PrimeLuck ArtsArt Nouveau
Art Nouveau is a decorative style of flowing curves and natural forms. It joined fine art with design in buildings, posters, furniture and jewellery.
- Period
- Nineteenth-century art
- Approximate dates
- c. 1890 to c. 1910
- Place of origin
- Western Europe, especially Belgium and France
- Key regions
- Belgium, France, Spain, Austria, Czech lands, United States
- Art forms
- Architecture, posters, glass, furniture, jewellery, graphic design
- Major artists
- Alphonse Mucha, Hector Guimard, Antoni Gaudi, Victor Horta, Louis Comfort Tiffany
Visual introduction
Casa Batllo
Antoni Gaudi · Remodelled 1904 to 1906 · Stone, tile and glass · Barcelona
Curving surfaces and colourful mosaic make a building feel like a living form.
Image: Photo: José Luiz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Paris Metro entrances
Hector Guimard · From 1900 · Cast iron and glass · Paris
Plant-like iron frames turned everyday public structures into design.
Image: Photo: Alexander Baranov from Montpellier, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gismonda poster
Alphonse Mucha · 1894 · Colour lithograph
Flowing line, decorative borders and soft colour made Mucha a leading poster artist of the style.
Historical context
Art Nouveau grew from the Arts and Crafts Movement and aimed to make everyday objects beautiful. It was inspired by plants, by Japanese prints, and by new materials such as iron and glass.
It spread through exhibitions, magazines and posters, and had local names such as Jugendstil in Germany and Modernisme in Catalonia. It faded before the First World War as designers moved toward simpler forms.
Visual characteristics
Line: long, whiplash curves and organic, plant-like shapes.
Material: iron, glass, ceramics and colourful tile, often handmade.
Design: ornament is part of the structure, and art, architecture and lettering are united into one look.
Related movements
Sources and further reading
Further reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Tate, Art Terms. Smarthistory.