Art Nouveau: The Depth and Philosophy

Art Nouveau introduced modernism to design with its promotion of a more widespread adoption of beautiful. It believed that everything beautiful should be useful and everything useful should be beautiful. Its aesthetics were new and evolutionary.  They were intensely concerned with beauty and function. Decorative art was renewed through the union of fine and applied art. No object was too utilitarian to beautify. Artists were open to all media, which led to a vast array of applications, such as:

Books
Fabrics
Jewelry
Posters
Painting
Lettering
Drawing
Glass art
Metal art
Furniture
Sculpture
Ceramics
Wallpaper
Architecture
Cigarette cases
Household silver
Domestic utensils
Lighting fixtures
Illustrations
And even
Dancing

Art Nouveau was based upon the idea of the “Total Work Of Art” that engulfed all the senses. Artists became universal artists, as they believed in the total immersion of life in style. They strived to create total environments where all the parts coordinated into an ensemble and partook in the same visual vocabulary. Everything in a home was taken care of. Everything had to be aestheticized.

But this could only have taken place if the perceived hierarchy between genres of art were abolished.

Art nouveau allowed for the equality of applied, decorative and fine arts as it viewed all things as sheer ornaments. Picture as ornament, the human figure as ornament, the structure as ornament, even the ornaments of signification and of function; they were all seen as equal.

Contrary to some beliefs, Art Nouveau was not a mere fashion or just a trendy style; it was a serious movement of a deep style with real content. It wasn’t solely concerned with the idea of Gesamtkunstwerkbut also with the connection between nature and the human body in nature. Their respect for nature was so great that it became a way of life.

Socialism took hold in the period of Art Nouveau. This link to political and industrial progression led to the idea that Art Nouveau is designed for everyone; for people from all classes. Some artists dedicated their work to making Art Nouveau more accessible. Attention was paid to both a patron’s house and the workers’ factories. Artists wanted to change the way society views the working class.

Small houses were designed for the laboring classes that were filled with beautiful, inexpensive factory-made objects and furniture. They even built schools for their children. Hospitals were built with architecture that aimed to put the patient in connection with nature in order to relax, rest and heal. With this same concept of architecture in mind, vacation houses were built that appeared to be in perfect harmony with their natural surroundings. It was a whole concept of linking the value of life with its connection to nature. 

Artists had a fresh analysis of function due to their close study of natural forms and drive to revive good workmanship. They believed that the form of an object should express its function, and that the function should be expressed through decorative forms. Ornaments expressed the form and function of objects. They clothes and expressed the structure. They decorated the structure. They disguised the structure.

Artist started questioning how we see and know the world. The concept of “world” was not confined to that which can be recognized by the senses. The world that a person experiences is also a mental world; personal, subjective and emotional. Where impressionists asked “how do we see?” by presenting us with a variety of visual versions, Symbolism (a predecessor of Art Nouveau) provides a different dialogue completely; mental dialogue. It stated that see it what we think it is.
This led to Art Nouveau valuing the philosophy that seeing is less important than what the visuals make us feel.


References

Book

Schmutzler, R. 1961. Art Nouveau. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers. New York

Thesis

Halm, J. (2013). 20th Century Design Trends. MA. Thesis. University of Houston

Internet

Willette, J. 2010. Defining Art Nouveau. www.arthistoryunstuffed.com/defining-art-nouveau

Collins, N, 2010, Art Nouveau Design: Characteristics, History, Artists. www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/art-nouveau.html

Willette, J. 2010. Defining Art Nouveau. www.arthistoryunstuffed.com/defining-art-nouveau.html 

Horth, E. 2009. The Social Agenda of Art Nouveau. www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/guest-column-the-social-agenda-of-art-nouveau

Wolf, J. 2013. Art Nouveau. http://www.theartstory.org/movement-artnouveau.htm

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Application of Photography to Printing

Image
In the beginning of the 1840s the rising employment use of wood engravings, initiated by Thomas Bewick, fostered an effective use of images in editorial and advertising communications. Wood engraving dominated book, magazine and newspaper illustrations. The reason for this being that wood-engraving blocks were type-high, could be locked into a letterpress and printed with type, whereas copper and steel engravings or lithographs had to be printed as a separate press run.  Although wood engraving printing blocks were favored amongst printers, the preparation of these blocks were very costly. Due to this inventors continued their search for an economical and reliable photoengraving process for preparing printing plates; a process already begun by Niepce. In 1871 John Calvin Moss of New York invented a commercially achievable photoengraving process for translating line artwork into metal letterpress plates:  A negative of an art piece was made on a copy camera suspended from the c...
Read more

Some People Who Contributed to Defining Photography as a Medium

Image
During the 19 th century, when inventors were working to develop the technicalities of photography, adventurers and artists explored its image making potential. But merely isolating a moment in time was not satisfying enough to some of these photographers. They defined and extended the aesthetic and communicative boundaries of the new medium. In May of 1843, David Octavius Hill made a new effort to explore the design potential of photography. He did this by attempting to immortalize the 474 ministers who withdrew their congregations from the Presbyterian Church and formed the Free Church of Scotland. To tackle this task he collaborated with Robert Adamson, who was making calotypes for a year at that stage in time. Hill placed the subjects in sunlight, using all the knowledge he gained form 2 decades of practicing portraiture, and exposed each for 40 seconds.  The calotypes produced from this operation were perceived as superior to Rembrandt’s paintings. Julia Margaret Cameron rece...
Read more

Graphic Design and the Industrial Revolution

The name of this post is the name of the first chapter we are diving into this year. Obviously the authors of this book realized that the industrial revolution wasn't boring enough in the junior grades of high school so they tried to jazz it up by adding "Graphic Design" to the term (seeing as that is what I'm studying) and force feed it to us again. I can honestly say that the only thing I could remember about the Industrial Revolution before starting this chapter is steam and a lot of child labor. Turns out that there was more to it than massive amounts of environmental pollution, the development of the first slums, socialism, imperialism and the inhumanely low wages of the employees who worked horrible hours. All of the above started because of something called The Enlightment. This was a movement of the 17th and 18th century where reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought were stressed. This contrasted with the leading religions an...
Read more