to architecture and furniture.

During this time, Art Nouveau defined printmaking as an art form. With the popularization of advertising materials like posters and book covers, artists like Alphonse Mucha and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec could be considered the first to define and use graphic design. One cannot deny how their pieces have influenced today's marketing world, incorporating bold lettering and short catchphrases to their finished pieces - Mucha with his curvaceous women and Toulouse with his raunchy nightlife scenes.

Additionally, Art Nouveau sought to create harmony in a building's exterior and interior. Though highly decorative (I mean, have you seen Gustav Klimt's overabundance of gold foiling?), the movement aimed to unify a room with sets of matching furniture and accessories as opposed to the typical mish-mash of antiques and industrialized collections found in their markets. Gone were the days of bulky and overbearing tables or chairs, these artists preferred the light spirals of this new art movement. Exteriors experienced their own revamp as well with the introduction of ornamentation in a balcony's steel railing or a winding door opening with a soft pink finish. The architecture of Art Nouveau feels refreshingly feminine and delicate.

This style also erupted in an assortment of refreshing new twists: necklaces, fashion, stained-glass (everyone say hello to the Louis Comfort Tiffany), brooches, hairpins, glassware, combs, and everything in between. The influence of Art Nouveau seeped into every aspect of visual reality. The breadth of this style could only be comparable to the outreach of the Arts and Crafts movement but stops short at international appeal - in my opinion, Art Nouveau was far more popular with its appearance in so many countries, like Latvia! Take me as a fool but I did not know it was prevalent that far north!

Overall, Art Nouveau was short and sweet but with a lasting impact (much like today's blog post). Its twisted lines and organic forms eased the restrain of academic artwork to prepare for the introduction of the geometric and sharp Modernism and Art Deco periods. With names like Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, Émile Gallé, Aubrey Beardsley, and Egon Schiele, it is no wonder that Art Nouveau remains popular in its aesthetics even in our contemporary world.

And that's art.

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Sources

Art Nouveau - Overview - Goodbye-Art Academy. YouTube. Philinthecircle, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4luPnObQYo.

Widewalls Editorial. “Art Nouveau - History and Legacy.” Widewalls. 2016. https://www.widewalls.ch/art-nouveau-history-and-legacy/.