Art Nouveau in United States of America

Art Nouveau (French pronunciation: [a nuvo], Anglicised to /rt nuvo/; at.

Sezession, cz Secese, eng. Modern Style, germ. Jugendstil, sk. Secesia) or Jugendstil is an
international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art especially the
decorative arts that was most popular during 18901910. English uses the French name Art
Nouveau ("new art"), but the style has many different names in other countries. 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.
Art Nouveau is considered a "total" art style, embracing architecture, graphic art,
interior design, and most of the decorative arts including jewellery, furniture, textiles,
household silver and other utensils and lighting, as well as the fine arts. According to the
philosophy of the style, art should be a way of life. For many well-off Europeans, it was
possible to live in an art nouveau-inspired house with art nouveau furniture, silverware,
fabrics, ceramics including tableware, jewellery, cigarette cases, etc. Artists desired to
combine the fine arts and applied arts, even for utilitarian objects.
Although Art Nouveau was replaced by 20th-century Modernist styles, it is now
considered as an important transition between the eclectic historic revival styles of the 19thcentury and Modernism.
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. Those two names came from, respectively, Siegfried Bing's gallery Maison de l'Art
Nouveau in Paris and the magazine Jugend in Munich, both of which promoted and
popularised the style.
Maison de l'Art Nouveau (House of New Art) was the name of the gallery initiated in
1895 by the German art dealer Siegfried Bing in Paris that featured exclusively modern art.
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. 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. Thus the term
"Art Nouveau" was created.
Part of the evolution of Art Nouveau were several international fairs which presented
buildings and products designed in the new style. So, the 1888 Barcelona Universal

Exposition marks the beginning of the Modernisme, with some buildings of Llus Domnech i
Montaner. The Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris, 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.
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. 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. 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.
America does count two important architects who influenced and were influenced by
Art Nouveau.
Louis Sullivan is credited with building the first modern skyscraper. The Wainwright
building went up 10 stories high. The key word here is modern. He jettisoned the classical
look and went for something completely different. For ornamentation he used a combination
of organic, flowing designs superimposed against strong geometric shapes. The building went
up in 1891, three years before Horta finished the Hotel Tassel and four years before Muchas
Gismonda poster. Some people point to the decoration on the Wainwright and classify it as Art
Nouveau architecture. I dont think that is correct. The strong geometric forms and symmetry
gives a different look than you usually find in Art Nouveau, but he was breathing the same air
as the other Art Nouveau instigators and was headed in the same general direction.
Most importantly he was trying to find a decorative theme appropriate for soaring
architecture and he struck upon something that wasnt far from either Art Nouveau or the Art
Deco that would take its place. His pupil and protg was a man called Frank Lloyd Wright,
who would take his teachers ideas on architectural decoration and build upon them.
In some ways, while very much a proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement,
Wright was at odds with Art Nouveau. You wont find much in the way of long flowing
curves in his architecture or his art after he found his own voice. His early work contains a lot
of decoration similar to Sullivans, but after a few years he abandoned that style, dropping the
organic forms and focusing on the geometric designs. In doing so he really bypassed Art

Nouveau and went straight to the next step. If you look at the windows on his 1901 Bradley
house you find yourself looking at an Art Deco window, a style that really wouldnt come into
its own until twenty years later. So with that I will wrap up my series on Art Nouveau
architectue and segue into my articles on Art Deco.