Paris, France gave birth to one of the most exciting periods in the world of art in 1880. Art Nouveau as a movement was the inventive, all encompassing international style that developed simultaneously in many countries. Through the years ending in 1920, artists from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, England, and the United States transformed the world of advertising into other artistic dimensions.
The term Art Nouveau was used in England and America, Jugendstil in Germany, Le Style Moderne in France, Sezession in Austria, Stile Liberty in Italy, Modernista in Spain, and Paling Stijl in Belgium. The aesthetic of this then avant-garde movement was based on a symbolic organic form that presented itself in a linear, swirling, entwining, rhythmic abstract design.
There were those who worked more conservatively with this inspiration of nature reformed. While first seen through the works of posters, the style was one that bred life into other crafts of art. The artists of this period in music, painting, architecture, sculpture, poetry and literature all played their part, influencing in all aspects the design of interior and household objects, elevating them as well as posters, graphics, jewelry, china and metal work to the status of painting and sculpture. Indeed, all of the artists were working with craftsmen and becoming craftsmen to defeat the tawdry machine-made and poorly designed functional object. Vintage posters from artists including Mucha, Lautrec, Steinlen, Tissot, Gottlob, Cheret, and others portray what this innovative period represented.
Elayne H. Varian
Finch College Museum of Art
4/30-6/15, 1969 New York