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ART NOUVEAU-an experimental step towards modern architecture

Term Paper for History of Architecture (AP131)

Rashi Chugh

Roll Number: 36

Sushant School of Art and Architecture

ABSTRACT

Art nouveau was a movement that swept through the decorative arts and architecture in the late 19 th century and early 20th century. Generating enthusiasts throughout Europe and beyond, the movement

issued in a wide variety of styles. Europe had a need for liberating change of direction. It occurred at

the time when mass production started filling the marketplaces and architects, designers and artists

began to understand the importance of handcrafted production. Art nouveau was aimed at

modernizing design, seeking to escape the electrical historical styles that had previously been popular.

Artists drew inspiration from both organic and geometric forms, evolving elegant designs that united

flowering, natural forms with more angular contours. The style went out of fashion after it gave way to

art deco in 1920s, but it experienced a popular revival in 1960s, and it is now seen as an importantpredecessor of modernism. (1). This style of art was characterized by a belief that all of life was art,

and as a result, all of life should be treated as an art form. This flew in the face of classic art, which

was reserved for the wealthy. This new art philosophy was the art of the people. (2) Art nouveau

embraced all forms of art and design: architecture, furniture, glassware, graphic design, jewelry,

painting, pottery, metalwork, and textiles. This was a sharp contrast to the traditional separation of art

into the distinct categories of fine art (painting and sculpture) and applied arts (ceramics, furniture, and

other practical objects). (3) The features of art nouveau movement are flowing Lines, violent Curves,

organic Subject Matter, new Materials, resistance of Classical Restrictions. (2) 

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PAPER

Heading 1

Art Nouveau style is a particular form of architecture, art and applied art that is based in organic

beauty as opposed to classical, academic art. Art Nouveau gained popularity in 1890 and was

heartily embraced until about 1905, when it fell out of favour.  Art nouveau represents the beginning

of modernism in design (Modern Architecture). It occurred at a time when mass-produced consumer

goods began to fill the marketplace, and designers, architects, and artists began to understand that

the handcrafted work of centuries past could be lost. While reclaiming this craft tradition, art nouveau

designers simultaneously rejected traditional styles in favour of new, organic forms that emphasized

humanity's connection to nature. (3) The Art Nouveau movement began with a poster created by Alfons

Mucha for the play, Gismonda. The poster Mucha produced became very popular, and soon a new artstyle burst on the scene, inspired by Mucha's work. (2)

Figure 1: gismonda-poster-alphonse-mucha-1894

Ref: http://silverandexact.com/2011/01/21/gismonda-poster-alphonse-mucha-1894/

As art nouveau designers erased the barrier between fine arts and applied arts, they applied good

design to all aspects of living - from architecture to silverware to painting. In this integrated approach

art nouveau had its deepest influence. A variety of ensuing movements continued to explore integrated

design, including De Stijl, a Dutch design movement in the 1920s, and the German Bauhaus school in

the 1920s and 1930s. Although the stylistic elements of art nouveau evolved into the simpler,

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streamlined forms of modernism, the fundamental art nouveau concept of a thoroughly integrated

environment remains an important part of contemporary design. (3) By 1890s in Europe ,the

supremacy of French Beaux-Arts and English Victorian styles were being challenged in places that

were somewhat remote from the English and French fields of influence, namely in Spain (Antonio

Gaudi),Scotland(Charles Rennie Mackintosh),Belgium(Hendrick Petrus Berlage),Austria(Otto Wagnerand Joseph Hoffman)and Germany(Peter Behrens).In these places we can begin to see some of the

sources of movement that later come to be known as modern architecture. So thus this gave birth to art

nouveau that is new or modern art. In Belgium new style emerged known as ART NOUVEAU. Whereas

the ARTS AND CRAFT MOVEMENT aimed to heal the rift between human and product, ART NOUVEAU

was more interested in issues of creativity. Art nouveau basically introduced use of new materials. Art

nouveau artists, however, tended to avoid heavy, neomedieval look of arts and craft, preferring

organic shapes and plant like motifs. By the end of the century, art nouveau had drifted toward

virtuosic display of form, complicated intermingling of materials, and an interlacing of structures andornament. Art Nouveau artists were profoundly theoretical, seeking to answer questions about the

nature of aesthetic production and its direct relevance for the individual and society. (4) Art nouveau

flourished in a number of European countries, many of which developed their own names for the style.

Art nouveau was known in France as style Guimard, after French designer Hector Guimard; in Italy as

the stile floreale (floral style) or stile Liberty, after British art nouveau designer Arthur Lasenby Liberty;

in Spain as modernisme; in Austria as Sezessionstil (secession style); and in Germany

as Jugendstil (youth style). These diverse names reflect the widespread adoption of the movement,

which had centers in major cities all over Europe - Paris and Nancy in France; Darmstadt and Munich in

Germany; Brussels, Belgium; Glasgow, Scotland; Barcelona, Spain; Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czech

Republic; and Budapest, Hungary. Britain

•  Britain

Art nouveau in Britain evolved out of the already established arts and crafts movement. Founded in

1861 by English designer William Morris, the arts and crafts movement emphasized the importance of

handcrafted work. Morris's devotion to handmade articles was a reaction against shoddy machine-

made products that were flooding the English marketplace as the industrial revolution expanded. The

arts and crafts movement also promoted a totally designed environment in which everything from

wallpaper to silverware is made according to a unified design. British art nouveau designers of the

1890s shared Morris's dedication to hand-crafted work and integrated designs. To these principles

they added new forms and materials, establishing the aesthetic of the art nouveau style.

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Figure2: Arthur Mackmurdo Chair

Ref: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary_02.aspx?id=5660

One of the earliest examples of art nouveau in England is a chair designed in 1882 by British

architect Arthur Mackmurdo, which exhibits the curving lines associated with the style. Likewise, the

fabric designs of Arthur Lasenby Liberty, who opened a shop called Liberty & Co. in 1875,

also illustrate an interest in organic forms and curving, decorative patterns.

In 1888 British designer Charles Ashbee established a workshop and school for artisans in London.

Ashbee's furniture and metalwork designs reflect the more rectilinear (straight-lined or right-angled)

version of art nouveau style. In the graphic arts, Aubrey Beardsley drew illustrations for periodicals

such as The Yellow Book (1894-1895), and for an edition of the play Salomé (1894) by Irish-born

writer Oscar Wilde. Beardsley's vigorous use of line and distinctive double-curves known as whiplash

lines have become equated with British art nouveau in the popular imagination.

In Glasgow, Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh also developed a rectilinear version of art

nouveau, which he employed in numerous buildings and their furnishings. In the Glasgow School of Art,

completed in two phases (eastern section 1897-1899, western section 1906-1909), he used

contemporary materials in an elegant, angular style. The simple shapes of the brick and stone exterior

clearly indicate the division of space within the building, while large expanses of glass provide a

strong visual connection between the interior spaces and the outside world. Window mullions (dividers

between panes of glass), doors, and fences use ironwork in an elegant linear or geometric manner. This

seemingly simple design offers a strong contrast to the ornate architecture based on past styles that

was typical of the time.

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•  Belgium and France

Art nouveau architecture in Brussels flourished in the work of Belgian designers Victor

Horta and Henry van de Velde. As did Mackintosh in Glasgow, these Belgian designers sought to

create a new style, free from the historical references of prevailing traditions. They utilized standard

wrought-iron and cast-iron technology, but employed it to create distinctly new forms. In the Hôtel

Tassel in Brussels (1892-1893), Horta not only revealed the structural column that supports the

second floor, but transformed its cast-iron form into a plantlike stem that terminates in a burst of

intertwined tendrils as it connects with other structural elements. “The door handled by Victor Horta

loops in and around itself,like a hardened piece of liquorice candy, one strand of which springs out

into space to almost accidently form a handle. Victor Horta (1861-1947), active in Belgium was

probably the greatest of Art Nouveau architects. In Masion Tassel (1893), Horta brought out the

expensive quality of iron, which he used both inside and outside of the house, in form of weightless

ribbons, spiralling and twisting into space. Horta rejected the standard Brussels building type, with the

staircase to one side of the building. Instead, the staircase, combined with the light well, is placed at

the centre. Also the use of mirrors to enhance the feeling of space, make the interior seem a world unto

itself, a sanctuary from outside life.” (5)

Figure 3: Staircase Of Maison Tassel Hotel Figure 4: Front Elevation Of Maison Tassel

Ref: http://www.steven.mcgann.com/amorphism.html Ref: http://www.studyblue.com/

CURVED

GLASS

USE OF CAST IRON

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Similarly, French designer Hector Guimard designed entrances for the Metro stations in Paris (1898-

1901) using simple metal and glass forms decorated with curvilinear wrought iron. These are especially

memorable examples of art nouveau's delightfully curving naturalistic forms.

An interest in organic forms is also found in the work of French glass designer Émile Gallé. Working

from his hometown of Nancy, Gallé produced a variety of glassware decorated with leaves, vines,

and flowers. He fused layers of different colored glass and then cut designs into the glass to reveal the

color he wanted, a technique that also added greater depth to the design.

Figure5: Metro Station by Guimard

Ref :http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GuimardMon.JPG

Alphonse Mucha made similar contributions to the development of art nouveau poster design. Born

in Czechoslovakia, Mucha worked in Paris as a graphic artist and interior designer. His posters

epitomize art nouveau graphic design with their elaborately stylized natural forms, fluid curving lines,

and rich colors.

•  Germany and Austria

Art nouveau took hold in a number of German-speaking cities, the most prominent of which were

Munich, Darmstadt, and Weimar in Germany, and Vienna in Austria. Known as Jugendstil (German for

“youth style”), art nouveau was promoted in Munich through periodicals such as Die Jugend  (The

Youth).

At the head of Munich's Jugendstil movement was Hermann Obrist, a Swiss designer who created a

sensation with an exhibition of his embroidery in 1896. Not only did this exhibit challenge the

Simple Metal and Glass FormsDecorated with Curvilinear Wrought iron

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separation between fine and applied arts, but it also introduced the Munich public to the lively organic

forms of art nouveau. Obrist's designs, although based on natural forms, often evolved into mysterious

shapes that suggest a fantasy world.

The work of German architect August Endell shares this visionary quality. Endell sought to create

intense, dynamic forms that would evoke a strong response in the viewer. His plaster relief sculpture for

the exterior of Munich's Elvira Photo Studio (1896-1897) does just that. Part dragon, part flying sea

creature, part tidal wave, the theatrical relief expands the organic forms of art nouveau into the realm

of visionary fantasy.

Stylistic trends in Vienna took a significantly different direction. Led by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, 

young artists and architects formed a group called theWiener Sezession, or Vienna Secession, in protest

against the entrenched conservatism of the art establishment in Vienna. As did their counterparts

elsewhere in Europe, Secession designers rejected historical styles; but in Vienna they expressed thisthrough an increasing simplification of form. Rather than embracing the writhing organic forms of Endell

or Obrist in Munich, Viennese artists moved towards the restrained geometric designs exemplified by

the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

A case in point is the Palais Stoclet (1905-1911) in Brussels, designed by Viennese architect Josef

Hoffmann. This residence summarizes succinctly what had become known in Vienna as Sezessionstil

(secession style). Hoffmann utilized traditional building materials - marble, glass, and bronze - but

arranged the building around an unconventional, asymmetrical entrance. Outlining the sober marble

exterior walls are delicate bronze latticework and edging, which suggest an almost playful quality.

There is no historical reference here, only an elegant, simplified form.

•  Spain

The art nouveau movement in Spain is best exemplified in the work of Barcelona architect Antoni

Gaudí y Cornet, whose designs represent a highly personal response to the art nouveau ideas of his

time. Gaudí created one of his most eccentric works in the Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada

Familia (Church of the Holy Family, begun in 1883, construction ongoing) in Barcelona. Dominated by

four disproportionately tall spires, the church appears to be a fantastical outgrowth of the earth. Floraldesigns cover the building façade, and broken tiles glitter on the rippling surface of the towers. In

his Casa Milá apartment complex (1905-1907, Barcelona), Gaudí created the illusion of a limestone

reef hollowed out by centuries of seawater. Although the entire complex was executed in cut stone,

there is not one straight line in the façade. (3)

“Art Nouveau is an ornamental style based on curved lines, asymmetrical composition and rhythms of

irregular contours. Its main motifs are nature, references to antiquity and mythology. Architecturally, art

nouveau is characterised by the functional structure and a richly decorated façade, achieved by

deploying all the possible means of expression in building, from the shape of window and door

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openings, bay windows, to reliefs, sculptures, ornamental lines or areas and stained glass. However,

the main building facade is not the only essential element in Art Nouveau, but rather its overall image,

therefore, “art nouveau architecture” also refers to interior design, the shape of tableware and even

the inhabitants’ wardrobe

Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), despite his obvious talent, was not a particularly good student at school

of architecture at Barcelona. The academic styles and rationalization of construction did not appeal to

him. He preferred the story of history and economy. After a period in which he apperanticed with

various local architects he sets out on his own. One of the characteristics of his work apart from his

unusual genius for space and light, was the delight he took in color. His architecture, more than any

produced in the 20th century has to be seen to be appreciated. Le Corbusier and Frank Loyd Wright

were consummate colorist, but for Wright color was a question of patina, whereas for le Corbusier

color was question of spatial articulation. For Gaudi , color was thoroughly tactile in nature and could

be linked. Gaudi used colored stone and glass, polychrome glazes, broken tiles and plates, and

exploited the shadings of stone and brick”. (5)

Figure8: Elevation of Casa Batllo

Ref: http://cemzie.blogspot.in/2011/01/mr-gaudis-preciousss.html

USE OF STAINED GLASS

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Figure6: Casa Mila Front Elevation Figure7: Courtyard For Light And Ventilation

Ref: http://www.studyblue.com/ ref: http://fanjara.blogspot.in/2011_02_01_archive.html

•  United States

In the United States, art nouveau evolved naturally from the craft tradition of the early 19th century.

American furniture, glass, metalwork, and jewelry had long been adapted from European models.

Travel between the United States and Europe fostered a continuous exchange of ideas, and by the

1890s American designers were making significant contributions to art nouveau ceramics, glassware,

and architecture. International expositions in the United States not only highlighted American products

but also attracted European visitors who were curious about design trends emerging in this new

marketplace.

Foremost among American art nouveau innovators were Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati, Ohio, and

Tiffany Studios of New York City. Rookwood was well established by the 1890s, producing a widerange of elegant pottery decorated with softly colored natural forms. The glassware of Louis

Comfort Tiffany probably constitutes the best-known American examples of art nouveau design.

Using his patented Favrile glass (iridescent glass produced by exposing hot glass to metallic fumes),

Tiffany designed stained glass windows, lamps, and a variety of other glass objects. The intense color,

fluid organic forms, and innovative techniques incorporated in his designs positioned Tiffany as a

leader in international art nouveau design.

American architect Louis Sullivan also played an influential role in the creation of a new design

vocabulary. Although Sullivan is most recognized for his development of the skyscraper, he also

produced inventive art nouveau motifs for the ornamental detailing on the Wainwright Building 

(1890-1891, St Louis, Missouri), Guaranty Building (1894-1895, Buffalo, New York), Carson Pirie

Scott department store (1899-1904, Chicago, Illinois), and other structures. Whether in wrought iron or

terra cotta, Sullivan's ornamentation is based on plantlike forms and patterns of complex, interlocking

lines. (3)

ORGANIC FORMSASYMMETRICAL SHAPES

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Bibliography 

1. [Online] http://www.theartstory.org/movement-art-nouveau.htm.

2. [Online] http://www.life123.com/arts-culture/architecture-2/art-nouveau/art-nouveau-style.shtml.

3. [Online] http://www.mr-oscar-wilde.de/lifetime/art_nouveau.htm.

4. D.K.Ching, Francis. A Global History of Architecture. s.l. : John Wiley &Sons,Inc., 2007.

5. Trachtenberg, Marvin. Architecture from prehistory to post modernism/the western tradition. Britain :

academy edition 7 holland street, london w8, 1986.

6. [Online] http://silverandexact.com/2011/01/21/gismonda-poster-alphonse-mucha-1894/.

7. http://www.latvia.travel/en/art-nouveau-riga. [Online]

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau. [Online]

9. M.Tafuri. Modern Architecture1. London : faber and faber/Electa, 1980.