S3 Critical Activity - Design
Art Nouveau
Introduction to Art Nouveau
• Art Nouveau translates as ‘New Art’ in French.
• It began in the late 1880’s.
• It began in Britain before spreading to Europe and
America.
• The name came from a Parisian shop owned by Samuel
Bing – ‘La Maison de l’Art Nouveau’.
• The shop imported Japanese art and sold the work of
contemporary designers and sculptors.
• It was not a formal movement at the time – it is only with
hindsight that links and common characteristics can be
established.
• The movement introduced the idea of ‘Total Art’ in its
architecture –designing everything in the same style.
Art Nouveau Influences
• The distinctive Art Nouveau style took its inspiration from
a variety of sources – nature, early Celtic art and Japanese
art.
• Common motifs were flowers, stems, leaves, serpents and
dragonflies.
• Celtic art influenced with its twisting and curving
decoration.
• Japanese art influenced with its emphasis on decorative
line, creating flat patterned work with a delicate balance
between decoration and plain background.
• “…not mere first-hand copying of nature, but an
independent world of imaginative creation where Nature
supplied only the raw material.” Masini, p.58
Japanese Art
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‘The Great Wave’
Hokusai
Decorative line
Flat colour
Sweeping curves
Celtic Art
• Typical example of
Celtic Art.
• Intricate.
• Interwoven lines.
• Natural forms.
• Mystical qualities.
Characteristics of Art Nouveau
• Art Nouveau designs are easily recognised by the
designer’s use of line – flowing, curving, twisting and
elegant lines.
• The designers rejected the use of straight line and order in
favour of more natural movement.
• The same is true of 3D designs, except the term to use is
form rather than line.
• The natural influences used are either depicted realistically
or in abstracted shapes.
• ‘Abstracted’ means the designers stylized and exaggerated
natural forms.
• There is an emphasis on decorative pattern.
Art Nouveau Designers
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Alphonse Mucha – a French poster designer and architect,
Antoni Gaudi – a Spanish architect,
Rene Lalique – a French jeweller and glass designer,
Charles Rennie Mackintosh – a Scottish architect and
designer,
• Victor Horta – a Belgian architect,
• Hector Guimard – a French architect and designer.
• The leading designers of the movement were most
commonly architects, who branched out into designing
their own furniture for the interiors of their buildings. This
demonstrates the ‘Total Art’ concept of the movement.
Alphonse Mucha – 1860-1939
• Mucha was a French poster
designer and illustrator of the
Art Nouveau period.
• Many of these designs were for
luxury products like champagne
and dance shows.
• The female form was the basis
of most of his designs.
• He exaggerated and elongated
the forms and shapes.
• The way he stylised the women
gave them an air of allure and
mystery.
• The importance of line is easily
seen here.
Antoni Gaudi – 1852-1926
• Casa Mila, Barcelona.
• Most of Gaudi’s great creations
are in Barcelona.
• The way the building has been
designed and built manages to
make it look as though it is one
massive living form.
• The façade ripples and
undulates. It is on a corner site
and continues seamlessly
around the bend.
• This is obviously an Art
Nouveau building with its clear
references to nature and
decorative, twisting ironwork.
Antoni Gaudi
• This close up allows
us to see how the
building may have
been constructed more
easily.
Antoni Gaudi
• This photograph from
the roof allows us to
see the courtyard in
the centre of the
building.
Antoni Gaudi
• Casa Batllo, Barcelona
• This is one of Gaudi’s
most spectacular and
unusual buildings.
• Brightly coloured ceramic
disc shaped tiles have
been used to cover the
façade.
• The sandstone used for the
windows has been
moulded and sculpted into
elongated, curving
openings for the windows.
Antoni Gaudi
• The roof, also covered
with bright ceramic tiles,
has been designed to echo
the scales on a dragon’s
back.
• The roof is almost
sculptural and showcases
Gaudi’s all round talent as
an artist and architect.
• The building is a perfect
blend of aesthetics
(appearance) and function
(purpose).
Antoni Gaudi
• Casa Batllo, Barcelona
• This apartment block is known
locally as the ‘House of
Yawns’.
• Gaudi has been interested in
function here as he would have
ensured the building worked as
an apartment block.
• However, he has also been
interested in the form and
aesthetics.
• This is easily seen in the
verandas and the way he has
cleverly combined the
stonework with iron bars for
safety.
Antoni Gaudi
• Casa Batllo, Barcelona
• Gaudi has been highly
imaginative in his use of
materials.
• In this one window, we can see
stonework, metalwork and
coloured glass panels.
• To really understand how
unusual this building is,
compare it to any you have seen
in Scotland. Have you seen
anything similar?
Antoni Gaudi
• Guell Palace,
Barcelona
• Arched entrances
• Decorative ironwork
• Both key
characteristics of the
Art Nouveau style.
Rene Lalique – 1860-1945
• Peacock Brooch, c.1898/1900
• Gold, enamel, opals, diamonds.
• Lalique was a master goldsmith
who is seen as revolutionary.
• He did not use materials
traditionally and rarely used
diamonds - unusual at this time.
• The use of non-precious
coloured stones, glass and
tortoiseshell led the way for
costume jewellery later in the
Art Deco era of the 1920’s.
Rene Lalique
• Landscape comb,
c.1899/1900
• Enamelled gold and horn.
• Enamel was also rare at
this time, but Lalique
loved the bright yet
delicate colours.
Rene Lalique
• Serpent brooch,
c.1898/1899
• Gold and enamel
• Lalique frequently used
dragonflies, serpents,
peacocks and graceful
women as his source
material.
• These share an exotic aura
of mystery.
Rene Lalique
• Dragonfly brooch.
• Gold and enamel.
• This is possibly Lalique’s most
well-known piece.
• The enamel has been delicately
used to create the shimmering
colours in the wings.
• Lalique’s imagination is clear in
this design which incorporates
claws and a female form in the
centre of the dragonfly.
Rene Lalique
• Face pendant.
• Gold, silver, glass,
enamel, pearl.
• He was very observant
and very skilled.
• This is easily seen in the
intricate detail of his
work.
• Lalique began
experimenting with glass
in the 1920’s.
C.R. Mackintosh - 1868-1928
• Mackintosh’s style is ‘Art
Nouveau’, but his work is not
exactly like the other designers.
• He was not very well regarded
in his lifetime, particularly in
England where they viewed his
work as too stylised or
aesthetic.
• Mackintosh used more
measured, elegant curves then
the others, whose lines are
sometimes termed ‘whiplash’.
C.R. Mackintosh
• 78 Southpark Avenue,
remodelled at The Hunterian
Gallery, Glasgow
• This project was an opportunity
to create ‘interior architecture’ –
designing everything within the
house to create a harmonious
interior.
• The simplicity and use of the
colour white was very unusual
at this time, particularly in such
an industrial city as Glasgow.
• Again, CRM has carefully
blended decoration and
function.
C.R. Mackintosh
• Doors for the Salon de Luxe,
Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow,
1903.
• Stained Glass.
• Symmetry was common in
Mackintosh designs.
• Clear evidence of natural
influences and fascination with
line.
• Again, very functional as this
door would signal an entry into
a more specialised area of the
Tea Rooms.
C.R. Mackintosh
• Cabinet with inlaid glass
panels, for 14 Kingsborough
Gardens, Glasgow.
• The decorative stained glass
side panels were possibly a
result of collaboration with his
wife.
• Stained glass was ideal for Art
Nouveau designers to use as it
is quite easy to produce and
allowed them to use line and
colour in a flat decoration.
C.R. Mackintosh
• Hillhouse Chair
• This is one of
Mackintosh’s most
famous designs.
• This was produced later in
his life and the difference
from earlier work is
obvious.
• The design is still very
linear, but much more
simple and restrained.
Victor Horta – 1861-1947
• Hotel Tassel, Brussels
• They all made use of wrought
iron in their work as it is very
versatile, appropriate for both
structural and decorative uses.
• This reception area makes good
use of the material.
• “The effect is one of great
decorative fantasy” p.105,
Masini text.
Victor Horta
• Horta has left the load-bearing
columns exposed, making them
become a decorative feature.
• This was a common trait in Art
Nouveau - making structural
features appear ornamental.
• Horta has echoed the curves in
the balustrading with the curved
stairs, tiled mosaic floor and the
painted wall designs.
• Again, this is the way Art
Nouveau designers worked creating a uniformity in the
interior.
Victor Horta
• The use of large areas
of glass and the linear
iron supports allows
for a delicate, almost
transparent approach.
Hector Guimard – 1867-1942
• Guimard was also an
architect, but like the other
designers was interested in
designing furniture too.
• This is perhaps because
they liked to have the
same control over their
interiors as they did over
the exterior of a building.
• Guimard’s style is very
curvilinear - no straight
lines.
Hector Guimard
• French Pearwood
chair
• The same ideas apply
to designing furniture
as buildings- form and
function, ornament
and structure.
Hector Guimard
• Guimard is responsible for
the Metro station
entrances in Paris.
• He also designed the
distinctive lettering style,
which many people
disliked at first.
• The entrances generally
made use of wrought and
cast irons, which could be
manipulated into sweeping
curves.
Hector Guimard
• Decorative ironwork at a
Paris metro
• The green enamel work
here is reminiscent of real
plant life.
• No other designer in
France reached the same
level of decorative
freedom as Guimard
during the Art Nouveau
period.
Bibliography
• Books
• Websites
• ‘Design Museum - 20th
Century Design’ Catherine
McDermott
• ‘The Look of The Century’
Michael Tambini
• ‘Art Nouveau Architecture’
Frank Russell (Ed.)
• ‘Introduction to the
Decorative Arts’ Amanda
O’Neill (Ed.)
• ‘Art Nouveau’ Lara Vinca
Masini
• ‘Gaudi’ Juan-Eduardo Cirlot
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www.kubos.org/AN/en
www.artcyclopedia.com
www.crmsociety.com
www.artlex.com
www.greatbuildings.com
www.dogpile.com (search
engine)
• www.nga.gov (Search, Search
the site, Art Nouveau)
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