Art+Nouveau


 * Art Nouveau **

__Background__ Art Nouveau, meaning “New Art”, originates from Czech artist, Alphonse Mucha. In the late 1800’s, Mucha made many paintings, posters, advertisements, and book illustrations which were described as Mucha style at first, but eventually just became known as Art Nouveau. His style got spread internationally due to the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris. Most Art Nouveau artists wanted to create genuinely modern artwork and disliked the 19th century styles. Art Nouveau was a short lived style which lasted from about 1890 to 1910.

This is an example of one of Alphonse Mucha paintings. Savonnerie de Bagnolet

__Characteristics__ The goal of Art Nouveau was to create more modern styles of design, and to apply artistic designs to everyday objects so that everyone would have access to them. Art Nouveau is characterized by organic, flowing forms, and borders. Shapes resemble the stems and blossoms of plants. Also, there were lots of geometric forms such as squares and rectangles.

__ Examples of Art Nouveau Artists and Art __

Divan Japonais, 1892-1893
 * Toulouse- Lautrec was one of the main painters during the Art Nouveau period. His work was also influenced by Japanese woodblock paintings.

Stairway, Tassel House, Brussels- 1892-1893
 * Victor Horta was a Art Nouveau architect. He was a Belgian artist who worked in the office of a Neoclassical architect in Brussels for six years but he opened his own practice in 1890.

__ Significance __ Although Art Nouveau was very short lived, it still had a big influence on the art that came after it. It inspired illustrations, posters, print on t-shirts, bookmark decorations, and its style can still be seen in home decorations today.