Art Nouveau
A new style of living lines: stems, waves and flowing hair rendered in iron, glass and stone
How to recognise it
- supple 'whiplash' line
- plant ornament of stems and lilies
- exposed wrought iron and stained glass
- asymmetric windows of varied shapes
- long-haired women, gold leaf and mosaic
Why it emerged
The urban bourgeoisie wanted a modern style instead of historical copies. New iron and glass and the Arts and Crafts movement urged unity of beauty, structure and daily life; Japanese prints supplied the line.
Examples
Hôtel Tassel1893–1894 · Victor HortaThe first Art Nouveau house: exposed iron stair, stem-like columns, whiplash ornament throughout
Casa Batlló1904–1906 · Antoni GaudíAn apartment block rebuilt as a 'house of bones' with a dragon roof: pure Catalan Modernisme
Secession Building1897–1898 · Joseph Maria OlbrichExhibition hall of Klimt's rebels under a gilded laurel dome: 'To every age its art'
The Kiss1907–1908 · Gustav KlimtGold leaf and pattern in place of space, the peak of Klimt's Golden PeriodRyabushinsky Mansion1900–1903 · Fyodor SchechtelManifesto of Moscow Art Nouveau: wave staircase, iris mosaic frieze; later Gorky's homeHow it spread
- 1893 Brussels
- 1895 Paris
- 1897 Vienna
- 1897 Glasgow
- 1900 Barcelona
- 1900 Moscow
- 1901 Riga
Meanwhile elsewhere
- Ife and Benin bronzes Africa
- Ming and Qing Porcelain Asia
- Peredvizhniki (The Wanderers) Eastern Europe & Russia
- Post-Impressionism Europe
- Expressionism Europe
- Cubism Europe
- Russian avant-garde Eastern Europe & Russia