Art Nouveau 1890-1910

 

Art Nouveau was a design movement in the late 19th century that took place around the same time as the Arts and Crafts movement. While some of the prominent figures of Art Nouveau looked too others such as William Morris who were a part of the Arts and Crafts movement, they did not completely agree with it. Both movements rejected Victorian design and most historical precedents, but they were still very different. The Arts and Crafts movement did not appreciate industrialization and manufacturing; a lot of their focus revolved around craftsmanship. Art Nouveau on the other hand recognized industrial production and embraced it. It wanted to find a balance between functionality and beauty.

Art Nouveau wanted to also balance functionality and beauty and did so through the implementation of nature in their designs. The architects and designers of the movement took examples from the world around them, using woods such as walnut, mahogany, and rose wood in their designs. This led to an emphasis of curvilinear forms in their work. While they were focused on interiors and furniture designs, they also looked to “paintings, and books of superficial historical references” (History of Furniture, pg. 432). They believed that there should be unity between major and minor art forms. For example, a simple pendant necklace could hold attention the same way a classical painting could.

One Step Further:

One main figures of Art Nouveau in Belgium was Henry Van de Velde. He was originally trained as a painter but looked into furniture design as well. He was a fan of William Morris, exploring aesthetics and morality in nature and how they were interwoven. Van de Velde stressed the difference between ornamentation and ornaments. Ornamentation is attached to flat planes. This could be anything from paintings to detail work on a piece of furniture. An ornament on the other hand was “inherent, a logical outcome of a form or material and revealing of its inner structure” (History of Furniture, pg. 436). One of his furniture designs, an oak and leather desk and chair, is a great example of this. It balances the beauty and curvilinear forms Art Nouveau sought after while accommodating for the functionality a desk requires. The desk and chair are curved based on the wood and the inspiration of nature but not so much as to forget about the need for writing space and storage.

Not only was this chair and desk of importance at the time but Van de Velde also made other furniture that would be of inspiration later on. He kept in mind functionality of the furniture but didn’t let it stop him from creating simple, but elegant designs. His chair from a tobacco shop in Berlin is an excellent example of this. It incorporates aspects of nature. By gently curving the legs and back it gives a sense of the branches the wood used to be. It balances functionality and beauty. 

The ideas of Art Nouveau are interesting, and I think we can learn from them. While I personally think they took the idea of curvilinear forms a bit too far they do well in finding inspiration around them. The creation around us is amazing and awe-inspiring. We just need to look out of the window a bit more.