Art Nouveau

Main article: Art Nouveau Around 1900 a number of architects around the world began developing new architectural solutions to integrate traditional precedents with new social demands and technological possibilities. The work of Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde in Brussels, Antoni Gaud in Barcelona, Otto Wagner in Vienna and Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow, among many others, can be seen as a common struggle between old and new. Art Nouveau (French pronunciation: [a nu'vo], Anglicised to /rt nuvo/) is an international philosophy[1] and style of art, architecture and applied artespecially the decorative arts that were most popular during 18901910.[2] The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art". It is known also as Modernisme in Catalonia (Spain), with its most notable contributions by the architect Antoni Gaud. Known as Jugendstil, pronounced [ ] in Germany, German for "youth style" or "the style of youth", named after the magazine Jugend, which promoted it, as Modern () in Russia, perhaps named after Parisian gallery "La Maison Moderne", as Secession in Austria-Hungary and its successor states after the Viennese group of artists, and, in Italy, as Stile Liberty from the department store in London, Liberty & Co., which popularised the style. A reaction to academic art of the 19th century, it was inspired by natural forms and structures, not only in flowers and plants but also in curved lines. Architects tried to harmonize with the natural environment. It is also considered a philosophy of design of furniture, which was designed according to the whole building and made part of ordinary life.[3] The style was influenced strongly by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, when Mucha produced a lithographed poster, which appeared on 1 January 1895 in the streets of Paris as an advertisement for the play Gismonda by Victorien Sardou, featuring Sarah Bernhardt.[4] It popularised the new artistic style and its creator to the citizens of Paris. Initially named Style Mucha, (Mucha Style), his style soon became known as Art Nouveau.[5] Art Nouveau was most popular in Europe, but its influence was global. Hence, it is known in various guises with frequent localised tendencies.[6] In France, Hector Guimard's Paris metro entrances were of art nouveau style and Emile Gall practised the style in Nancy. Victor Horta had a decisive effect on architecture in Belgium.[7] Magazines like Jugend helped publicise the style in Germany, especially as a graphic artform, while the Vienna Secessionists influenced art and architecture throughout Austria-Hungary. Art Nouveau was also a style of distinct individuals such as Gustav Klimt, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Alphonse Mucha, Ren Lalique, Antoni Gaud and Louis Comfort Tiffany, each of whom interpreted it in their own manner.[8][9] Although Art Nouveau was replaced by 20th-century modernist styles,[10] it is considered now as an important transition between the historicism of Neoclassicism and modernism.[9] Furthermore, Art Nouveau monuments are now recognised by UNESCO with their World Heritage List as significant contributions to cultural heritage.[11] The historic center of Riga, Latvia, with "the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe", was included on the list in 1997 in part because of the "quality and the quantity of its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil
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architecture",[12] and four Brussels town houses by Victor Horta were included in 2000 as "works of human creative genius" that are "outstanding examples of Art Nouveau architecture brilliantly illustrating the transition from the 19th to the 20th century in art, thought, and society".[13]

Naming the style

At its beginning, neither Art Nouveau nor Jugendstil was the common name of the style but was known as this in some locations, and the style had different names as it was spread. [14] Those two names came from, respectively, Samuel Bing's gallery Maison de l'Art Nouveau in Paris and the magazine Jugend in Munich,[9] both of which promoted and popularised the style.[14]

Bing's Maison de l'Art Nouveau

An advertisement for the Art Nouveau gallery "La Maison Moderne" by Manuel Orazi

Maison de l'Art Nouveau (House of New Art) was the name of the gallery initiated in 1895 by the German art dealer Samuel Bing in Paris that featured exclusively modern art.[15][16] The fame of his gallery was increased at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, where he presented coordinatedin design and colorinstallations of modern furniture, tapestries and objets d'art.[16] These decorative displays became so strongly associated with the style that the name of his gallery subsequently provided a commonly used term for the entire style.[16]

Jugend and Jugendstil

Jugendstil sculpture, detail of facade in Metz, France

Jugendstil typography, applied to a brewery sign

Jugend: Mnchner illustrierte Wochenschrift fr Kunst und Leben (English: Youth: the illustrated weekly magazine of art and lifestyle of Munich) was a magazine founded in 1896 by Georg Hirth (Hirth remained editor until his death in 1916, and the magazine continued to be published until 1940). The magazine was instrumental in promoting the style in Germany. As a result, its name was adopted as the most common German-language term for the style: Jugendstil ("young style"), although, during the early 20th century, the word was applied to only two-dimensional examples of the graphic arts,[17] especially the forms of organic typography and graphic design found in and influenced by German magazines like Jugend, Pan, and Simplicissimus. It is now applied to more general manifestations of Art Nouveau visual arts in Germany, the Netherlands, the Baltic states, and Nordic countries.[9][18]

Other names

Paris Mtro entrance in Chicago

Other local names were associated with the characteristics of its forms, its practitioners and their works, and schools of thought or study where it was popular. Many of these terms refer to the idea of "newness". Before the term "Art Nouveau" became common in France, le style moderne ("the modern style") was the more frequent designation.[14] Arte joven ("young art") in Spain, Modernisme in Catalonia, Arte nova in Portugal ("new art"), Arte nuova in Italy (also "new art"), and Nieuwe kunst ("new art") in the Netherlands, ("new", "contemporary") in Russia all continue this theme.[9] Many names refer specifically to the organic forms that were popular with the Art Nouveau artists: Stile Floreal ("floral

style"), Lilienstil ("lily style"), Style Nouille ("noodle style"), Paling Stijl ("eel style"), and Wellenstil ("wave style").[14] In other cases, important examples, well-known artists, and associated locations influenced the names. Hector Guimard's Paris Mtro entrances, for example, provided the term Style Mtro, the popularity in Italy of Art Nouveau designs from London's Liberty & Co department store resulted in its being known as the Stile Liberty ("Liberty style"), and, in the United States, it became known as the "Tiffany style" due to its association with Louis Comfort Tiffany.[9][14] In Austria, a localised form of Art Nouveau was practised by artists of the Vienna Secession, and it is, therefore, known as the Sezessionstil ("Secession style").[19] As a stand-alone term, however, "Secession" (German: Sezession, Hungarian: szecesszi, Czech: secese) is used frequently to describe the general characteristics of Art Nouveau style outside Vienna, but mostly in areas of Austria-Hungary at the beginning of the 20th century. In the United Kingdom, it is associated with the activities of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow, and is often known as the "Glasgow" style. Art Nouveau tendencies were also absorbed into local styles. In Denmark, for example, it was one aspect of Sknvirke ("aesthetic work"), which itself more closely relates to the Arts and Crafts style.[20][21] Likewise, artists adopted many of the floral and organic motifs of Art Nouveau into the Moda Polska ("Young Poland") style in Poland.[22] Moda Polska, however, was also inclusive of other artistic styles and encompassed a broader approach to art, literature, and lifestyle.[23]

Origins
The origins of Art Nouveau are found in the resistance of the artist William Morris to the cluttered compositions and the revival tendencies of the 19th century and his theories that helped initiate the Arts and crafts movement.[24] However, Arthur Mackmurdo's book-cover for Wren's City Churches (1883), with its rhythmic floral patterns, is often considered the first realisation of Art Nouveau.[24] About the same time, the flat perspective and strong colors of Japanese wood block prints, especially those of Katsushika Hokusai, had a strong effect on the formulation of Art Nouveau.[25] The Japonisme that was popular in Europe during the 1880s and 1890s was particularly influential on many artists with its organic forms and references to the natural world.[25] Besides being adopted by artists like Emile Gall and James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Japanese-inspired art and design was championed by the businessmen Siegfried Bing and Arthur Lasenby Liberty at their stores[26] in Paris and London, respectively.[25]

Character

The building on Pikk 18 in Tallinn, Estonia, by Jacques Rosenbaum, 1910

Although Art Nouveau acquired distinctly localised tendencies as its geographic spread increased, some general characteristics are indicative of the form. A description published in Pan magazine of Hermann Obrist's wall hanging Cyclamen (1894) described it as "sudden violent curves generated by the crack of a whip", which became well known during the early spread of Art Nouveau.[27] Subsequently, not only did the work itself become better known as The Whiplash but the term "whiplash" is frequently applied to the characteristic curves employed by Art Nouveau artists.[27] 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.

Philosophy and geography

La tourne du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Salis (1896) by Thophile Steinlen

Art Nouveau is now considered a 'total' style, meaning that it includes a hierarchy of scales in designarchitecture; interior design; decorative arts including jewellery, furniture, textiles, household silver and other utensils and lighting; and the visual arts (see Hierarchy of genres.) According to the philosophy of the style, art should be a way of life. For many Europeans, it was possible to live in an art nouveau-inspired house with art nouveau furniture, silverware, crockery, jewellery, cigarette cases, etc. Artists desired to combine the fine arts and applied arts, even for utilitarian objects. [3]

International expos
Part of the evolution of Art Nouveau was the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris, which presented an overview of the 'modern style' in every medium. It achieved further recognition at the Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna of 1902 in Turin, Italy, where designers exhibited from almost every European country where Art Nouveau was practiced.
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France, Belgium and Switzerland

In Paris, the Maison de l'Art Nouveau, at the time managed by Siegfried Bing, showcased art nouveau objects. Artists such as mile Gall, Louis Majorelle and Victor Prouv in Nancy, France, founded the cole de Nancy, giving Art Nouveau a new influence. In Brussels, Belgium the style was developed with the help of the architects Victor Horta[13] and Henry Van de Velde.[28] Other Art Nouveau designers in Belgium, Switzerland, and France include Theophile Alexandre Steinlen, Hector Guimard, and Jules Lavirotte.[3] The Czech artist Alphonse Mucha worked in Paris for a number of years.

Spain

The Casa Batll, already built in 1877, was remodelled in the Barcelona manifestation of Art Nouveau, modernisme, by Antoni Gaud and Josep Maria Jujol during 19041906

In Spain, the style was based mainly in Barcelona and was an essential element of the Catalan Modernisme. Architect Antoni Gaud, whose decorative architectural style is so personal that he is sometimes considered as practising an artistic style different from Art Nouveau, nonetheless uses Art Nouveau's floral and organic forms. [29] His designs from about 1903, the Casa Batll (19041906) and Casa Mil (19061908), are most closely related to the stylistic elements of Art Nouveau. [30] However, famous structures such as the Sagrada Familia characteristically contrast the modernising Art Nouveau tendencies with revivalist Neo-Gothic.[30] Besides the dominating presence of Gaud, Llus Domnech i Montaner also used Art Nouveau in Barcelona in buildings such as the Casa Lle Morera (1905).[30] Another major art nouveauist was Josep Maria Jujol.

Germany

Music room of the Behrens house with Schiedmayer grand piano, 1901

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 rather different from the naturalistic style of the time. The style was used mainly in Hamburg. Jugendstil art includes a variety of different methods, applied by the various individual artists. Methods range from classic to romantic. One feature of Jugendstil is the typography used, the letter and image combination of which is unmistakable. The combination was used for covers of novels, advertisements, and exhibition posters. Designers often used unique display typefaces that worked harmoniously with the image. Henry Van de Velde, who worked most of his career in Germany, was a Belgian theorist who influenced many others to continue this style of graphic art including Peter Behrens, Hermann Obrist, and Richard Riemerschmid. August Endell, Henri Privat-Livemont is another notable Art Nouveau designer.[3] Magazines were important for spreading the visual idiom of Jugendstil, especially the graphical qualities. Besides Jugend, other important magazines were the satirical Simplicissimus and Pan.

Austria

The secession building in Vienna was built in 1897 by Joseph Maria Olbrich for exhibitions of the secession group. 7

A localised approach to Art Nouveau is represented by the artists of the Vienna Secession, a secession that was initiated on 3 April 1897 by Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, Otto Wagner, and others. They objected to the conservative orientation toward historicism expressed by the Vienna Knstlerhaus.

Malta
There are Art Nouveau buildings called the Balluta Buildings. They are apartment buildings on the eastern shore of Balluta Bay, on the northeast coast of Malta within the district St. Julian's.

Britain
In the United Kingdom, Art Nouveau developed out of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The beginning of an Art Nouveau style can be recognized during the 1880s, in a few progressive designs such as the architect-designer Arthur Mackmurdo's book cover design for his essay on the city churches of Sir Christopher Wren, published during 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 19th century design. The most important centre in Britain eventually became Glasgow, with the creations of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his colleagues, not to forget his wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, who produced outstanding paintings. Other notable British Art Nouveau designers include Walter Crane, Arthur Lasenby Liberty, Charles Ashbee, and Aubrey Beardsley.[3] The Edward Everard building in Bristol, built during 190001 to house the printing works of Edward Everard, features an Art Nouveau faade. The figures depicted are of Johannes Gutenberg and William Morris, both eminent in the field of printing. A winged figure symbolises the Spirit of Light, while a figure holding a lamp and mirror symbolises light and truth.

Italy

Casa Galleria-Vichi in Florence, designed by Giovanni Michelazzi, 1911

The Art Nouveau European Route[31] provides details of the heritage in Europe and worldwide of the Art Nouveau style featuring considerable information about Italy's Stile Liberty. This represented the modern designs from the Liberty & Co store of London, indicating both Art Nouveau's commercial aspect and the 'imported' character that it retained in some parts of Italy, though not in Palermo, isolated from developments in the north and evolving an independent character due largely to designers such as architect Ernesto Basile and Vittorio Ducrot, who specialised as a cabinetmaker. According to the Art Nouveau European Route, Basile and Ducrot were responsible for the idea of the complete work of art in Italy. Important Italian Liberty cities or sites are the spa centres of Salsomaggiore Terme, Emilia-Romagna, and San Pellegrino Terme, Lombardy, as well as Cernobbio on Lake Como also in Lombardy. Some large cities have a considerable number of Liberty-style decorations and buildings, especially Turin, Milan, Naples, Florence, Genoa, and large sections of the sea-side town of Viareggio, Tuscany. The Liberty Style was used by Italian designers and architects overseas, especially in Argentina and Chile, such as at Valparaso where architects Renato Schiavon and Arnaldo Barison, trained in Trieste, arrived after the earthquake of 1906. Here they built outstanding structures such as the Palace Barburizza (1915), now the city's Museum of Fine Arts. Other important Italian art nouveau designers were the Bugatti family (Carlo, Ettore, Jean and Rembrandt) best known for their cars built in France, and furniture and art constructed in their native Milan. Carlo Bugatti, born February 1856 in Milan was himself the son of an architect and sculptor Giovanni Luigi Bugatti. Carlo received his training at the renowned Milanese Academy of Brera, and later the Acadmie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His work was wide-ranging including silverware, textiles, ceramics, and musical instruments, but he is best remembered for his innovative furniture designs, shown first in the 1888 Milan Fine Arts Fair.

Hungary

Church of St. Elisabeth in Bratislava, by dn Lechner

In contrast to Historicism, Hungarian Art Nouveau is based on supposed national architectural characteristics. dn Lechner (18451914), the most important figure in Hungarian Art Nouveau, was inspired initially by Indian and Syrian architecture, and later by traditional Hungarian decorative designs. In this manner, he created an original synthesis of architectural styles. Disusing the style of Lechner, yet being inspired by his method, the group of 'Young People' (Fiatalok), which included Kroly Ks and Dezs Zrumeczky, applied the characteristic structures and forms of traditional Hungarian architecture, especially the Transylvanian vernacular. Besides the two principal styles, Hungarian architecture also displays local versions of trends originating from other European countries. The Vienna Secession, the German Jugendstil, Art Nouveau from Belgium and France, and the influence of English and Finnish architecture are all represented in the buildings constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. Bla Lajta initially adopted Lechner's style, subsequently adopting English and Finnish trends; after developing an interest in the Egyptian style, he finally developed a modern architectural style. Aladr rkay did almost the same. Istvn Medgyaszay developed his own style, which differed from Lechner's, using stylised traditional motifs to create decorative designs in concrete. For applied arts, those mainly responsible for promoting the spread of Art Nouveau were the School and Museum of Applied Arts, which opened in 1896. Former areas in the Hungarian Kingdom, Vojvodina (northern Serbia) and Transylvania have fine examples of Hungarian art Nouveau. See Szabadka, Marosvsrhely etc.

Czech lands
Alphonse Mucha used the style in Prague and Moravia (part of the modern Czech Republic); his style of Art Nouveau became associated with the so-called Czech National Revival. Fin de sicle sections of Prague reveal modest buildings encrusted with images of leaves and women that curve and swirl across the faades. [32] Examples of Art Nouveau in the city,
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along with the exteriors of any number of private apartment and commercial buildings, are the Municipal House, the Hotel Pa, Smchov Market Hall, Hotel Central, the windows in the St. Wenceslaus Chapel at St. Vitus Cathedral, the main railway station, the Grand Hotel and the Jubilee Synagogue. The Olany Cemetery and the New Jewish Cemetery are also important examples of Art Nouveau.[32] In Czech, Art Nouveau is known as secese, a name adopted from the Austrian term "Secessionism".

Latvia
Art Nouveau architecture was popular in Riga, the capital of Latvia, during the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century about 40% of the buildings from this time were built in this style.[33] Several substyles formed during this period. Early elements of the new style were added to Eclectic architecture forming "Eclectic" Art Nouveau. "Decorative" Art Nouveau refers to style using only decorative elements of the Art Nouveau; the first such building was built in 1899, however by 1906 decorative styles had become unfashionable.[34] Therefore the decorative style is not very widespread in Riga. [33] Most popular style in Riga is known as "Romantic" Art Nouveau. Simplistic and modern in form, these buildings were decorated with elements from other historic styles and constitute about one-third of all buildings in central Riga. From 1905 to 1911, Latvian National Romantism peaked. While being a substyle of Art Nouveau, it copied forms of traditional architecture and incorporated traditional decorative elements. [35] As Art Nouveau matured, emphasis on vertical lines became more popular, known as "Vertical" Art Nouveau, this style was most popular shortly before World War I.[34] The center of Riga is now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in part for its Art Nouveau architecture. [12] Significant number of Art Nouveau structures is located also in other cities and towns of Latvia, including Liepja (hundreds of buildings), Jrmala (notable example Dubulti Lutheran Church, 1907), Daugavpils and others. The use of Art Nouveau outside urban centres has been rare, but there some exquisite examples such as Luznava manor house (eastern Latvia).

Jugendstilsenteret in lesund, Norway

Norway
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The foremost examples of Art Nouveau architecture (Jugendstil) in Norway are found in lesund, which was rebuilt after a major fire in 1904, while the style was particularly relevant. A representative lesund jugend is the former Svaneapoteket (Swan Pharmacy). Today, the Jugendstilsenteret is located in this building. It should have been applied in 1908. Apothecary wre was a member of the council and the presidency in lesund, and after that the pharmacy was adopted also mayor in the years 1909-1910. He chose the architect Hagbarth Martin Schytte-Berg (1860-1944) to draw and construct the new pharmacy.[36] The architect was one of the leaders in the effort to restore lesund after the fire. His other works include Skien Church (1887-1894) and Fagerborg Church in Kristiania (Oslo) (19001903).

Central and Eastern Europe

The interior of the Vitebsk Railway Station in St. Petersburg

In Russia, the style was promoted by the art magazine Mir iskusstva ('World of Art'), which spawned the revolutionary Ballets Russes. The Polish style was centred in Krakow and was part of the Mloda Polska style. Stanisaw Wyspiaski was the main Art Nouveau artist in Poland; his paintings, theatrical designs, stained glass, and building interiors are widely admired and celebrated in the National Museum in Krakw. Art Nouveau buildings survive in most Polish cities (d, Krakw), with the exception of Warsaw, where Communist authorities destroyed the few examples that survived the Nazi razing of the city on the grounds that the buildings were decadent. The Slovene Lands were another area influenced by Art Nouveau. At its beginning, Slovenian Art Nouveau was influenced strongly by the Viennese Secession, but it later developed an individual style. Important architects of this style include Max Fabiani, Ciril Metod Koch, Joe Plenik, Ivan Vurnik. The vast majority of the architecture is to be found in Ljubljana. Croatia was an area of secessionist architecture as well. Architects like Vjekoslav Bastl and Baranyai developed a mixture between modernism and classical Art Nouveau[citation needed]. The Croat architect Josip Vanca worked mostly in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Hercegovina. His architecture was a mixture of earlier historicism and proper Art Nouveau: some of his finest Art Nouveau buildings are located in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

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Other areas

Art Nouveau House in Aveiro, Portugal

Loe Fuller by Franois-Raoul Larche

The spread of Art Nouveau (Arte nova) in Portugal, although delayed due to slowly developing industry, flourished in cities like Oporto and Aveiro, in which can be found numerous buildings influenced by European models, in particular by French architecture.

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Art Nouveau was also popular in the Nordic countries, where it became integrated with the National Romantic Style. Good examples are the neighbourhoods of Katajanokka and Ullanlinna in Helsinki, Finland, as well as the Helsinki Central railway station, designed by the architect Eliel Saarinen. As in Germany, Jugendstil is the prevailing term used for the style. The Norwegian coastal town of lesund burned in 1904, and was rebuilt in a uniform Jugendstil architecture, kept more or less intact to the present. Although no significant artists in Australia are associated with Art Nouveau, many buildings in Australia were designed in the Art Nouveau style. In Melbourne, the Victorian Arts Society, Milton House, Melbourne Sports Depot, Melbourne City Baths, Conservatorium of Music and Melba Hall, Paston Building, and Empire Works Building all represent the Art Nouveau style. Montevideo, in South America's Rio de la Plata, offers a good example of the influence of the Art Nouveau style across the Atlantic. The style is very apparent in the architecture both of downtown and of the periphery of the city. Montevideo maintained intense communication with Paris, London, and Barcelona during Art Nouveau's heyday, when the city was also receiving massive immigration, especially from Italy and Spain. Those were also the years Montevideo developed the structure of its urban spaces, all of which factors help explain the widespread presence of Art Nouveau there.[citation needed] In the other side of the Rio de la Plata, Buenos Aires still conserves some of its Art Nouveau architecture, also brought by Italian and Spanish immigrants, which developed the jugendstil (Edificio Otto Wulff, by Morten Ronnow, Danish), liberty (Casa de los Pavos Reales, by Virginio Colombo, Italian), modernisme (various buildings by Julin Garca Nez, Spanish-Argentine) and Art Nouveau (Chile Hotel by Louis Dubois, French) varieties. Another Argentinean city where this architecture has been recently[when?] protected is Rosario, an important port on the Paran River.

Architecture

Art Nouveau is rarely so fully in control of architecture: doorway at place Etienne Pernet, 24 (Paris 15e), 1905 Alfred Wagon, architect. 14

In architecture, hyperbolas and parabolas in windows, arches, and doors are common, and decorative mouldings 'grow' into plant-derived forms. Like most design styles, Art Nouveau sought to harmonise its forms. The text above the Paris Metro entrance uses the qualities of the rest of the iron work in the structure.[37] Art Nouveau in architecture and interior design eschewed the eclectic revival styles of the 19th century. Though Art Nouveau designers selected and 'modernised' some of the more abstract elements of Rococo style, such as flame and shell textures, they also advocated the use of very stylised organic forms as a source of inspiration, expanding the 'natural' repertoire to use seaweed, grasses, and insects.

Relationship with contemporary styles and movements

As an art style, Art Nouveau has affinities with the Pre-Raphaelites and the Symbolist styles, and artists like Aubrey Beardsley, Alphonse Mucha, Edward Burne-Jones, Gustav Klimt and Jan Toorop could be classed in more than one of these styles. Unlike Symbolist painting, however, Art Nouveau has a distinctive appearance; and, unlike the artisan-oriented Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau artists readily used new materials, machined surfaces, and abstraction in the service of pure design. Art Nouveau did not negate machines, as the Arts and Crafts Movement did. For sculpture, the principal materials employed were glass and wrought iron, resulting in sculptural qualities even in architecture. Ceramics were also employed in creating editions of sculptures by artists such as Auguste Rodin.[39] Art Nouveau architecture made use of many technological innovations of the late 19th century, especially the use of exposed iron and large, irregularly shaped pieces of glass for architecture. By the start of World War I, however, the stylised nature of Art Nouveau designwhich was expensive to producebegan to be disused in favour of more streamlined, rectilinear modernism, which was cheaper and thought to be more faithful to the plainer industrial aesthetic that became Art Deco.

Art Deco
Art Deco (/rt dko/), or Deco, is an influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France during the 1920s, flourished internationally during the 30s and 40s, then waned in the post-World War II era.[1] It is an eclectic style that combines traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and materials. The style is often characterized by rich colors, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation.
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Deco emerged from the Interwar period when rapid industrialization was transforming culture. One of its major attributes is an embrace of technology. This distinguishes Deco from the organic motifs favored by its predecessor Art Nouveau. Historian Bevis Hillier defined Art Deco as "an assertively modern style...[that] ran to symmetry rather than asymmetry, and to the rectilinear rather than the curvilinear; it responded to the demands of the machine and of new material...[and] the requirements of mass production."[2] During its heyday Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.

Art Deco spire of the Chrysler Building in New York City; designed by William Van Alen; built 19281930.

Terracotta sunburst design above front doors of the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles; built 1930.

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Etymology
The first use of the term Art Deco has been attributed to architect Le Corbusier who penned a series of articles in his journal L'Esprit nouveau under the headline 1925 Expo: Arts Dco. He was referring to the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts). [3] The term was used more generally in 1966 when a French exhibition celebrating the 1925 event was held under the title Les Annes 25: Art Dco/Bauhaus/Stijl/Esprit Nouveau .[4] Here the phrase was used to distinguish French decorative crafts of the Belle Epoque from those of later periods.[3] The term Art Deco has since been applied to a wide variety of works produced during the Interwar period (L'Entre Deux Guerres), and even to those of the Bauhaus in Germany. However Art Deco originated in France. It has been argued that the term should be applied to French works and those produced in countries directly influenced by France.[5] Art Deco gained currency as a broadly applied stylistic label in 1968 when historian Bevis Hillier published the first book on the subject: Art Deco of the 20s and 30s.[2] Hillier noted that the term was already being used by art dealers and cites The Times (2 November 1966) and an essay on Les Arts Dco in Elle magazine (November 1967) as examples of prior usage.[6] In 1971 Hillier organized an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts then published a book about it: The World of Art Deco.[7]

Origins
Joseph Csaky, Deux figures, 1920, relief, limestone, polychrome, 80 cm. Exhibited Lonce Rosenberg, Galerie de L'Effort Moderne (1920), now at Krller-Mller Museum, Otterlo, Holland

Some historians trace Deco's roots to the Universal Exposition of 1900.[8] After this show a group of artists established an informal collective known as La Socit des artistes dcorateurs (Society of Decorator Artists) to promote French crafts. Among them were Hector Guimard, Eugne Grasset, Raoul Lachenal, Paul Bellot, Maurice Dufrne, and Emile Decoeur. These artists are said to have influenced the principles of Art Deco. [9] The Art Deco era is often dated from 1925 when the Exposition Internationale des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes was organized to showcase new ideas in applied arts.[3][10][11][12] Yet Deco was heavily influenced by pre-modern art from around the world, and observable at the Muse du Louvre, Muse de l'Homme and the Muse national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Ocanie. During the 1920s affordable travel permitted in situ exposure to other cultures. There was also popular interest in archeology due to excavations at Pompeii, Troy, the tomb of Tutankhamun etc. Artists and designers integrated motifs from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Asia, Mesoamerica, and Oceania with Machine Age elements.[13][14][15][16][17][18] Deco was also influenced by Cubism, Constructivism, Functionalism, Modernism, and Futurism.[15][19]
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In 1905, before the onset of Cubism, Eugne Grasset wrote and published Mthode de Composition Ornementale, lments Rectilignes[20] within which he systematically explores the decorative (ornamental) aspects of geometric elements, forms, motifs and their variations, in contrast with (and as a departure from) the undulating Art Nouveau style of Hector Guimard, so popular in Paris a few years earlier. Grasset stresses the principle that various simple geometric shapes (e.g., the triangle, the square) are the basis of all compositional arrangements.[21] At the 1907 Salon d'Automne (Paris) Georges Braque exhibited Viaduc l'Estaque (a protoCubist work), now at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Simultaneously, there was a retrospective exhibition of 56 works by Paul Czanne, as a tribute to the artist who died in 1906. Czanne was interested in the simplification of forms to their geometric essentials: the cylinder, the sphere, the cone. Paul Iribe created for the couturier Paul Poiret esthetic designs that shocked the Parisian milieu with its novelty. These illustrations were compiled into an album, Les Robes de Paul Poiret raconte par Paul Iribe, published in 1908.[22] At the 1910 Salon des Indpendants Jean Metzinger, Henri Le Fauconnier and Robert Delaunay, shown together in Room 18, elaborated upon Czannian syntax, revealing to the general public for the first time a 'mobile perspective' in their art, soon to become known as Cubism. Several months later the Salon d'Automne saw the invitation of Munich artists who for several years had been working with simple geometric shapes. Leading up to 1910 and culminating in 1912, the French designers Andr Mare and Louis Sue turned towards the quasi-mystical Golden ratio, in accord with Pythagorean and Platonic traditions, giving their works a Cubist sensibility. Between 1910 and 1913, Paris saw the construction of the Thtre des Champs-lyses, 15 avenue Montaigne, another sign of the radical aesthetic change experienced by the Parisian milieu of the time. The rigorous composition of its facade, designed by Auguste Perret, is a major example of early Art Deco.[23][24] The building includes an exterior bas relief by Antoine Bourdelle, a dome by Maurice Denis, paintings by douard Vuillard and Jacqueline Marval, and a stage curtain design by Ker-Xavier Roussel. The artists of the Section d'Or exhibited (in 1912) works considerably more accessible to the general public than the analytical cubism of Picasso and Braque. The Cubist vocabulary was poised to attract fashion designers, furniture and interior designers.[25] These revolutionary changes occurring at the outset of the 20th century are summarized in the 1912 writings of Andr Vera. Le Nouveau style, published in the journal L'Art dcoratif expressed the rejection of Art Nouveau forms (asymmetric, polychrome and picturesque), and called for simplicit volontaire, symtrie manifeste, l'ordre et l'harmonie ; themes that would eventually become ubiquitous within the context of Art Deco.[26] Order, color and geometry: the essence of Art Deco vocabulary was made manifest before 1914.

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Several years after World War I, in 1927 the Cubists Joseph Csaky, Jacques Lipchitz, Louis Marcoussis, Henri Laurens, the sculptor Gustave Miklos and others collaborated in the decoration of a Studio House, rue Saint-James, Neuilly-sur-Seine, designed by the architect Paul Ruaud, and owned by the French fashion designer Jacques Doucet: also a collector of Post-Impressionist and Cubist paintings (including Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, which he bought directly from Picasso's studio). Laurens designed the fountain, Csaky designed Doucet's staircase, Lipchitz made the fireplace mantel, Marcoussis made a Cubist rug.[27][28][29][30]

Attributes
Deco emphasizes geometric forms: spheres, polygons, rectangles, trapezoids, zigzags, chevrons, and sunburst motifs. Elements are often arranged in symmetrical patterns. Modern materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, Bakelite, chrome, and plastics are frequently used. Stained glass, inlays, and lacquer are also common. Colors tend to be vivid and high-contrast.[13][14][15][31][32][33]

Influence
Art Deco was a globally popular style and affected many areas of design. It was used widely in consumer products such as automobiles, furniture, cookware, china, textiles, jewelry, clocks, and electronic items such as radios, telephones, jukeboxes. It also influenced architecture, interior design, industrial design, fashion, graphic arts, and cinema. During the 1930s Art Deco was used extensively for public works projects, railway stations,[34] ocean liners (including the le de France, Queen Mary, Normandie), movie palaces, and amusement parks. The austerities imposed by World War II caused Art Deco to decline in popularity: it was perceived by some as gaudy and inappropriately luxurious. [citation needed] A resurgence of interest began during the 1960s.[11][15][35] Deco continues to inspire designers and is often used in contemporary fashion, jewelry, and toiletries. [36]

Chrysler Airflow sedan; designed by Carl Breer; 1934.

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Streamline Moderne
Main article: Streamline Moderne

A style related to Art Deco is Streamline Moderne (or Streamline) which emerged during the 1930s. Streamline was influenced by modern aerodynamic principles developed for aviation and ballistics to reduce air friction at high velocities. Designers applied these principles to cars, trains, ships, and even objects not intended to move such as refrigerators, gas pumps, and buildings.[14] One of the first production vehicles in this style was the Chrysler Airflow of 1933. It was unsuccessful commercially but the beauty and functionality of its design set a precedent. [37] Streamlining quickly influenced automotive design and evolved the rectangular "horseless carriage" into sleek vehicles with aerodynamic lines, symmetry, and V-shapes. These designs continued to be popular after World War II.[38][39][40]

Bullocks Wilshire, Los Angeles, John and Donald Parkinson, 1929

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Cochise County Courthouse doors, Bisbee, Arizona, 1931. Architect: Roy W. Place

Surviving examples

United States
The U.S. has many examples of art-deco architecture. New York, Chicago, and Detroit have many art deco buildings: The famous skyscrapers are the best-known, but notable art deco buildings can be found in various neighborhoods. Detroit's many examples of art-deco architecture include the Fisher, Guardian and Penobscot Buildings, all of which are now National Historic Landmarks. Los Angeles, California, also has much art-deco architecture, in particular along Wilshire Boulevard, a main thoroughfare that experienced a period of intense construction activity during the 1920s. Notable examples include the Bullocks Wilshire building and the Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre, built in 1929 and 1931 respectively. Both buildings experienced recent restoration.[41][42] Miami Beach, Florida, has a large collection of art-deco buildings, with some thirty blocks of hotels and apartment houses dating from the 1920s to the 1940s. In 1979, the Miami Beach Architectural District[43] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nearly all the buildings have been restored and painted in their original pastel colors.[44] Art deco was popular during the later years of the movie palace era of theatre construction. Excellent examples of art deco theatres, such as the Fargo Theatre in Fargo, North Dakota still exist throughout the United States. Fair Park, located in Dallas, Texas, is a large collection of art deco structures. Much of the art deco heritage of Tulsa, Oklahoma remains from that city's oil boom days.[45] Houston, Texas has some buildings surviving, such as the Houston City Hall, the JPMorgan Chase Building, Ezekiel W. Cullen Building, and the 1940 Air Terminal Museum.[46] In Beaumont, the Jefferson County Courthouse, Kyle Building and the First National Bank Building are some of the few art deco buildings still in the city. Hoover Dam is a somewhat unusual example of art deco design. Many dam guides state that the design was to be Gothic Revival, including the installation of gargoyles with water shooting out of their mouths.[citation needed] The recently opened Smith Center in Downtown Las Vegas incorporates many design elements from Hoover Dam and, therefore, is a contemporary example of the use of art deco design elements. Kansas City is home to the Kansas City Power and Light Building, which was completed in 1931. This building is a good example of the Great Depression and its effect on art deco construction. Original plans were for a twin tower to be built next to it on its west side. However, it was never built due to financial constraints. As a result, the 476-foot (145 m) tower has a bare west side, with no windows. Other examples of art deco buildings in Kansas City include Municipal Auditorium (Kansas City), the Jackson County Courthouse (Kansas City, Missouri), Kansas City City Hall; and 909 Walnut.

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Minneapolis has the Foshay Tower, which was finished in 1929. The building was built right before the Great Depression and is one of, if not the only obelisk shaped office building in the world. Minneapolis also has the Rand Tower and the Wells Fargo Center, an example of modern art deco architecture. Neighboring St. Paul has the First National Bank Building and the Saint Paul City Hall. The city of Rochester, Minnesota houses the Plummer Building, the original building for the world-famous Mayo Clinic, which was built in 1927. Cincinnati, Ohio, houses the Cincinnati Union Terminal, an art-deco-style passenger railroad station that began operation in 1933. After the decline of railroad travel, most of the building was converted to other uses. It now serves as the Cincinnati Museum Center, which serves more than one million visitors per year and is the 17th most visited museum in the United States.[47][48] Cincinnati is also home to the Carew Tower, a 49-story art deco skyscraper built in 1931. In 2005, the largest residential restoration project in the country and the largest collection of art deco buildings in New Jersey began at the 14-acre (57,000 m2) site of the former Jersey City Medical Center. The conversion of the national historic site to a residential enclave had as of 2009 been completed on three of the several buildings on the site. Flint, Michigan is also home to The Paterson Building. The Paterson Building has extensive art deco throughout the interior and exterior. More pictures of the Paterson Building can be found at [1].

Latin America

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Kavanagh building, Buenos Aires. 1934 design by Gregorio Snchez, Ernesto Lagos, Luis Mara de la Torre

Some of the finest surviving examples of art deco art and architecture are found in Cuba, especially in Havana. The Bacardi Building is noted for its particular art deco style. [49] The style is expressed by the architecture of residences, businesses, hotels, and many pieces of decorative art, furniture, and utensils in public buildings, as well as in private homes. [2] Another country with many examples of art deco architecture is Brazil, especially in Porto Alegre, Goinia and cities like Cip (Bahia), Ira (Rio Grande do Sul) and Rio de Janeiro, especially in Copacabana. Also in the Brazil's north-east notably in cities such as Campina Grande in the state of Paraba there are art deco buildings which have been termed "Sertanejo Art Deco" because of their peculiar architectural features. [50] The reason for the style being so widespread in Brazil is its coincidence with the fast growth and radical economic changes of the country during the 1930s. In Santiago, Chile, the Hotel Carrera (no longer a hotel) is a very fine example of art deco architecture. Art deco buildings are also numerous in Montevideo, Uruguay, including the Palacio Salvo, which was South America's tallest building when it was built in the late 1920s. Another example of art deco in Latin America is the Edificio El Moro in Mexico which has the Loteria Nacional nowadays, it was also the biggest building of Mexico City at the time it was completed

Edificio El Moro, Mexico City. 1945 design by Manuel Ortiz Monasterio, Bernardo Caldern, Luis vila and Jos Antonio Cuevas

In Argentina, architect Alejandro Virasoro introduced art deco in 1926 and developed the use of reinforced concrete, with the Banco El Hogar Argentino and the Casa del Teatro (both in Buenos Aires) being his most important works. The Kavanagh building (1934), by Snchez, Lagos and de la Torre, was the tallest reinforced concrete structure at its time, and a notable example of late art deco style. In the Buenos Aires Province, architect Francisco Salamone designed cemetery portals, city halls and slaughterhouses commissioned by the provincial
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government in the 1930s; his designs combined art deco with futurism. In Rosario, Santa Fe, the Palacio Minetti is the most representative art deco piece.

Europe
United Kingdom

Former Express Building (1939) in Manchester, designed by Sir Owen Williams.

During the 1930s, art deco had a noticeable effect on house design in the United Kingdom,[15] as well as the design of various public buildings. [11] Straight, white-rendered house frontages rising to flat roofs, sharply geometric door surrounds and tall windows, as well as convex-curved metal corner windows, were all characteristic of that period. [35][51][52] In London, the former Arsenal Stadium has the famous East Stand facade. It remains at the Arsenal football club's old home at Highbury, London Borough of Islington, which was vacated in the summer of 2006. Opened in October 1936, the structure now has Grade II listed status and has been converted into apartments. William Bennie, the organizer of the project, famously used the art deco style in the final design which was considered one of the most opulent and impressive stands of world football. The London Underground is also famous for many examples of art deco architecture. [53] Du Cane Court, in Balham, southwest London, is a good example of the art deco style. It was reckoned to be possibly the largest block of privately owned apartments under one roof in Britain at the time it was built, and the first to employ pre-stressed concrete. It has a grand reception area and is surrounded by Japanese-style gardens; and it has had many famous residents, especially from the performing arts. Just outside London is the famous Battersea Power Station, which has appeared in films and artwork including the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals (Pink Floyd album). Partially built in the 1930s, the building retains its powerful Art Deco facade. In North West England, the buildings and structures related to the Queensway Tunnel which connects Liverpool and Birkenhead are distinctly Art Deco. Other notable Art Deco buildings in Liverpool include Philharmonic Hall and the former terminal building at Liverpool Airport now the Crowne Plaza LJLA.
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Spain Valencia was built profusely in art deco style during the period of economic bounty between wars in which Spain remained neutral. Particularly remarkable are the famous bath house Las Arenas, the building hosting the rectorship of the University of Valencia and the cinemas Rialto (currently the Filmoteca de la Generalitat Valenciana), Capitol (reconverted into an office building) and Metropol. Germany

The "Rudolf Mosse Publishing House" altered by Erich Mendelsohn in 1923. Jerusalemer St., Berlin

In Germany two variations of art deco flourished in the 1920s and 30s: The Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) employed the same curving horizontal lines and nautical motifs that are known as Streamline Moderne in the Anglophone world. While Neue Sachlichkeit was rather austere and reduced (eventually merging with the Bauhaus style), Expressionist architecture came up with a more emotional use of shapes, colours and textures, partly reinterpreting shapes from the Germany and Baltic Brick Gothic style. Notable examples are Erich Mendelsohn's Mossehaus and Schaubhne theater in Berlin, Fritz Hger's Chilehaus in Hamburg and his Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz in Berlin, the Anzeiger Tower in Hannover and the Borsig Tower in Berlin. Art deco architecture was revived in the late-20th century by architects like Hans Kollhoff (see his tower on Potsdamer Platz), Jan Kleihues and Tobias Nfer. Romania As a result of the inter-war period of rapid development, cities in Romania have numerous art deco buildings, including government buildings, hotels, and private houses. The best representative in this regard is the capital, Bucharest, which, despite the widespread destruction of its architecture during Communist times, still has many art deco examples, both on its main boulevards and in the lesser known parts of the city.[54][55][56] Ploieti also has many art deco houses.[57]

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Lithuania Like Romania, Lithuania too had a booming Inter-War industrial boom. One city in particular, Kaunas, primarily grew. This resulted in the rapid modernization of the city. At this time it became the temporary capital of Lithuania. Many buildings around the city were built in the Bauhaus style. Vytautas the Great War Museum, built in 1936, is a large museum located downtown in Kaunas, along with the Central Post Building and the Pienocentras HQ Building (1934) are the three most prominent art deco structures in the city. Today many of theses buildings still stand, apartment complexes and large government buildings alike survive from this time, even through the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Kaunas. Brussels One of the largest art deco buildings in Western Europe is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg, Brussels. In 1925, architect Albert van Huffel won the Grand Prize for Architecture with his scale model of the basilica at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Dcoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris.[58]

Asia

New India Assurance Building, Mumbai, India: Master, Sarhe and Bhuta, with N.G. Parsare, 1936

Mumbai has the second largest number of art deco buildings after Miami.[59]The art deco style was also adopted in Chennai between the 1920s and 1940s though it was utilized to a lesser extent.[60] In Indonesia, the largest stock of Dutch East Indies-era buildings is found in the large cities of Java. Bandung has one of the largest remaining collections of 1920s art deco buildings in the world,[61] including those by several Dutch architects and planners, notably Albert Aalbers's DENIS bank (1936) in Braga Street and the renovated Savoy Homann Hotel (1939). Others were Thomas Karsten, Henri Maclaine Pont, J Gerber and C.P.W. Schoemaker. The Sociteit Concordia (now Merdeka Building) is a historic building in Bandung designed by Van Galen Last and C.P. Wolff Schoemaker. In Jakarta, surviving art deco buildings include the
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Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij building (1929), now the Museum Bank Mandiri, by J. de Bryun, A. P. Smiths, and C. Van de Linde; the Jakarta Kota Station (1929) designed by Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels, and the Metropole Cinema in Menteng. In China, at least sixty buildings designed by Hungarian architect Laszlo Hudec survive in downtown Shanghai of which many are art deco.[62] In Japan, the 1933 residence of Prince Asaka in Tokyo is an art-deco house turned museum. In the Philippines, art deco buildings are found mostly in Manila, Iloilo City, and Sariaya. The best examples of these are the older buildings of the Far Eastern University and the Manila Metropolitan Theater, which are both in Manila. Examples of art deco architecture in Malaysia include the Central Market and the Coliseum Cinema in Kuala Lumpur, and the Standard Chartered Building and the OCBC Bank Building in George Town, Penang.

Oceania
New Zealand The town of Napier, New Zealand, was rebuilt in the art deco style after being largely razed by the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 3 February 1931 and is the world's most consistently art deco city. Although a few art deco buildings were replaced with contemporary structures during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, most of the centre remained intact long enough to become recognized as architecturally unique, and from the 1990s onwards had been protected and restored. As of 2007, Napier has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, the first cultural site in New Zealand to be nominated. [63][64] According to the World Heritage Trust, when Napier is compared to the other cites noted for their art deco architecture, such as Miami Beach, Santa Barbara, Bandung in Indonesia (planned originally as the future capital of Java), and Asmara in Eritrea (built by the Italians as a model colonial city), "none... surpass Napier in style and coherence.[65] Hastings was also rebuilt in art deco style after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and many fine art deco buildings survive. Wellington has retained a sizeable number of art deco buildings, in spite of constant postWorld War II development.[66]

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Former Russell Street Police Headquarters, 1940-43, Melbourne, Australia

Australia
See also: List of Art Deco buildings in Sydney, List of Art Deco buildings in Melbourne, List of Art Deco buildings in Tasmania, and List of Art Deco buildings in Perth

Australia also has many surviving examples of art deco architecture. Among the most notable are Sydney's ANZAC War Memorial, 'mini-skyscrapers', such as the Grace Building (Sydney) and the Manchester Unity Building (Melbourne) featuring purely decorative towers to circumvent the height restriction laws of the time; the AWA Tower in Sydney, consists of a radio transmission tower atop a 15-story building; and the former Russell Street Police Headquarters in Melbourne, with its main multi-storey brick building designed by architect Percy Edgar Everett, reminiscent of the design of the Empire State Building. In St Kilda, Victoria, the Palais and the Astor theatres are considered some of the finest surviving art deco buildings in Australia, while many rural towns such as Wagga Wagga, Albury and Griffith also have significant amounts of art deco buildings and homes.

Cinema Impero, built in 1937, Asmara, Eritrea

Africa
Africa's most celebrated examples of art deco were built in Eritrea during Italian rule. Many buildings survive in Asmara, the capital, and elsewhere. Also there are many buildings in downtown Casablanca, Morocco's economic capital. During Portuguese colonial rule in Angola and Mozambique, a large number of buildings were erected especially in the capital cities of Luanda and Maputo. Cities in South Africa also contain examples of art-deco design such as the City Hall, in Benoni, Gauteng, constructed in 1937. There are a few art deco buildings in Egypt, one of the most famous being the former Cadillac dealership in downtown Cairo and Casa d'Italia in Port Said (1936) designed by the famous Italian architect Clemente Busiri Vici.

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