Art Nouveau Style

Art Nouveau can be defined as an international style of art, applied art and architecture, specifically decorative arts. It flourished between 1890 and 1910 in the United States of America and Europe (Thorpe, 2017 pg. 17). Its main characteristic is the use of long, sinuous, organic lines. It was employed mostly in architecture, glass design, interior design, illustration, jewellery, and posters. Art Nouveau grew its roots in England and then spread to other parts of the world. In Germany, it was called Jugendstil, stile liberty in Italy, Sezessionstil in Australia, and in Spain, it was called Modernismo.

Historical context

The main aim of creating Art Nouveau was an attempt to create a new and unique style that did not imitate the normal historicism that dominated almost all the designs and art of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution triggered the creation of Art Nouveau. This was a time when ordinary people were able to buy things that could only be bought by rich people. There was a lot of copying of expensive art which was then produced in big masses. Consequently, many designers lost their business. Craftsmen and designers did not agree with that situation, and they created the arts and crafts movement. However, this movement also failed with time because the products of arts and crafts were more expensive than mass-produced ones.

After the failure, art nouveau was created. Designers wanted to come up with an innovative style inspired by nature. Art nouveau was meant to serve the ordinary man who could not afford expensive art. It was later replicated in architecture and other purposes, like furniture, lighting, jewellery, graphic design, wallpapers, and many more (Fischer, 2017, pg. 43).

Victor Horta

Victor is one of the designers representing art nouveau. He designed the first building called the “Tassel House” using the style of art nouveau. He made art nouveau, the national style of Belgium. He created the building style based on nature. He used modern materials like iron and glass. The exterior of the building contains elegant curves and plant motifs. At the same time, the interior expresses several key aspects of the Art Nouveau style (Manning, 2017, pg. 38). The ceilings are made of stained glass and decorative iron. The design of the lamps imitates plants and flowers. The house is furnished using curved furniture that harmonizes with the concept of the house. The rooms of the house are known as music rooms because of the music concept used in designing them (Manning, 2017 pg. 40). The viral-shaped staircase of the building is the main construction representing the art nouveau style. The staircase is constructed using smooth and irregular lines and this is a characteristic of art nouveau style. There is an iron handrail on the walls that represents a growing plant which is surrounded by yellow, green, and orange colors. This represents nature.

Conclusion

Art nouveau was created to show disagreement with the cheap and mass production of art. People could benefit from cheap art, and everyone could afford a piece of art. However, this was not the case with the artists. They were disappointed that their work was stolen and used to make replicates, which were cheaper and of low quality. Therefore, to end mass production, they created something unique with the hopes that it would be a new beginning for artists. The Tassel House, designed by Victor Horta, incorporates most of the main characteristics and aspects of the art nouveau style.

References

Fischer, L., 2017. Cinema by Design: Art Nouveau, Modernism, and Film History. Columbia University Press.

Manning, C., 2015. Victor Horta's Illusion of Space.

Thorpe, A., 2017. Cinema by design: Art Nouveau, modernism, and film history.