he History of Oriental Art By Dennis Hartman eHow Contributor
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Hiart, wikimedia.org Oriental art is one of the major branches of art classification, along with European art, art of the Americas, African art and Middle Eastern art. The development or distinct artistic styles in Japan, China and other eastern Asian nations has influenced art around the world for thousands of years, and reveals a great deal about the cultures that produced it.
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The History of Oriental Floral Design Japan Some of the first significant art to emerge from Japan dates to the seventh century. Japanese artists came to know the styles of Chinese and Korean art as the cultures shared their Buddhist beliefs, and Japanese art from this era is a fusion of Korean and Chinese. Bronze sculpture dominates Japanese art from the Asuka and Nara periods (roughly the years 550 to 780). Buddhism continued to dominate Japanese artistic subject matter until 1180, when widespread war within Japan changed the national mood from one of religious introspection to one of conflict and survival, and Samurai culture was born. In creating war-themed art, Japanese artists adopted a new realism in their work. Calligraphy also emerged as an art form during this time. By the Muromachi era (1338 to 1573), Japanese art looked back to its roots in spirituality. Japanese painting and printmaking flourished during this period, with subjects ranging from the natural world to ancient mythology.
China Long before Japan was first settles, early cultures produced primitive art in China. Since then, Chinese art has been extremely diverse, colored by the shifting dynasties and the influence of foreign cultures. By the second century B.C., China already had a distinct artistic style in poetry, sculpture and music. One of the most well-known pieces of Chinese art today is the Terracotta Army. Dating from 210 B.C., it consists of 7,000 life-sized figures in the tomb of the first Qin emperor. The Terracotta Army points to the Chinese preoccupation with military subjects, the human figure and associating art with burial rituals. Buddhism influenced Chinese art in the first century. Through the cycles of dynastic rule, which lasted until the early twentieth century, Chinese culture remained in a state of frequent change, and a diverse national body of art was produced as a result. Korea Korean art, like Chinese art, dates from the early days of human civilization. Due to its geographical location, Korea has often served as a point of transit between China and Japan, and its art shows the influences of both cultures. From the first century B.C. to the seventh century A.D., some of the most notable Korean art was produced in the Baekje kingdom. Art from this region of southwestern Korea consists primarily of architecture and sculpture. Harmonious proportions, naturalism of form and the presence of Buddhist subject matter suggest the influence of nearby China as well as Japanese traditions. Beginning in the first century B.C., Korean painting became an established art form. Beginning with the decorated walls of tombs, Korean painting has been sharply divided between delicate, realistic compositions intended to be viewed as works of fine art and colorful, stylized folk art images that commemorate celebrations.
Tibet Tibetan art is defined by its inclusion of Buddhist subject matter and principles, even more so than the art of other Oriental cultures. Elements of Buddhist influence can be found in Tibetan art dating from as far back ad 400 B.C. Geometric patterns, meant to be contemplated while the viewer meditates, are a common image in Tibetan art. Various Buddhist deities are also frequently represented both in sculpture and painting. Oftentimes these images are also intended to aid in meditation. Tibetan art is full of symbolic images, such as the Dharmacakra, which is a wheel with eight spokes, each representing one of the eight paths to enlightenment. Among Tibetan art's most well-known forms is the sand mandala. These geometric images, painstakingly constructed by Buddhist monks as a means of concentrating their energies, are ritualistically destroyed as a means of representing the impermanence of life.
Vietnam Vietnamese art has been characterized by the various imperialistic presences in Vietnam, from the Chinese to the French. From the tenth century to the fifteenth century, Vietnam was independent and produced art that is distinct from anything brought by outside cultures. Vietnamese art from this period responds to a blending of religious traditions with elements of Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian principles. Ceramics have figured prominently in Vietnamese art both during periods of Chinese rule and Vietnamese independence. Vietnamese ceramic artists have often employed a limited color palette as a way of emphasizing form. Interest in ceramic and porcelain art dominated Vietnamese art through the Nguyen dynasty in the nineteenth century.
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/about_5241350_history-oriental-art.html A Brief History of Oriental and Eastern Art
Oriental art, along with European, Middle Eastern, and African art, and the art of the Americas, is one of the major branches of art classification. It includes painting, calligraphy and graphic art, as well as sculpture and pottery, from the Neolithic to the present day.
The history of Oriental and Eastern art reflects the society in which it was produced. Religion, politics, philosophy, culture and technology have all left their mark. This article will look at the three main constituents of Eastern art: Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Chinese Art Chinese art has existed for thousands of years, and is famously diverse in colour, form and style. It originated as early ‘stone art’ from around 10,000 BC, and comprised mainly of pottery and sculpture.
Its early beginnings were based on the religious and supernatural beliefs of Chinese settlers. Their paintings, quite abstract in form, involved the same techniques as Chinese calligraphy: a thin brush was dipped in coloured ink, and minimalist brush strokes used to represent both people and landscapes. Often, these paintings were produced to decorate the inside of human burial sites. Landscapes, usually regarded as the highest form of Chinese painting, rose to prominence during the years of the Five Dynasties from 907 to 1127 AD.
Chinese sculpture has existed since the beginning of the first dynasty in 2,100 BC. One of the best preserved and largest examples ever recovered is the Terracotta Army. Built for and buried with Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the sculptors broke with previous tradition and cast human-like figures in magnificence and splendour. The army surrounded the emperor’s tomb, watching over and protecting him in the afterlife. From this point on, albeit on a smaller scale, miniature pottery figures were created and placed in tombs to accompany the dead. The finest examples date back from the Tang Dynasty of 618 to 907 AD. Chinese pottery, however, dates back to the Palaeolithic era. It pre- dates the dynasties and was made from all manner of materials. As its popularity and ease of construction grew, pottery began to be made on an industrial scale. Rulers at the time would also request pottery to me made for them, which they’d then present as gifts or use to trade. Late imperial China of 1368 to 1911 AD, of which the Ming Dynasty comprised the first 276 years, produced art of more colour and with busier compositions. The next few hundred years of the Qing Dynasty saw the rise of Orthodox school and Individualist painters. The former celebrated the older styles of thin brush strokes and calligraphy, the latter produced a more revolutionary and individualist approach. The Shanghai School, of the late Qing Dynasty to the twentieth century, encouraged artists to challenge pre-conceived conceptions, improve on existing techniques, and use their art to comment and question society and the country’s rapid social change.
The Chinese Communist revolution of 1949 ushered in a new era of Chinese art. Under the Cultural Revolution, the government supported what it considered ‘favourable’ art, while ‘unfavourable’ artists were punished. Contemporary, modern-day Chinese art now includes new forms of expression, such as video and photography.
Japanese Art Japanese art dates from around 10,000 BC. Similar to Chinese art, it incorporates a wide variety of styles and types, such as ink painting, pottery and sculpture. As an island, Japan experienced long periods of isolation.
But, whenever Japan met a foreign culture, it assimilated these foreign artistic aesthetics into its own existing culture and ideals. Painting is one of Japan’s oldest art forms, and probably its most popular. Like China, it began as simple stick figures decorating silk, paper and pottery, and developed into a way of expressing centuries of cultural and political evolution. Japan’s first civilisation moulded and then painted pottery and clay figures. Settlers who arrived later, around 350 BC, brought with them their knowledge of bronze manufacturing and decoration. When, in the 7th and 8th centuries, Buddhism spread out across the East, Japan embraced it and learnt more advanced methods of casting bronze.
These included many sculptures of Buddha himself. But, by the end of the Edo period between 1603 and 1868 AD, most of this had disappeared because of the waning support from Buddhist temples and Japanese nobility.
After 1130 BC, Japanese picture scrolls grew in popularity. These large canvasses were used to paint stories, and are examples of some of the earliest – and best – illustrations of men and women. Other popular periods of Japanese art include the Kamakura, in which sculpture, calligraphy and painting all flourished from 1180 to 1333 AD.
Art became more elitist and aristocratic during the Muromachi period of 1338 to 1573 AD. Colours became more conservative too; black and white or the use of a single colour became commonplace. But as Japan moved further away from China, secular, independent art began to flourish. Both religious and secular art were hugely popular until after the Onin War from 1467 to 1477 AD, when Japan entered a period in which religion played a far less important role. This is the primary reason for Japan’s loss of interest in sculpture – a form of artistic expression that’s most associated with religion.
By the early twentieth century, Western culture and artistic values had imposed themselves on Japanese art. This created a dichotomy: many schools and artists adopted these new Western styles, while some reverted further back to older, more traditional Japanese styles. And from the popularity of post-World War Two American cartoons and comic books, Japanese anime was born.
Korean Art
In 676 AD, Korea pushed the Chinese out of their country and back into Manchuria. This created, for the first time, a single Korean government – and it led to a flourishing art scene. The Goryeo Dynasty, from 918 to 1392 AD, is recognised as one of the most important periods of Korean cultural development.
Korean art has, through the ages, been heavily influenced by Chinese art – and vice versa. This has helped to strengthen and widen the artistic styles and identity of both countries. And, in a similar situation to both China and Japan, Buddhism held a great power over Korean art. The Unified Silla period from 676 to 935 AD is understood to have produced some of the best Buddhist art in Korea.
The Joseon Dynasty, established in 1392, led the way for a cultural renaissance in Korea. Buddhism was out, Neo-Confucianism was in – and this meant the practicing of secular art and culture. However, by the 15th and 16th centuries, classical art was reintroduced – and sat alongside other artistic innovations in type and style.
Many painting styles within this period include landscapes depicting nostalgic places and mountainous scenes with trees and clouds. Ink drawings and paintings were used in particular because they were able to successfully highlight the contrast between light and dark. Ceramics, stoneware and porcelain were also produced during this period. The latter in particular was quite rare and thus made a great luxury item.
During the twentieth century, painting was the most popular art form. Of particular importance was abstract painting from the 1930s onwards. In the 1970s and 1980s Korean monochrome paintings grew in popularity and helped to challenge pre-conceived idea about ink and oil painting.
The Modern East Asian Art Market
Chinese art, both old and new, is one of the biggest sellers on the international scene. From paintings to pottery and sculpture, it’s fetching higher and higher prices as collectors across the world try to buy their own piece of Chinese history. The Chinese market is also growing, with more Chinese buyers than ever before. This is having a knock-on effect throughout Asia, with more East Asian art being sold at auction and to private buyers. It reflects the rise of Asia on the world scene, and the fact that the middle classes – growing like never before – are keen to catch up on their Western cousins. Beginnings
Art Nouveau (the "new art") was a widely influential but relatively short-lived movement that emerged in the final decade of the 19th century and was already beginning to decline a decade later. This movement - less a collective one than a disparate group of visual artists, designers and architects spread throughout Europe was aimed at creating styles of design more appropriate to the modern age, and it was characterized by organic, flowing lines- forms resembling the stems and blossoms of plants - as well as geometric forms such as squares and rectangles.
The advent of Art Nouveau can be traced to two distinct influences: the first was the introduction, around 1880, of the Arts and Crafts movement, led by the English designer William Morris. This movement, much like Art Nouveau, was a reaction against the cluttered designs and compositions of Victorian-era decorative art. The second was the current vogue for Japanese art, particularly wood-block prints, that swept up many European artists in the 1880s and 90s, including the likes of Gustav Klimt, Emile Galle and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Japanese wood-block prints contained floral and bulbous forms, and "whiplash" curves, all key elements of what would eventually become Art Nouveau.
It is difficult to pinpoint the first work(s) of art that officially launched Art Nouveau. Some argue that the patterned, flowing lines and floral backgrounds found in the paintings ofVincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin represent Art Nouveau's birth, or perhaps even the decorative lithographs of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, such as La Goule at the Moulin Rouge(1891). But most point to the origins in the decorative arts, and in particular to a book jacket by English architect and designer Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo for the 1883 volume Wren's City Churches. The design depicts serpentine stalks of flowers coalescing into one large, whiplashed stalk at the bottom of the page, clearly reminiscent of Japanese-style wood-block prints. Concepts and Styles
Although Art Nouveau has become the most commonly used name for the movement, its wide popularity throughout Western and Central Europe meant that it went by several different titles. The most well-known of these was Jugendstil (Youth Style), by which the styles was known in German- speaking countries. Meanwhile in Vienna - home to Gustav Klimt, Otto Wagner, Josef Hoffmann and the other founders of the Vienna Secession - it was known asSezessionsstil (Secession Style). It was also known as Modernismo in Spain and stile Libertyin Italy (after Arthur Liberty's fabric shop in London, which helped popularize the style). It also went by some more derogatory names: Style Nouille (noodle style) in France, Paling Stijl (eel style) in Belgium, and Bandwurmstil (tapeworm style) in Germany, all of which made playful reference to Art Nouveau's tendency to employ sinuous and flowing lines.
Art Nouveau's ubiquity in the late 19th century must be explained in part by many artists' use of popular and easily reproduced forms such as graphic art. In Germany, Jugendstil artists like Peter Behrens and Hermann Obrist, among many others, had their work printed on book covers and exhibition catalogs, magazine advertisements and playbills. But this trend was by no means limited to Germany. The English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, perhaps the most controversial Art Nouveau figure due to his combination of the erotic and macabre, created a number of posters in his brief career that employed graceful and rhythmic lines. Beardsley's highly decorative prints, such as The Peacock Skirt (1894), were both decadent and simple, and represent the most direct link we can identify between Art Nouveau and Japonisme. The Architecture of Europe
In addition to the graphic and visual arts, any serious discussion of Art Nouveau must consider architecture and the vast influence this had on European culture. In urban hubs such as Paris, Prague and Vienna, and even in Eastern European cities like Riga, Budapest, and Sveged, Hungary, Art Nouveau-inspired architecture prevailed on a grand scale, in both size and appearance. Turn-of-the-century buildings, like the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest and the Secession Building in Vienna, are prime examples of Art Nouveau's decorative and symmetrical architectural aesthetic. The arrival in the same period of urban improvements such as subway lines also provided an important outlook for Art Nouveau designers. Hector Guimard's designs for entrances to the Paris subway (c.1900) are particularly fondly remembered examples of the style. The Vienna Secession
No other group of artists did more to popularize and spread the Art Nouveau style than the Vienna Secessionists, the collective of visual artists, decorators, sculptors, architects and designers, who first banded together in 1897 to promote their own work and organize exhibitions that resisted the conservatism that still prevailed in so many of Europe's traditional art academies. Arguably the most prolific and influential of the secessionists was painter Gustav Klimt, creator of such definitive examples of early modernism as Hope II and The Kiss(both 1907-08). The elaborate decorations in his paintings, including gold and silver leaf, and rhythmical abstractions, make them some of the most widely revered examples of the style. Later Developments
Despite its popularity - both in terms of its geographical spread and its influence on the creation of so many media - Art Nouveau enjoyed very few moments during its heyday when all artistic elements came together to be recognized as a coherent whole. One exception was the 1900 World's Fair in Paris (Exposition Universelle), where the Art Nouveau style was present in all its forms. Of particular note was the construction and opening of the Grand Palais in 1900, a building which, although in the Beaux Arts tradition, contained an interior glass dome that clearly adopted the Art Nouveau decorative style. Other exhibitions took place throughout the continent during this time, but none could claim to be celebrating Art Nouveau in such a comprehensive manner as had the Paris Expo.
If Art Nouveau quickly stormed Europe in the late 19th century, artists, designers and architects abandoned it just as quickly in the first decade of the 20th century. Although the movement had made the doctrine that "form should follow function" central to their ethos, some designers tended to be lavish in their use of decoration, and the style began to be criticized for being overly elaborate. In a sense, as the style matured, it started to revert to the very habits it had scorned, and a growing number of opponents began to charge that rather than renewing design, it had merely swapped the old for the superficially new. Introduction Art Nouveau Staircase (1893-7) Emile Tassel House, Brussels. Art Nouveau was an innovative international style of modern art that became Design by architect Victor Horta, fashionable from about 1890 to the First World War. Arising as a reaction to member of Les Vingt artist group. DESIGN STYLES and MOVEMENTS 19th-century designs dominated by historicism in general and neoclassicism in For details of late 19th-century and particular, it promulgated the idea of art and design as part of everyday life. early 20th century styles of art and Henceforth artists should not overlook any everyday object, no matter how design, see: Modern Art Movements. For details of contemporary art functional it might be. This aesthetic was considered to be quite revolutionary design styles since the 1960s, and new, hence its name - New Art - or Art Nouveau. Hence also the fact that it see: Contemporary Art Movements. For Art Nouveau's significance was applied to a host of different forms including architecture, fine art,applied for graphic design, see: art, and decorative art. Rooted partly in the Industrial Revolution, and the Arts History of Poster Art. and Crafts Movement, but also influenced by Japonism (especiallyUkiyo-e prints by artists like Hokusai and his younger contemporary Hiroshige) and Celtic designs, Art Nouveau was given a major boost by the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. After this, it spread across Europe and as far as the United States and Australia, under local names like Jugendstil (Germany),Stile Liberty (Italy), Sezessionstil (Austria) and Tiffany style (America). A highly decorative idiom, Art Nouveau typically employed intricate curvilinear patterns of sinuous asymetrical lines, often based on plant-forms (sometimes derived from La Tene forms of Celtic art). Floral and other plant-inspired motifs are popular Art Nouveau designs, as are female silhouettes and forms. Employing a variety of materials, the style was used in architecture, interior design, glassware, jewellery, poster art and illustration, as well as painting and sculpture. The movement was replaced in the 1920s by Art Deco.
Salome (1892) Art Nouveau drawing by Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98). EVOLUTION OF ART & DESIGN Art Nouveau is usually deemed a matter of 'style' rather than a philosophy: but, For details of movements and styles, see: History of Art. in fact, distinctive ideas and not only fanciful desires prompted its appearance. For the chronology and dates Common to all the most consistently Art Nouveau creators was a determination of key events in the evolution of visual arts and design, to push beyond the bounds of historicism - that exaggerated concern with the see: History of Art Timeline. notions of the past which characterises the greater part of 19th-century design: ARTISTS SINCE 1800 For details of the best modern they sought, in a fresh analysis of function and a close study of natural forms, a painters, since 1800, see: new aesthetic. It is true that the outer reaches of Art Nouveau are full of Famous Painters. WORLD'S GREATEST ARTWORKS mindless pattern-making but there was, at and around the centre, a marvellous For a list of the Top 10 painters/ sequence of works in which the decorative and the functional fuse to novel and sculptors: Best Artists of All Time. compelling effect. Art Nouveau means much more than a single look or mood: we are reminded of tall grasses in light wind, or swirling lines of stormy water, or intricate vegetation - all stemming from organic nature: an interest in which should be understood as proceeding from a sense of life's order lost or perverted amidst urban industrial stress. NOTE: For other art and design movements similar to Art Nouveau, see Art Movements, Periods, Schools (from about 100 BCE). ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS Definition, Characteristics In addition to those mentioned in the text, here is a short list of There is no single definition or meaning of Art Nouveau. But the following are noted Art Nouveau designers. distinguishing factors. (1) Art Nouveau philosophy was in favour of applying Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942) artistic designs to everyday objects, in order to make beautiful things available Walter Crane (1845-1915) to everyone. No object was too utilitarian to be "beautified". (2) Art Nouveau Jules Cheret (1836-1932) saw no separation in principle between fine art (painting and sculpture) and Eugene Grasset (1845-1917) Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) applied or decorative arts (ceramics, furniture, and other practical objects). (3) E. M. Lilien (1874-1925) In content, the style was a reaction to a world of art which was dominated by Jozef Mehoffer (1869-1946) Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) the precise geometry of Neoclassical forms. It sought a new graphic design Jozsef Rippl-Ronai (1861-1927) language, as far away as possible from the historical and classical models Valentin Serov (1865-1911) employed by the arts academies. (4) Art Nouveau remains something of an Konstantin Somov (1869-1939) Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) umbrella term which embraces a variety of stylistic interpretations: some artists Janos Vaszary (1867-1939) used new low-cost materials and mass production methods while others used Stanislaw Wyspianski (1869-1907) Eliseu Visconti (1866-1944) more expensive materials and valued high craftsmanship. FURNITURE DESIGNERS Types of Designs These include: In line with with the Art Nouveau philosophy that art should become part of Eugene Gaillard (1862-1933) Louis Majorelle (1859-1926) everyday life, it employed flat, decorative patterns that could be used in all art GLASS DESIGNERS forms. Typical decorative elements include leaf and tendril motifs, intertwined Famous Art Nouveau glass designers include: organic forms, mostly curvaceous in shape, although right-angled designs were Émile Galle(1846-1904) also prevalent in Scotland and in Austria. Art made in this style typically René Lalique (1860-1945) depicted lavish birds, flowers, insects and other zoomorphs, as well as the hair Louis Tiffany (1848-1933) Auguste Daum (1853-1909) and curvaceous bodies of beautiful women. For Art Nouveau architectural Antonin Daum (1864-1930) designs, see the exaggerated bulbous forms of the Spanish architect Antoni DECORATIVE ARTISTS Famous Art Nouveau designers Gaudi (1852-1926), and the stylistic Parisian Metro entrances of Hector in the decorative arts include: Guimard (1867-1942). Vilmos Zsolnay (1828-1900) Hermann Obrist (1863-1927) Will H. Bradley (1868-1962) Georges de Feure (1868-1943) Artus Van Briggle (1869-1904) History of Art Nouveau The term "Art Nouveau" stemmed from the name of the Parisian art gallery, called "La Maison de l'Art Nouveau", owned by the avant-garde art- collectorSiegfried Bing (1838-1905), which showcased works created in the Art Nouveau style. The gallery's reputation and fame was considerably boosted by its installations of modern furniture, tapestries and objets d'art at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, after which the gallery's name became almost synonymous with the style. At the same time, in Belgium the style was promoted by Les Vingt and La Libre Esthetique, while in Germany the style was popularized and promoted by a magazine called Jugend: Münchner illustrierte Wochenschrift für Kunst und Leben (Youth: the illustrated weekly magazine of art and lifestyle of Munich), which is why German Art Nouveau - along with that of the Netherlands, the Baltic and the Nordic countries - has since been known as "Jugendstil" (youth- style). In Austria, Art Nouveau was first popularized by artists of the Vienna Secession movement, leading to the adoption of the name "Sezessionstil". In fact, the Vienna Secessionists, like Joseph Maria Olbrich (1867-1908), influenced art and architecture throughout Austria-Hungary. In Germany, where Art Nouveau was known as Jugendstil, many of its leading practitioners came together again in 1907 as members of the Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation). Other temporary names were used which reflected the novelty of the style, or its ribbon-like curvilinear designs. For example, in France it was also known as "le style moderne" or "le style nouille" (noodle style); in Spain, "arte joven" (young art); in Italy "arte nuova" and in the Netherlands "Nieuwe kunst" (both, new art). The style was also named after certain of its exponents or promoters. For instance, Hector Guimard's Parisian Metro entrances led to the temporary name "Style Metro"; in America the movement was called the "Tiffany style" due to its connection with the Art Nouveau glassmaker and jeweller Louis Comfort Tiffany. Evolution of Art Nouveau The origins of Art Nouveau are unclear, although most art historians agree that its roots lay in the English Arts and Crafts Movement, championed by the medievalist William Morris, as well as the flat-perspective and strong colours of Japanese woodcuts. This idiom was reinforced by the wave of Japonism that swept through Europe in the 1880s and 1890s, and by the decorative painting styles of Synthetism (Gauguin) and Cloisonnism (Bernard, Anquetin) developed at the Pont-Aven School in Brittany. For more details, please see: Post Impressionist Painting (1880-95). As a movement, Art Nouveau shared certain features with Romanticism, thePre- Raphaelites, the Symbolists, and the Arts and Crafts Movement, although each differed in various ways. For example, unlike Symbolist painting, Art Nouveau has a distinctive visual look; and, in contrast to the artisan-oriented Arts & Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau artists readily employed new materials, and did not turn their backs on mass-produced or machined surfaces. Connections were also forged between practitioners of Jugendstil and Celtic- style artists, notably in the area of abstract patternwork. Christopher Dresser'sUnity in Variety (1859) - a treatise on botany for artists, was also influential. But it is Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851-1942) who is often identified as the first designer in whom historical precedents were sufficiently subdued for the new mode to show clearly. Indeed, the earliest example of Art Nouveau was the variety of rhythmic floral patterns used by Mackmurdo in his book-cover for Sir Christopher Wren's City Churches (1883). His buildings, furniture, graphics and textiles derive definitely, though not exclusively, from the natural world, convey a strong sense of their materials, and are structurally elemental. Mackmurdo accepted a good deal of Ruskin's involvement with the social and economic conditions of art and turned eventually to the composition of political tracts. Whatever its exact origins, Art Nouveau benefited enormously from the exposure it received at international exhibitions such as the Paris Exposition Universelle (1900) and the Turin Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna (1902), as well as individual outlets such as London's Liberty & Co and Siegfried Bing's "Maison de l'Art Nouveau". The style has been said to end in the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868- 1928), a key figure in the Glasgow School of Painting (1880-1915). Painter, architect and designer, he was initially attracted by the creative freedom of Art Nouveau and its encouragement of the fanciful, but he used a cooler treatment. The essentials of his passage may be traced in one place, the Glasgow School of Art. A system of repeated curving forms in the main building (1897-9) gave way to regimented verticals and horizontals in the library (1907-9): the new order fell to a new orderliness. From then on, the need and the wish for economy of means, a desire to exploit easy mechanical replication, became dominant. Both architecture and the applied arts contrived an ethic and an aesthetic based on meaner notions of utility. Applications Art Nouveau designs were most common in glassware, jewellery, and other decorative objects like ceramics. But the style was also applied to textiles, household silver, domestic utensils, cigarette cases, furniture and lighting, as well as drawing, poster art, painting and book illustration. Theatrical design of sets and costumes was another area in which the new style flourished. The best examples are the designs created by Leon Bakst (1866-1924) and Alexander Benois (1870-1960) for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Art Nouveau also had a strong application in the field of architecture and interior design. In this area it exemplified a more humanistic and less functionalist approach to the urban environment. Hyperbolas and parabolas in windows, arches, and doors were typical as were plant-derived forms for moldings. Art Nouveau interior designers updated some of the more abstract elements of Rococo style, such as flame and shell textures, and also employed highly stylized organic forms, expanding the 'natural' repertoire to include seaweed, grasses, and insects. Art Nouveau architectural designs made broad use of exposed iron and large, irregular pieces of glass. Art Nouveau Decorative Glass and Jewellery In both these areas, Art Nouveau found tremendous expression, as exemplified in works by Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York, Charles Rennie Mackintoshin Glasgow and Emile Galle and the Daum brothers in Nancy, France. Jewellery of the Art Nouveau period saw new levels of virtuosity in enameling as well as the introduction of new materials such as moulded glass, horn, and ivory. The growth of interest in Japanese art (a fashion known as Japonisme), along with increased respect for Japanese metalworking skills, also stimulated new themes and approaches to ornamentation. As a result, jewellers stopped seeing themselves as mere craftsmen whose task was to provide settings for precious stones like diamonds, and began seeing themselves as artist-designers. A new type of Art Nouveau jewellery emerged that depended less on its gemstone content and more on its designwork. The jewellers of Paris and Brussels were at the forefront of the Art Nouveau movement and it was in these cities that it achieved the greatest success. In America, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-92) was an adventurous creator of luxury objects, mainly in glass, often utilising the shot-silk glow of metallic iridescence, and inspired by flower and feather. Tiffany's firm was enormously successful and his goods were much imitated. Art Nouveau Architecture Art Nouveau architecture was one of the great ubiquitous cultural impulses, appearing virtually throughout Europe and Scandinavia, and in America too. A very vigorous strain developed in Belgium, where Henri van de Velde(1863-1937) pared away the conventions of art and architecture in favour of a rather rigid floral style (his house at Uccle, 1895), while Victor Horta (1861-1947) seems to have passed the rule-book through a maze of botanical fact (the Hotel Tassel, 1892-3, and the Maison du Peuple, 1896-9 in Brussels). Horta was widely admired for his readiness to reconsider basic design problems and for the fluency of his adaptations of organic principle. For the Tassel house he opened up the centre into a sort of conservatory space in which the exposed cast iron supports are themselves stylised plants. And the Maison du Peuple he constructed around a sinuous iron frame, every decorative element of which arose from the containment of stresses. It was said that 'he follows the secret law obeyed by vegetation, which grows in immutable and ever harmonious forms, but he compels himself never to draw a motif, nor to describe a solitary curve which could be seen as a pastiche of natural form'. In France, Art Nouveau-style nineteenth century architecture had the State's seal of approval when Guimard's designs for the Paris Metro stations were accepted, and above the subways (1898-1900) sprouted elaborate arrangements of iron and glass resembling large bean shoots and seed- pods.Hector Guimard (1867-1942) had liked Horta's work in Brussels and hoped to extend its radical disruption of expected architectural behaviour. But the most spectacular results of the decision to rethink design from the ground up, so to speak, are to be found in Spain. Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) conceived for Barcelona a series of architectural extravaganzas, apparently pervaded by thoughts of nature in its less attractive manifestations - the rabbit warren or termite hill, reptilean anatomy, weeds on the rampage. The Palacio Guell(1885-9) has already the ebb and flow, the rhythmic asymmetry of his mature efforts, but is relatively urbane. The Casa Mila (1905-07) is a riotous assembly of pitted stone and twisting iron, with a ground plan which altogether ignores the right-angle. And the Church of the Sagrada Familia (1884, uncompleted) bemuses the visitor, with its four towers like monster decaying cucumbers: it resembles, on the whole, a vegetable garden in the grip of some ferocious virus and mutating freely. Meanwhile, in America, the giant office blocks ofLouis Sullivan (1856-1924) - the Wainwright Building, St Louis (1890), the Guaranty Building, Buffalo (1894), the Carson, Pirie & Scott Store, Chicago (1899-1904) - reveal in their facades, their honeycomb insides and the strips and panels which divide the cells a riot of plant-like ornament. Art Nouveau architectural designs were widespread throughout many parts of central and eastern Europe, including Latvia (Riga), the Czech Republic (Prague), Poland (Krakow), Slovenia (Ljubljana), as well as Italy. Leading Art Nouveau architects and designers included the Hungarian architect Odon Lechner (1845–1914), the French architect Hector Guimard (1867-1942), the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), the Belgian architect Victor Horta (1861-1947), and the Viennese designers Otto Wagner (1841-1918) andJoseph Maria Olbrich (1867-1908), to name but a few. Further afield, examples of Art Nouveau-style buildings can be seen in South America (Uraguay's Montevideo) and Australia. Famous Art Nouveau Artists The two greatest graphic artists of the Art Nouveau movement were the French lithographer Jules Cheret (1836-1932) whose invention of "3-stone chromolithography" made Art Nouveau poster art feasible, and the Czech lithographer and designer Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) whose celebrated posters epitomized the Art Nouveau idiom. Emile Galle of France and Louis Comfort Tiffany of the United States were famous for their colourful Art Nouveau glassware, as were the English artists Aubrey Beardsley and Walter Crane for their wonderful Art Nouveau drawings. Other famous artists involved in the "new art" included: the French jewellery designer Rene Lalique, the Viennese painter Gustav Klimt, the Polish theatrical designer and stained glass artist Stanislaw Wyspianski, and the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928), leader of the Glasgow School. Legacy & Influence of Art Nouveau While Art Nouveau promoted a more widespread adoption of "beautiful" design, it did not diminish the value of the machine or mass-production (as the Arts and Crafts Movement did), but instead took advantage of many technological innovations from the late 19th century. Even so, by World War I, it too succumbed to the more streamlined design processes that were beginning to become available. Possibly its greatest influence was on (1) 20th-century advocates of integrated design, such as the German Bauhaus design school and the Dutch design movement De Stijl; and (2) Graphic art such as illustration and poster-design. Nowadays, Art Nouveau is viewed as an important bridge between Neoclassicism and modernism, and a number of its monuments are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, notably the historic centre of Riga, Latvia with over 750 buildings in the Art Nouveau style. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/art-nouveau.htm#designs