Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau was most prominent from 1880 to 1910. Art Nouveau {ahr noo-voh}, a French term meaning new art, refers to a style of architecture, of commercial and decorative art, and, to some extent, a style of painting and sculpture. Although the style was then thought of as modern and was given the title "new art," it was adapted from older styles and art forms. Much came from the Gothic and Rococo. The movement was also inspired by Celtic manuscripts and the drawings of William Blake. Persian pottery and ancient Roman glass also served as models for some Art Nouveau craftsmen.
Cheret and grasset Transition from Victorian to Art Nouveau style was gradual. Graphic artist - Jules Cheret Graphic artist - Eugene Grasset 1881 France lifted censorship restrictions, allowing more design freedom.
Posters of Paris
It s hard to imagine a world without posters. Before1860 however, the concept of poster art did not exist. Jules Chéret developed the color lithography technique which would transform Paris into the "poster picture gallery of the street." The ladies in Cheret s poster became so pervasive in Paris that the Parisians nicknamed them "Cherettes." Cheret s posters led to a law being inacted in 1881 which created official posting places, and an entire industry was created. Every poster required a tax stamp to indicate that a fee had been paid for the right to post it. Based on square footage, the tax led to the adoption of standard sizes. Advertisers worked with artists, printers and posting companies to create, post and maintain the poster on the street. In 1884, the first poster exhibition was held in Paris; in 1886 the first book on posters was written; and in 1890 Cheret was immortalized in the first one-man poster show. Cheret is also called the father of women s liberation, depicting the women in a new light - as something other than a mother or prostitute.
Cheret - poster Chéret produced an enormous amount of art in his lifetime. He is known to have created 1000 posters He also pioneered the art of colour lithography, managing to produce delicate and bright colours where only sombre, heavy ones had been used before. He was able to create the technical means to produce posters of all shades in the spectrum using only three to four lithographic stones. His style captures the 'laissez-faire' attitude of turn-of-thecentury Paris. His posters show everything from hat shops to the Moulin Rouge, cosmetics to beverages, and capture the atmosphere of 'la belle époque' perfectly. http://www.cheret.info/
Cheret - poster Samples
Eugene Grasset Born in Lausanne, Switzerland,in 1841, he studied drawing and architecture. After completing his education, he visited Egypt, an experience that would later be reflected in a number of his poster designs. He admired Japanese art which too influenced some of his creative designs. In 1869 and 1870, Grasset worked as a painter and sculptor in Lausanne but moved to Paris in 1871 where he designed furniture fabrics and tapestries as well as ceramics and jewelry. In 1877, he began producing incomegenerating products such as postcards and postage stamps for both France and Switzerland. Poster art became his forté. Design for Harpers Monthly 1905
Eugene Grasset Samples
Aubry Beardsley Father of Erotica The most controversial artist of the Art Nouveau era. Beardsley was a close friend of Oscar Wilde This was the time of Oscar Wilde's arrest and conviction for homosexual practices and Beardsley, quite unfairly, was seen as having to close a link with Wilde.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec {toolooz'-loh-trek}, born in France, Nov. 24, 1864. Was a leading postimpressionist artist whose paintings, lithography, and posters contributed much to the development of Art Nouveau in the 1890s. He was also a harsh and witty chronicler of the gaudy nightlife and the sordid elements of late -19th-century Parisian society. At the Moulin Rouge: Two Women Waltzing (1892)
La Belle Epoch - The good years French regarded the 15 years prior to the outbreak of World War I as La Belle Epoque... The Good Years - Literally means beautiful era. A time of great wealth and prosperity, and cultural extravagance. The cultural explosion was aided by the economic and technological advances of second stage industrialization. Advances included the development of the combustion engine, pioneering new methods of steel mass production, as well as numerous groundbreaking discoveries in electrical and chemical engineering. La Belle Epoque was a period of class equalization in Paris which was the epicenter of this period. Amazing... The Eiffel tower was constructed during this period.
La Belle Epoch - The good years Birth of Cinema during La Belle Epoch The cultural scene thrived with cabaret, cancan, and the cinema. Life and society flourished in France during this time - until the outbreak of World War I.
Art Nouveau - American Tiffany Studios of New York City Among the highlights of this collection are exquisite lamps produced by Tiffany studios. Louis Comfort Tiffany
Art Nouveau - American Rookwood Pottery was founded in 1880 by Marie Longworth Nichols. Rookwood Pottery's initial work demonstrated an Oriental and European influence. Throughout Rookwood's years they mastered such diverse styles as Victorian, art nouveau, arts and crafts, and art deco.
Art Nouveau - American The Roseville Pottery Company was founded in 1890. Roseville initially produced simple utilitarian ware such as flower pots, stoneware, umbrella stands, cuspidors, and limited painted ware. In 1900, Roseville Rozane became the first high quality art pottery line produced by Roseville.
logo design art nouveau Together with the 1881 Trademark Act and the popular Art Nouveau design style, the concept of the modern logo became prevalent in America. Logos became crisp and bold, able to be reproduced in a variety of applications, and used as a single identifying symbols that represent every aspect of the company. 1889 1887
logo design - Similiarity art nouveau During this period Union Pacific logo had numerous iterations, in Black and White, and in color. UP logo was very similiar to the Chicago NorthWestern railway logo. The General Electric Logo was very much art nouveau. It is nearly identical in design today.
Art Nouveau - Global Art Nouveau continued to thrive until World War I when it vanished. Perhaps the political and nationalist forces thrusting Europe and America toward war made Art Nouveau s aesthetic light-heartedness inappropriate and irreverent. Attitudes towards materials, processes and values are a great legacy of the Art Nouveau Era.