Art Nouveau was an extremely influential artistic movement that emerged during the Belle Époque (beautiful age) in Europe, a prosperous time that began in the late 1800s and ended in the early 1900s with the start of World War I. Art Nouveau is characterized by flowing natural forms, ornate details, intricate curving linework, and often mimics forms found in nature.

Prints in the Art Nouveau aesthetic often feature glamourous women, flowers, trees, dancers, and movement. The prints were often commissioned for advertisements or for book and magazine covers. These prints are usually colored with lots of gold, pastel colors, and warm shades of blue, red, orange, and green. The limited color palate of early Art Nouveau prints was greatly influenced by the limited options available for chromolithography, which was a relatively new printing technology at that time. These works later inspired much of the psychedelic art and concert posters of the 1960s.


One of the biggest influences that lead to the birth of Art Nouveau was Asian artwork, especially Japanese woodblock prints. ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ (1831) by Japanese printmaker Hokusai is a great example of this, as it features lots of curving linework, earthy tones, and movement, all of which were later adopted by the Art Nouveau movement. The influence of the Chinese ‘moon gate’ can be seen in this round Art Nouveau window.

The 19th century featured many revival movements, from Neoclassicalism to Gothic Revival and the Renaissance Revival. Art Nouveau could be seen as a reaction to this widespread revivalism, with artists aiming to do something new and free with their work. This can especially be seen in the work of Antonio Gaudí, a Spanish architect and designer, whose works were revolutionary. Gaudí’s work rarely features straight lines, he apparently believed, “The straight line belongs to Man. The curved line belongs to God.” When looking at his designs, it is clear to see that Gaudí was greatly influenced by the forms of nature.
Antonio Gaudí’s fascination with the natural world also led him to discover the self-supporting nature of the parabola, which he employed in his masterpiece design of La Sagrada Familia. Up until this point, Cathedrals were built with straight walls and domed or half-circle vaulted roofs which created an outwards loading force that required the construction of flying buttresses to counteract. Flying buttresses are expensive, bulky, and block light coming into the building. By adopting a parabolic shape for the walls and roof of La Sagrada Familia, Gaudí was able to make his Cathedral self-supportive and therefore not require flying buttresses. This design choice allowed the Cathedral to have a sleek shape and enabled the creation of a magnificent bright atmosphere on the interior that many have likened to being in a heavenly forest.


Other breathtaking examples of Art Nouveau interior design are the Hôtel Tassel in Brussels, Belgium designed by Victor Horta, and Casa Montserrat Fatjó de Sayrach by Manuel Sayrach. Both of these curving staircases conform to the Art Nouveau style, as do their delicate golden linework on the walls and roof, the textured marble work, and the intricate pattern in the mosaic tile floor.


In addition to the psychedelic art of the 60s, Art Nouveau also influenced Art Deco (it’s sleek, modern predecessor), as well as many others, such as burlesque, fairytale, vector flourish aesthetics.
Source:
Art Nouveau, Aesthetics Wiki, https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Art_Nouveau
4 Comments. Leave new
What a beautiful aesthetic. I have never heard of this before but the architectural design that has been produced under the Art Noveau umbrella is stunning. Everytime I see La Sagrada Familia I am reminded of its grandeur and how absolutely stunning it is. Sectioning the post into miniature case studies on different artists and how they were influenced by the aesthetic and its history. One thing I would like to suggest is to think about who your audience is. Some aesthetics were mentioned specifically in this line, from Neoclassicalism to Gothic Revival and the Renaissance Revival. As an audience member who is not well versed in the topic these give little insight into their relation to Art Noveau. While there was mention of how Art Noveau was a counter movement a short sentence that highlights the commonalities of these differing aesthetics. So I would ask, who is your audience?
Great question! I am assuming that my audience is well educated and quite familiar with major artistic movements.
Hi Jules, I really think your post does a great job of showcasing the beauty of Art Nouveau. I feel like I came away with a deeper appreciation for the talent that went into designing some of the architecture from this era. I also found the limited options for color with chromolithography to be very interesting. While reading this, I did find myself questioning what exactly makes something art Nouveau, aside from basics such as curvature and limited colors.
I’m glad to hear you appreciated the art from this era. Your question about defining Art Nouveau is a good one. On one hand Art Nouveau art is any art within a certain style that comes from Europe and North America near the turn of the century; at the same time Art Nouveau can be used to describe any art which appears to be inspired by the Art Nouveau characteristics which include detailed plants, women, curves and certain colors (as you mention), and more.