Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau Jean Lahor A rt Nouveau designates a decorative and architectural style developed in the 1880s and 1890s in the West. Born in reaction to the industrial revolution and to the creative vacuum it left behind, Art Nouveau was at the heart of a “renaissance” in the decorative arts. The primary objective of the movement was the creation of a new aesthetic of Nature through a return to the study of natural subjects. In order to achieve this, such artists as Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Antoni Gaudí, Jan Toorop, and William Morris favoured innovation in technique and novelty of forms. After its triumph at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1900, the trend continued and has inspired many artists ever since. Art Déco, the successor of Art Nouveau, appeared after World War II. Text: Jean Lahor (adaptation) Translator: Rebecca Brimacombe Layout: Baseline Co Ltd 127-129A Nguyen Hue Blvd, Fiditourist, Level 3 District 1, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam © 2007, Parkstone Press International, New York, USA © 2007, Confidential Concepts, Worldwide, USA © 2007, Mathilde Augé © 2007, Germaine Boy © 2007, Carlo Bugatti, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris © 2007, Louis Chalon © 2007, Edouard Colonna © 2007, Charles-Henri Delanglade © 2007, Jean Delville, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA/SABAM, Brussels © 2007, Fernand Dubois © 2007, R. Evaldre © 2007, Georges de Feure, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA/BEELDRECHT, Amsterdam © 2007, Georges Fouquet, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris © 2007, René Foy © 2007, Adria Gual-Queralt © 2007, Hector Guimard © 2007, Gustav Gurschner © 2007, Josef Hoffmann © 2007 - Victor Horta/Droits SOFAM - Belgique © 2007, Prince Bojidar Karageorgevitch © 2007, Keller et Guérin © 2007, René Lalique, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris © 2007, Lindgren © 2007, Charles Rennie Mackintosh © 2007, Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo © 2007, Herbert McNair © 2007, Bernhard Pankok © 2007, Charles Plumet © 2007, J. Prémont © 2007, Victor Prouvé, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris © 2007, Richard Riemerschmid, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn © 2007, Saarinen © 2007, St Petersburg Imperial Glassworks, copyright reserved © 2007, Tony Selmersheim © 2007, Henry Van de Velde, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA/SABAM, Brussels © 2007, Henri Vever © 2007, Ely Vial © 2007, Zsolnay Porcelánmanufaktúra Zrt., copyright reserved All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or adapted without the permission of the copyright holder, throughout the world. Unless otherwise specified, copyright on the works reproduced lies with the respective photographers. Despite intensive research, it has not always been possible to establish copyright ownership. Where this is the case, we would appreciate notification. ISBN: 978-1-85995-673-1 Printed in China - Contents - I. The Origins of Art Nouveau 7 II. Art Nouveau at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris 39 Conclusion 79 Major Artists 89 Notes 194 Bibliography 195 Index 196 I. The Origins of Art Nouveau “O ne can argue the merits and the future of the new decorative art movement, but there is no denying it currently reigns triumphant over all Europe and in every English-speaking country outside Europe; all it needs now is management, and this is up to men of taste.” (Jean Lahor, Paris 1901) Art Nouveau sprang from a major movement in the decorative arts that first appeared in Western Europe