Week 2 - Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is a very creative and fluid style that began in France by Samuel Bing, a small shop owner. Both France and Belgium lead this movement, and it spread to Germany, Spain, as well as Scandinavian countries. This quick publicity was largely due to the increasing popularity of exhibitions, allowing word to spread even to the United States.

The Art Nouveau movement occurred from around 1890 until 1910, which is also when the Arts and Crafts movement was taking place. I find this interesting because, while both movements wanted to rebel against the Victorian era, they did so in different ways. The Arts and Crafts movement chose to revolt by completely disregarding the manufacturing process while the Art Nouveau movement still took advantage of manufacturing and modern technology.

Even though it did not reject industrialization, the Art Nouveau movement rebelled by rejecting traditional and historic design. The characteristics of this movement include the use of modern materials such as iron and glass, the use of industrial production and electricity, a relationship with painting and sculpture, the use of curvilinear forms, and the use of abstract forms derived from flowers, vines, shells, feathers, and other natural forms. This movement supported the growth of new and experimental directions in design and took inspiration from many famous artists such as Van Gogh, Munch, Gauguin, and Beardsley.

I appreciate this movement a lot because it brought about interesting interiors and furnishings that had not yet existed. Even just glancing at some furniture from this time, you can see Van Gogh’s Starry Night in many different pieces. I personally would never want to own furniture from this period because I more enjoy modern, rectilinear furnishings. Regardless of the fact that I don’t find the movement particularly attractive, I feel as though it was an important creative outlet for many people of that time.

Design Examples

 This chair was designed by Henry van de Velde. He wanted his furniture to be sculptural and ergonomic, which is seen in this chair.

This metalwork was designed by Victor Horta, and his love of curvilinear shapes is seen through this piece.

This interior was designed by Hector Guimard. He valued harmony and continuity, and that is seen through this design.

Current Applications

One Step Further

Victor Horta was a Belgian architect and was known as the most influential architect of the Art Nouveau period. He mainly focused on the curvature of his designs which were later described as “biomorphic whiplash.” These curvilinear botanical shapes usually took form in iron and stone facades as well as iron interiors.

As a child, Victor was interested in both music and architecture, but made architecture his career after being kicked out of a music school. For his schooling, he attended both the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent as well as the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Victor’s achievements include winning the first Prix Godencharle for architecture, winning numerous sculpture competitions, becoming the President of the Central Society of Belgian Architecture, becoming the Director of the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts, and being awarded the title of Baron by Albert 1 of Belgium.

Victor was a successful architect for his entire career – from the time he got his first architecture job at the age of 17 until his death at age 86. This period of time allowed for the completion of many different projects, such as Hotel Tassel, Hotel Solvay, the Volkshuis, the Museum for Fine Arts in Tournai, the Palais des Beaux-Arts, and the Brussels-Central railway station. Only the first half of this list were designed and constructed for the Art Nouveau period, because after the turn of the century Victor gracefully transitioned into Art Deco and Modernism. Because of his ability to understand the desires of the people, Victor was able to remain successful and loved even after his death in 1947. Four of his homes were deemed historically significant and were designated as a World Heritage Site – Hotel Tassel, Hotel Solvay, Hotel van Eetvelde, and Maison and Atelier Horta (the Horta Museum).