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The Art Nouveau Style (1896 - 1910)
Art Nouveau is an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century . It is also known as Jugendstil, German for 'youth style'.
At first called the Alphonse Mucha Style (after a poster design of his), this soon became known as Art Nouveau.
Art Nouveau fell out of favor with the arrival of 20th-century modernist styles; it is seen today as an important bridge between Neoclassicism and modernism.
The name Art Nouveau (and Jugendstil) came from, Samuel Bing's gallery Maison de l'Art Nouveau in Paris and the magazine Jugend in Germany.
Whiplash is frequently applied to the characteristic curves employed by Art Nouveau artists. Such decorative "whiplash" motifs, formed by dynamic, undulating, and flowing lines in a syncopated rhythm, are found throughout the architecture, painting, sculpture, and other forms of Art Nouveau design.
Art Nouveau is now considered a 'total' style, meaning that it encompasses — architecture; interior design; decorative arts including jewelry, furniture, textiles, household silver and other utensils, and lighting; and the range of visual arts.
German Art Nouveau is commonly known by its German name, Jugendstil. Drawing from traditional German printmaking, the style uses precise and hard edges, an element that was different from the style of the time. The German movement was centered in Munich. Within the field of Jugendstil art, there is a variety of different methods, applied by the various individual artists. Methods range from classic to romantic. One feature that sets Jugendstil apart is the typography used, whose letter and image combination is unmistakeable. The combination was used for covers of novels, advertisements, and exhibition posters. Designers often used unique display typefaces, of the Broadway type, that worked harmoniously with the image.
In Britain, Art Nouveau naturally from the Arts and Crafts Movement. The beginning of an Art Nouveau "movement" can be seen in the 1880s, in progressive designs such as the architect-designer Arthur Mackmurdo's book cover design for his essay on the city churches of Sir Christopher Wren, in 1883. Some free-flowing wrought iron from the 1880s could also be adduced, or some flat floral textile designs, most of which owed some impetus to patterns of High Victorian design. The most important centre in Britain eventually became Glasgow, with the creations of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his circle.
Stile Liberty in Italy reflected the modern design emanating from the Liberty & Co store.
By the start of the First World War, however, the highly stylised nature of Art Nouveau, which was expensive to produce, was dropped in favour of more streamlined, rectilinear modernism that was cheaper and closer to the rough, plain, industrial ideal that became Art Deco.