Modern style in art

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Art Nouveau is an art movement that flourished between 1890 and 1910 throughout Europe and the United States. It is characterized by the use of a long, winding line. Most often, elements of this style were used in architecture, interior design, jewelry and glass design, posters and illustrations. It was a deliberate attempt to create a new style, free from the imitative historicism that dominated much of the art and design of the 19th century.

Name

According to art history, Art Nouveau first appeared in England and soon spread to the European continent. There he was known under different names: Jugendstil (Jugendstil) in Germany, Secession (Sezessionstil) in Austria, Florel or Liberty (Floreale or Liberty) in Italy and Modernismo or Modernista (Modernismo or Modernista) in Spain, in France he received the name ar - nouveau (art nouveau). The term "modern" was coined by a gallery in Paris, which exhibited most of the work in this direction.

In England, the immediate forerunners of the style were the aestheticism of the illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, who paid much attention to the expressive qualities of organic lines and movement, presented in the work "Arts and Crafts" by William Morris, which established the importance of lifestyle in the applied arts. On the European continent, the development of the Art Nouveau style was also influenced by experiments with the expressiveness of the lines of the artists Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. In part, the development of this trend was inspired by the fashion for Japanese ukiyo-e prints.

Famous Representatives

There were many artists and designers who represented Art Nouveau in European and American art. Among the best known was the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He specialized predominantly in the geometric line and particularly influenced Austrian Art Nouveau. The Belgian architects Henry van de Velde and Victor Horta, with their extremely sinuous and delicate structures, influenced the French architect Hector Guimard, another important figure in this artistic movement.

To this list should be added American glass manufacturer Louis Comfort Tiffany, French furniture manufacturer and metalwork designer Louis Majorelle, Czech graphic designer-artist Alphonse Muchu, French glass designer René Lalique, American architect LouisHenry Sullivan, who used Art Nouveau pieces to decorate his traditionally structured buildings, Spanish architect and sculptor Antoni Gaudí, perhaps the most original artist, who went beyond the ordinary to transform buildings into sinuous, brightly colored organic structures.

Further development

After 1910, Art Nouveau in 20th century art seemed old-fashioned and limited, and was generally used as a decorative style. However, he was rehabilitated in the 1960s, in part through major exhibitions organized at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1959) and at the National Museum of Modern Art (1960), a large-scale retrospective of Beardsley held at the Museum of Victoria and Albert in London in 1966.

Exhibitions raised the status of this artistic movement, often regarded by critics as a passing trend, to the level of other major contemporary art movements of the late 19th century. Then the direction was revived in the styles of pop art and op art. Art Nouveau floral organic lines have been resurrected as a new psychedelic style in fashion and typography, and have been featured on rock and pop album covers and commercials.

Creating a direction

This modern style was considered an attempt to create an international art movement based on decorative elements. As an art movement, Art Nouveau was developed by a vibrant and brilliant generation of designers and artists whosought to create an art form that is contemporary.

In many ways, it was a response to the Industrial Revolution. Technological progress was welcomed by artists who mastered the aesthetic possibilities of using new materials in their works. The Art Nouveau style first appeared in art in 1893, when Victor Horta introduced iron and casting as a decorative element in the houses of the bourgeois in Brussels.

The artists who worked in this direction shared the belief that all the arts must work in harmony to create a "common work": buildings, textiles, furniture, jewelry, clothing - everything must comply with the principles of modernity.

What distinguishes Art Nouveau from other styles

As an art movement, Art Nouveau is characterized by the use of sinuous, long organic lines along with moderate and dark colors. The most commonly used colors are yellow, mustard, crimson, olive, brown, and some shades of purple and blue.

Other features are represented by hyperbolas, parabolas and ordinary moldings that seem to come alive and grow into the shape of plants. Decoration as a structural symbol is considered part of the growing power of nature. The artists create an organic and transparent world with floral elements including tulips, sunflowers, cornflowers, etc. combined with lines and simple wavy surfaces.

Main areas in which Art Nouveau emerged

Modern style in art was considered"total" means that it includes a hierarchy of different kinds, such as:

• Architecture.
• Interior design.
• Decorative arts including furniture.
• Textiles.
• Jewelry.
• Silver.
• Lighting and other home furnishings.
• Various types of fine arts.
• Posters and illustrations.

Architecture

In architecture, Art Nouveau primarily demonstrates the synthesis of ornament and structure. This type was characterized by a liberal mix of materials such as glass, iron, ceramics and brickwork. As a special style of Art Nouveau in architecture, it was used to create interiors in which the columns became thick vines with expanding tendrils, and the windows became holes that let in air and light, complementing the whole image. This approach was in direct opposition to traditional architectural values and structural clarity.

Modern buildings have the following features: asymmetrical shapes, curved glass, extensive use of arches and curved shapes, mosaics, floral decorations, stained glass and Japanese motifs.

A classic example is Casa Mila, an apartment building built by Gaudí for the Mila family (1905-1907), showing how the different parts are organically linked to the basic plan.

One of the highest qualities of Art Nouveau architecture is the use of structural theory to reveal the building's building elements. Very often, iron becomes a visible element of the facade, most often performing a decorativefunction.

Glass is mainly used in combination with iron. The glass wall also received significant independent development during the Art Nouveau era. Great preference was given to stairs. Glass and iron, they were increasingly used in projects by famous architects.

Art Nouveau designers chose and modernized some of the abstract elements of the Rococo style, and also advocated the use of highly stylized organic forms as inspiration in their pieces. Thus, numerous elements in the form of grass, insects, algae and the like appeared in architecture.

Modern print

Typography is key to understanding this art direction. For example, the Tropon lithograph by Henri van de Velde (1898) shows the distinctive color variants of Art Nouveau printing: a combination of pale green, bright ocher and orange. The colors were combined with the letters of the word "tropon". The simple composition combines a new color picker style with sinuous lines.

2D Art Nouveau elements have been used in various popular forms such as posters, advertisements, labels and magazines. The style was considered extravagant through its use of curved lines ("whip-bang") and often floral motifs. But perhaps the commercial application of the style gave it a special appeal.

Many beautiful Art Nouveau posters have survived to this day because they were often used as objectscollectibles. Technological advances in lithographic printing have allowed widespread use of color printing. This, in turn, made the Art Nouveau graphic style widely available. The promotional posters were produced in large numbers so that more copies could be sold to collectors.

Painting Trends

In an attempt to analyze the role played by Art Nouveau in the evolution of painting, one should start by stating that its appearance was a reaction against Impressionism (with the exception of German culture). In essence, this style was a protest against the development of surface and line. In the visual arts, Art Nouveau, in fact, meant the end of the illusionistic concept of form.

Images are important for context through the way lines convey the atmosphere of a painting or reflect the importance of decorative elements. This trend can also be seen as a forerunner of expressionism. At the same time, Art Nouveau emphasizes not only the decorative side, but also the unique value in painting in general.

Glassware

Modern in decorative art is presented in different areas. Glassmaking was one of the areas where he found great opportunity for expression. Examples include the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York, Emile Gallé and the Daum brothers in Nancy, France, Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow.

Jewellery from the Art Nouveau period

The main source of inspiration for jewelryproducts in the Art Nouveau style was nature. The work has been enhanced with new levels of virtuosity in enameling and the introduction of new materials such as semi-precious stones and opals.

Jewellery artists also found inspiration in Japanese art, they showed a more specialized approach in using Japanese metalworking skills, created new themes and approached ornamentation in a new way.

Influence on modern design

Although this artistic direction was rapidly losing its popularity (after 1910 the era of Art Nouveau ended in art), its significance in applied art and architecture remains very significant. We can say that this style has every right to occupy a special place in the history of art.

The Art Nouveau movement had a major impact on illustrators, artists, and the development of the print trade in the United States, including the art movement's renaissance during the post-war hippie movement of the 1960s. Even today, some of the finest examples of this style of the day can be seen throughout the visual communications industry, such as the portrait of Marilyn Monroe for Visages De Renom by New York-based illustrator Le Katz or the work of Milton Glazer and his Push-Pin studio.

Over the past twenty years, there has been some revival in art in the Art Nouveau style, due to the development of postmodernism. Artists all over the world use its elements for inspiration. They include twistylines, floral elements, natural features and characteristic colors.

Russia

In the Russian Empire, Art Nouveau in contemporary art was perhaps one of the most influential artistic and architectural trends, which shaped the appearance of some cities in the form in which we are used to seeing them: St. Petersburg and, to a lesser extent, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and many others.

In Russian architecture, this trend was the first bourgeois style, to a greater extent even merchant style, that appeared at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. During this period, this direction in architecture, in the course of its formation and development, seems to repeat the evolution of Russian architecture: from baroque, inspired by ancient Russian architecture, to classicism, overcoming romanticism and reaching the heights of the Renaissance classics precisely in the 19th century, which was called the Golden Age of Russian culture.

The first association of artists involved in the development of Art Nouveau in Russian culture was the "World of Art". Its representatives strove for modernity and symbolism and gave priority to the aesthetic principle in art, opposing it to the acute social orientation characteristic of the Wanderers. At various times, this association was represented by the artists A. N. Benois, L. S. Bakst, N. K. Roerich, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, E. E. Lansere, A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, K. A. Somov and others. Close to them in spirit were I. Ya. Bilibin, K. A. Korovin, B. M. Kustodiev, V. A. Serov, M. A. Vrubel, I. I. Levitan, M. V. Nesterov, K. F. Yuon and others.

Ifthe direction of the work of some artists representing the association "World of Art" can be considered as pure aestheticism, then the basis of the work of Serov, Levitan, Serebryakova was nature. They sought to bring out its beauty, bringing it into a person's life. The same kind of aesthetics was characteristic of A. P. Chekhov. The architect F. O. Shekhtel was considered one of the most prominent representatives of Art Nouveau in Russian art. He, like Levitan, was a graduate of the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. It was at the same time that an outstanding Russian writer was being formed, who at that time was a student at the medical faculty of Moscow University.

In that era, many outstanding figures of Russian art appeared. Shekhtel was engaged in the construction of private mansions, one of the most striking examples of this is the mansion of S. P. Ryabushinsky in Moscow (1900-1902), including all its interior decoration. Also, the architect was engaged in the construction of profitable houses, buildings of trading companies, railway stations, theaters, cinemas. Art Nouveau in Russia, in the form in which it manifested itself in Moscow, is also called neo-Russian style. An example of this can be the facade of the Tretyakov Gallery, which was designed by V. M. Vasnetsov, the Yaroslavl Station, designed in the same style, by Shekhtel, or the Kazan Station, which was designed by the architect A. V. Shchusev. Russian Art Nouveau in St. Petersburg was characterized by an obvious turn towards neoclassicism, which was later also noted in the architecture of Moscow. The building of the Azov-Don Bank, the author of the project was F. I. Lidval,looks like an Italian renaissance palace. In a similar style, the mansion of G. A. Tarasov was designed and built in Moscow on Spiridonovka, which was built by architect I. V. Zholtovsky.

Modern in Russian painting has become the era of the appearance of magnificent works. This trend in Russia was primarily a kind of mentality. The new trend led to the renewal of expressive means used by such outstanding artists as Levitan, Serov, Vrubel, and in literature - Chekhov, who combined classics and modernity in his work. The artists who united in the "World of Art", moving away from the Wanderers, became representatives of this style in its most poetic period.