Art Nouveau - The Art Story

Flourishing mainly between 1890, and 1910, Art Nouveau graced the world with its striking beauty, throughout art, architecture, design, glass, and Jewelry. On all accounts there were several inspiring pieces that came from this movement, many even, from the same artists. The art itself harboured dozens of creators, these artists drew inspiration through geometric and/or organic shapes. The movement's objective was devoted to knocking traditional, hierarchy arts out of first place, justifying just how captivating decorative arts could be. Flowing through the different variations of art, Art nouveau left some gems along the way whether it be artists or their masterpieces. Over the years there were many artists who rose to the top and took their creations with them, like Aubrey Beardsley, Louis Comfort, or Gustav Klimt who brought us arts of the ages that we still appreciate today such as The Dancer’s Reward, Tiffany, and The Kiss, all pieces that have held their beauty for centuries. Along with art, the movement came with a new era of architecture, design, and jewelry that still influence our artsy decisions today a whopping one hundred six years later. Victor Horta a designer/artist is one of the influences on Art Nouveau, his gutsy use of cast iron in his creations changed the face of architecture and design forever. The proofs of his art is still standing and even well known today, in the homes of the Bourgeoisie in Brussels (France).The specific design characteristics of this “modern” art fashion are rolling and asymmetrical lines, that more often than not took the shape of flowers stems, and buds, vines, and generally natural objects. A “style-specific” preference example would be the is Gaudi’s Casa Mila, the architecture and design of the superstructure make it take on a “wavy” form. Thinking of themselves in a more artistic light, Art Nouveau jewelry makers took pride, and extra care when creating their hand- crafted jewelry that was soft and romantic encompassing light colors and curves, depicting a very female form, most of your jewelry comes from the original designs of Art Nouveau artists dating back to 1890. The need to part with the historical styles of the 19th century was an important motive behind Art Nouveau, a motive that implants the evolutions modernism . The artists of Art Nouveau sought to bring workmanship, craft, and design back to life with a modern twist Art Nouveau artists wanted to overturn that belief that the art lacked craftsmanship. Many Art Nouveau designers felt the 19th century design had been overly “ornamental”, and in wishing to avoid what they perceived as petty decor, they evolved a belief that the purpose of a commodity should dictate its shape. This theory had contemporary revivals of the gothic art style ,and in process it was a somewhat flexible ideology or mentality , yet it would be an important part of the style's tradition to later movements like the modernism and the Bauhaus. Although the Art Nouveau didn’t have a long lasting run in it’s original time, its fashions, designs, and unique contribution to the art world leaves us with everlasting ,ageless architecture, art pieces, jewelry and more.