The Art Nouveau movement was popular throughout Europe between 1890 and 1910 the name came from an art gallery called “La Maison de l’Art Nouveau which showed works in the Art Nouveau style. It is most often seen in architecture, interior design, posters, and illustrations. It was created to be free from aesthetics that dominated the 19th century. Art Nouveau tried to apply aesthetic designs to everyday objects. Works in this movement featured geometric and curved shapes, and nature such as flowers and birds. Some of the more popular artist in Art Nouveau were Aubrey Beardsley, Antoni Gaudi, and Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Aubrey Beardsley focused in Illustrations and is considered one of the most controversial artist of the movement known for his sensuality of women in his illustrations. He was influenced heavily by the elegant style of Art Nouveau and bold designs from Japanese woodcuts.
“The Dancer’s Reward (Salome)”
“Le Morte Darthur” 1893
Antoni Gaudi is another famous artist best known for his Architecture in Barcelona. Antoni was heavily influenced by nature and the Catholic Faith. His work often featured curved lines, vibrant color, various textures, and geometric shapes. His most famous work is La Sagrada Familia
“La Sagrada Familia” 1882-Present
“Casa Batllo” 1906
Louis Comfort Tiffany was another famous artist in the Art Nouveau movement. He is most famous for his stained glass work but, he was also well known as a painter. Louis was influenced by a trip he took early in his life to Morocco, and by Art Nouveau designer Emile Galle. He was well known for his work with color, and combining glass with metal. His work inspired many people especially in Europe.
“Education” 1890
“Pond Lily” Table Lamp 1900-1910
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aubrey-Beardsley
https://www.britannica.com/art/Art-Nouveau
https://historylists.org/architecture/list-of-top-10-antoni-gaudi-works.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Comfort-Tiffany
2 Comments. Leave new
Very very interesting!
This movement came around the late 1800s and early 1900s, so I’m very curious how the Art Nouveau aesthetic was able to play off of other previous art movements (ie Impressionism) and influence the other movements that came after (modernism, cubism).
But other than that, I find it very interesting how it resurged again in the 1960s, during the hippie movement.
Hi Kaiya! I love the art nouveau aesthetic, so I was happy that someone decided to write a post on it. I always knew about this aesthetic from posters/illustrations, but I never thought about how it played a roll in architecture, especially in Barcelona. I recently watched an interesting Vox video on how the art nouveau aesthetic was translated and applied to the hippie/psychedelic culture in the 1960s. You should definitely watch it, I’d love to know what you think! Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vuqI2v2IRs