Art nouveau and Art Deco

by abdul chen bin lu cheng

Art nouveau
Art nouveau is the French word for the new art A style of decorative art, architecture, and design prominent in Western Europe and the US from about 1890 until World War I and characterized by intricate linear designs and flowing curves based on natural forms.
Art Nouveau artists wanted to erase the distinction between major and minor arts. They aimed at unifying all arts, centering them around man and his life .

Roots of Art Nouveau architecture

New materials used by Art Nouveau artists Cast iron

One of the main products of the first industrial revolution. Produced in blast furnace by adjunction of carbon to iron. It is merely used as columns in the building field.

Steel and iron

This material is the symbol of the first industrial revolution (from 1830). The first buildings to use it were bridges, railway stations, or in exhibition halls like the Cristal Palace in 1851; but its introduction into real building is from the 1870, and starts with the "Grand Magasins. At the turn of the century, iron is more and more used for wall anchors or door/window.

 Old England in Brussels By Paul Saintenoy in 1898

 Le Parisien building in Paris by G. P. Chedanne

Ceramics
The raise of pottery industry with for example Bigot in France who supplied a lot of Art Nouveau architects including Guimard, Gaudi and Lavirotte and famous firms like Bigot or Villeroy & Bosch. Gaudi used old shreds of ceramics called "truncates" to cover some of his buildings.

Maison Belliard ,Paris

Bench in Park Guell by Gaudi and Jujol

Use of Nature in the Art Nouveau

Horta's house in Brussels

decoration
The use of nature in Art Nouveau decoration applies to every skill of Art Nouveau ranging from buildings to various objects including vases or jewels. Concerning buildings, the decoration often uses sculpture, ceramic tiles or graffito's. Sculptures are merely in wood, stone, metal or ceramic. Nature has also influenced the famous abstract curves patterns through stylization (CF the stairway hall in House Tassel by Horta in 1894, one of the first Art Nouveau building). Stylization has served the aesthetic aim of Art Nouveau. It is seldom to find realistic sculptures.Both animals and plants patterns were used in the decoration of Art Nouveau buildings .

Animal gallery: Butterfly

Peacock
Peacock is the most spread Art Nouveau pattern. The shop, rue Raugraff in Nancy only show the feathers .

Owls
Owls were particularly used in northern Europe Art Nouveau because of the large place of owls in northern mythologies and legends. Unfortunately, I do not have any Art Nouveau pictures of this area. Contributions are welcome !

Fox:
This animal is very rare in Art Nouveau decoration. And here it is treated with a realistic manne

Plant gallery: Trees

Sunflowers

Miscellaneous:

Hector Guimard )1942-1867(French architect

Guimard introduced Art Nouveau in Paris. He brought it from Brussels in 1894 when he visited Horta. It has upset all the work he was doing on Castel Beranger. His works were destroyed very early.

Castel Beranger:

Architect: Hector Guimard Location: Paris, France Date :1890 Building Type: multi-family housing, apartment building Construction System: bearing masonry, brick, cast iron

Plan

Front elevation

Paris Metro Entrances

Location: Paris, France Date: 1899 to 1905 Construction System: iron and glass

FRONT ELE

SIDE ELE

PLAN

Antony Gaudi
1926-1852 Spanish architect Casa Batllo: Location: Barcelona, Spain Date: 1905 to 1907 Building Type: apartment building

overview of facade

close-up of facade wall

SECTION

PLAN

Door Detail - Eugene Gaillard (1862 -1933)

Antony Gaudi - Mila Vestibule Gate Barcelona

Cabinet by Louis Majorelleby

Art Nouveau Chair, 1900. Carved walnut,

Art Nouveau furniture designed by Van de Velde

Art Deco Terminology

The term 'Art Deco' is taken from the name of the 1925 Paris exhibition titled Exposition International des Arts Decorative at Industrial Modern. The most popular and respected French artists of the day showcased their work at this exhibition.

Art Deco History:

The themes that emerged from the Exhibition were 'Modernity', 'Technology' and 'Luxury & Leisure'. Although the Exhibition in Paris featured the works of French artists the Art Deco movement was a global one, with deep roots in other European countries, Egypt, India, East Asia, Latin America, South Africa,

The expiation logo

Australia, United States, Mexico and Cuba.

 Egypt mania's Influence on Art Deco History

The Paris Exhibition in 1925 focused primarily on the Art Deco movement in France. However, the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in November of 1922 spawned a worldwide fascination with all things Egyptian, further contributing to the evolving aesthetic of Art Deco.

Djoser Pyramid - Sakkara, Egypt

Art Deco Courthouse - Bolder County, CO

 The Classic Art Deco Look

Art Deco is most commonly associated with a sleek aesthetic, symmetrical geometric shapes and bold bright colors like yellow, purple, ruby and turquoise.
Art Deco Stained Glass Ceiling - Buffalo City Hal

 Art Deco Architecture

Art Deco architecture was first and foremost considered to be decorative - ornamental and beautifying. Buildings, hotels, cinemas, railway stations, etc. were all embellished with quintessential Deco patterns like zigzags, sunbursts, Egyptian motifs and similar geometric patterns The Chrysler Building all in the name of beauty.

Chrysler Building

 William Van Allen:

(b. Brooklyn, New York 1883; d. 1954) William Van Alen was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1883. While he attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, he worked in the office of Clarence True. He also worked for several firms in New York, before he won the 1908 Lloyd Warren Fellowship which allowed him to study in Europe. In Paris, Van Alen studied in the atelier of Victor Laloux at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

Chrysler Building Location New York, USA Date 1928 to 1930 Building Type skyscraper, commercial office tower Construction System steel frame, metal cladding

 References
http://artnouveau.pagesperso-orange.fr/en/index.htm http://www.greatbuildings.com http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Castel_Beranger.html http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Chrysler_Building.html a b UNESCO World Heritage List Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta An Introduction to the Work of Alphonse Mucha and Art Nouveau Michle Lavalle, "Art Nouveau", Grove Dictionary of Art, Oxford University Press "Art Deco Style". Museum of London. Retrieved 6 November 2008. Juster, Randy. "Introduction to Art Deco" (in decopix.com).