Art Nouveau

Good evening y’all!


Today I had a presentation about Art Nouveau. I’m not going to have the same ”presentation” here for you but just to say a few words and share a few thoughts with you.

So obviously I have to start with a little bit of history. Very shortly. Art Nouveau was born in France, in Paris and spread very rapidly from there to Europe and America. The main timeframe for this art was from 1890 to the I World War in 1914. It was a very important movement in art and design even though it didn’t last very long. Art Nouveau (”New Art” in French) tried to pursue anything new in arts and design. It was fighting against the industrial revolution and mass-production – though ironically industrialisation made Art Nouveau possible with all the new materials and ways to work them. Architecture, furniture and jewellery design shaped with iron, glass, ceramics and such materials.

With the helping hand of Jules Cherét posters became popular, people started to treat them as fine arts and they became easier to print with Cherét’s 3-colour chromolithography. Posters enabled the graphic design of Art Nouveau to travel quickly between countries and the distribution also included things such as books and magazines. The world exhibitions in 1888 (Barcelona), 1900 (Paris) and 1902 (Turin, Italy) were massive showcases for Art Nouveau.

And now I want to turn your attention back to France where my favourite artist of all times, the Czech born Alphonse Mucha did most of his Art Nouveau pieces. He for me (and many others) is the embodiment of Art Nouveau. The art pieces reflect femininity, romance, the lush and round shapes, nature, organic design, beauty and all that. That’s the essence of Art Nouveau.

I also love the use of colours Mucha used – the usual colours but in more pastel. The give the art a calmness to them even though they have bold curves and lots going on in them. In Art Nouveau more is more, but for me the art don’t feel crowded or messy. Even though I love scandinavian simplicity and clean lines, I absolutely love the fulness and lushness of Art Nouveau; especially Mucha’s artwork. They speak to me.

In the bottom I’ll give some examples of Mucha’s art. Enjoy!

And have a good night!