ART NOUVEAU

Group 3

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INTRODUCTION
Art nouveau is a French/ Belgian name of an art
movement in reaction to the academical schools
at the end of the 19th century (1894-1914).
This movement was represented in Europe and
also in the United States. It often had several
names in each country.
Some were named after major artists, magazines
or firms. E.g. in France style Guimard, in Germany
Jugendstil (youth style) and in Italy Stile Liberty.

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HISTORY AND ORIGIN
Art Nouveau manifested itself at the end of the
19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
 It had its origin in England as a reaction to the
Industrial Revolution and its mass production of
artistic objects and articles of use.
These artists were bored of repeating of former
styles in a neo-form and the compilation of it in
the eclecticism.

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HISTORY AND ORIGIN
Arthur Macmurdo’s book-cover for Wren’s city
churches (1883) with its rhythmic floral patterns is
often considered the first realization of the art
nouveau.
the flat-perspective and strong colors of Japanese
woodcuts, especially those of Katsushika
Hokusai, had a strong effect on the formulation of
art nouveau’s formal language.

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Book cover by Arthur Mackmurdo for Wren's city churches
(1883)
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE STYLE
Art nouveau developed differently in various
parts of the world beginning from Britain to the
United States and gradually spreading to other
parts.
In Britain, art nouveau evolved out of the already
established arts and crafts movement founded by
English designer William Morris.

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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
His devotion to handmade articles was a reaction
against shady machine-made products as a result of
industrial revolution expansion.
 British art nouveau designers of the 1890s shared his
dedication to hand-crafted work and integrated
designs.

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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
In the United States art nouveau evolved naturally
from the craft tradition of the early 19th century.
Travel between the United States and Europe fostered
a continuous exchange of ideas.
The first American architects in the forefront of Art
Nouveau were Rookwood Pottery and Tiffany Studios,
producing a wide range of elegant pottery decorated
with softly colored natural forms.

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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
it is known in various guises with frequent localized
tendencies.
In France, Hector Guimard's metro entrances shaped the
landscape of Paris and Emile Gallé was at the center of the
school of thought in Nancy.
Victor Horta had a decisive impact on architecture in
Belgium
Art Nouveau was a movement of distinct individuals such as
Gustav Klimt, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Alphonse Mucha,
René Lalique, Antonio Gaudí and Louis Comfort Tiffany,
each of whom interpreted it in their own manner.

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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
Although Art Nouveau fell out of favor with the arrival
of 20th-century modernist styles, it is seen today as an
important bridge between the historicism of
Neoclassicism and modernism.
, Art Nouveau monuments are now recognized by
UNESCO on their World Heritage List as significant
contributions to cultural heritage.

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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
The historic center of Riga, Latvia, with "the finest
collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe", was
inscribed on the list in 1997 in part because of the
"quality and the quantity of its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil
architecture", and four Brussels town houses by Victor
Horta were included in 2000 as "works of human
creative genius" that are "outstanding examples of Art
Nouveau architecture brilliantly illustrating the
transition from the 19th to the 20th century in art,
thought, and society".

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OBJECTIVES
Renewal of ornament and accessories of
architecture.
Simplicity and solidity
Autonomy of artist’s imagination
 Renewal of architecture
Reaction against decadence of the building arts
Establishment of a new graphic means of
communication

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OBJECTIVES
Renewal of the more basic elements of the art of
building

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CHARACTERISTICS
Use of Flat decorative patterns.
Use of Intertwined organic forms e.g. vines,
flowers, stems etc.
Emphasis on handcraft.
Use of new materials and semiprecious stones.

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CHARACTERISTICS
Resistance of classical restrictions
Used mosaics in their designs
Style mostly used in cutlery, furniture, pottery,
jewellery and ceramics.
Use of curvilinear lines

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Influential architects
 Behrens Peter
Gaudi Cornet Antonio
Guimard Hector
 Baron Victor Horta
Otto Wagner
 Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Joseph Maria Olbrich

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BEHRENS PETER
He was born in Hamburg, Germany and he was highly
influential in modern architecture.
The Behrens house (1900-1901) is an honorable if not
exceptional first in architecture.
What is the most remarkable and at the same time
characteristic for Behrens is that the house within the
limits of domestic building produces a microcosm of
Behrens cultural hierarchy: from the ordinariness of the
kitchen to the ceremonial music room complete with its
image of artists, priestesses and repeated use of motif of
the crystal.
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The Behren’s House.

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ANTONIO GAUDI
He was born in Catalonia, Spain
In his building, Casa Vicens, he was responsible for
introducing polychromatic terra cotta, particularly in
the form of lusterware, evolved in part from the long
famous Spanish lusterware of Manises near Valencia.
His largest projects in his first years were collaborative.
He designed furniture.

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Casa vicen

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Summer Villa (El
Capricho)

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Casa Calvet - exterior

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Casa Calvet -
interior

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Antonio Gaudi
The design of La Sagrada Família is replete with
Christian symbolism, as Gaudí intended the church to
be the "last great sanctuary of Christendom“
A total of eighteen tall towers are called for,
representing in ascending order of height the
Twelve Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary
and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ.
Constructed between 1894 and 1930, the Nativity
Façade was the first façade to be completed.

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Model of the
complete church -
Sagrada Familia

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HECTOR GUIMARD
He was born of Jewish parents in Lyons France. His
first buildings, a restaurant near the Quai d’ Auteuil
and a pavilion of Electricity for the exposition of 1889,
both in Paris were eclectic.
In 1894, he was given a project to design the
restaurant, he then went to Britain and Belgium after
being granted a travel grant by the Salon des artistes,
there he met Victor Horta who designed Hotel Tassel,
and this art nouveau structure exerted a profound
influence on the Frenchman

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HECTOR GUIMARD
Guimard then embarked on his most ambitious
undertaking, a large Parisian concert hall called the Salle
Humbert de Romans. It was a combined concert hall,
school and chapel.
The exposition of 1900 coincided with the completion of
the metropolitan railway or Metro. A contest for the
design of the aediculae- the station entrances- had been
arranged, and Adrien Benard the expositions president
who admired Art Nouveau awarded first prize to non
competitor Guimard for some renderings he had
submitted years earlier.
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Salle Humbert de Romans

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Metropolitan railway
entrance
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BARON VICTOR HORTA
He’s recognized as the brilliant originator of the Art
nouveau, an influential style in the 19th century.
The Lambeaux pavilion which Horta was given the
responsibility of completing the building when Alphonse
Balat (Horta used to work for him died) was a
conspicuous example of Horta’s frequent collaboration
with sculptors in designing monuments, either public,
private often funerary.
His second house Maison Autrique was a prelude to his
personal style Derived mainly from Violet-le-duc’s street
fronts.
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Maison Autrique
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BARON VICTOR HORTA
In 1892, Horta designed his first really accomplished
house which quickly became famous. The Hotel Tassel
street front made a firm statement with its smooth
stone wall, horizontally bounded in warmer and cooler
tones and crowned by a strong double cornice

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Hotel Tassel
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OTTO WAGNER
His work falls into three periods:
 ) Building largely speculative apartment houses for Vienna’s
great Ringstrasse development.
 Developing under the combined impact of urban engineering

and Art nouveau aesthetics; architecture to meet the practical

and psychological requirements of the modern megalopolis
(1895-1905).
 Constructing and projecting in a radically rationalistic urban

style, buildings commercial, residential and monumental

deliberately conceived for the business like ‘de-historicized’
man(1905-1915)

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Linke Wiezele
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Post Office Savings Bank
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CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH
He was commissioned to design a house by a publisher
named W.W Blackie. It was built in the Scottish
tradition.
He was called to design the Willow tea rooms. By
introducing a balcony, a bridge and a fine, open
staircase, Mackintosh created spatial magic enhanced
by superb wrought iron work, metal and glass
elements, fireplaces, and a great plaster frieze of
abstract geometrical design based on the willow tree
motif.

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W.W Blackie hill house Willow Tea Rooms

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JOSEPH MARIA OLBRICH
He designed the Secession building. Although it had a
certain adolescent awkwardness, its novel details
radiated the boundless enthusiasm of their designer
and the exuberance of the secessionists.
He designed silverware, ceramics, textiles and jewelry
for the Hessian manufacturers.

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Secessionist building
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SUCCESSES OF THE MOVEMENT

It encouraged a return to hand crafts, showed preference

for simpler forms from nature and emphasized the
relationship of art to design.
Art Nouveau clearly and at times brilliantly drew on
cultural and aesthetic sources throughout Europe and the
rest of the world.
It proved that the answer to social issues was to return to
the spirit of the arts approach of the Middle Ages, a time
when art and production were closely connected, thus as
during the Middle Ages, artists fashioned articles that
were both useful and beautiful.
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SUCCESSES OF THE MOVEMENT

Art Nouveau was inclusive, reactive, interpretive and

highly eclectic. Yet, when we see a piece from the
period, we almost immediately know that it is art
nouveau. This is due to a universality of visual
translation, craftsmanship and aesthetic intent.

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FAILURES OF THE MOVEMENT

It was closely related to the arts and craft movement and
the rococo revival style, but it had one look and no firm
boundaries.
The perceived morality of Art Nouveau undoubtedly
contributed to its decline as the atmosphere in Europe
grew tense, xenophobic, and intolerant toward 1914.
Art Nouveau required a tedious amount of handiwork.
By the start of the First World War, however, the highly
stylised nature of Art Nouveau design-which itself was
expensive to produce-began to be dropped in favour of
modernism.
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RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER STYLES
Unlike the Arts and Craft movement, they believed
ornamentation was part of the building and not just
an addition.
Art nouveau employed the use of arches, curved forms
, curved glass, stained glass, mosaics, plant-like
embellishments and Japanese motifs among others;
these properties led to the evolution of organic
architecture.

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RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER STYLES
Art nouveau was at opposite ends with de stijl and art
deco as both the latter styles employed the use of
sleek, streamlined forms that were geometric in
nature.
Art nouveau as a style was positively influenced by its
preceding style, the arts and crafts, and adopted its
preference of handcrafted work..
It borrowed some ideologies from Gothic architecture
especially Antonio Gaudi in La Familia Sagrada.

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END

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