Expressions of Total Art in Romania. Art Nouveau, Szecesszió, Sezession, Jugendstil_EN
Expressions of Total Art in Romania
Art Nouveau, Szecesszió, Sezession, Jugendstil
ART NOUVEAU 2
Strengthening the cultural identity of the Danube region by building on common heritage of ART NOUVEAU
The exhibition „Expressions of Total Art in Romania. Art Nouveau, Szecesszió, Sezession, Jugendstil”, ”, the catalogue and other related materials and events were produced by the National Institute of Heritage [INP] within the ART NOUVEAU 2 project. The project is carried out through the Danube Transnational Program, co-financed from the European Union Funds (ERDF, IPA II).
THE PROJECT TEAM - INP
Irina IAMANDESCU – project coordinator, deputy director of historical monuments Lucia LECA, architect
Ana CHIRICUȚĂ, restorer
Simina STAN, historian
Florentina MUREA-MATACHE, architect
Irina DOBRIȚĂ, communication specialist
SCIENTIFIC CONSULTANT AND REVIEWER
Françoise PAMFIL, architect
TEXT AUTHORS
Simina STAN, Florentina MUREA-MATACHE, Françoise PAMFIL, Lucia LECA, Ana CHIRICUȚĂ
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Ana CHIRICUȚĂ, Lucia LECA
ORGANIZER OF THE EXHIBITION
PARTNERS OF THE EXHIBITION AND RELATED EVENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO THE PARTNERS involved in the development of the exhibition and related events::
Peleș National Museum: Narcis Dorin Ion, general director; Mircea-Alexandru Hortopan, heritage director. Târgu Mureș County Museum – Palace of Culture: Szántó Loránt, head of department; Oniga Erika, museographer.
Aquatim - Water Museum: Ilie Vlaicu, general director; Loredana Leordean, coordinator of educational programs.
WITH THE SUPPORT OF: The National Art Museum of Romania, The National History Museum of Romania, The Teleorman County Museum, The National Archives of Romania, The Iași County Department of National Archives, The Mureș County Department of National Archives, „G. Oprescu” Institute of Art History, Oradea Heritage, ARCHÉ Association, BETA. Bianca Azap & Dan Purice, Dragoș Andreescu. Monumentalist, Andreea Andronic, Alexandra Baboi, Raluca Bărbulescu, Victor Bunoiu, Veronica Burtea, Ana Dumitru, George Dumitriu, Alexandru Duță, Rebeca Gag, Mădălin Ghigeanu, Ioan Grămadă, Camil Iamandesu, Raluca Iosipescu, Thomas Laschon, Irina Leca, Anca Majaru, Alexandru Mexi, Ovidiu Micșa, Ana Maria Pop, Adrian Spirescu, Matei Eugen Stoean, Liana Carina Tătăranu, Árpád Udvardi
Expressions of Total Art in Romania
Art Nouveau, Szecesszió, Sezession, Jugendstil
Exhibition catalogue
CIP description of the National Library of Romania Expressions of Total Art in Romania Art Nouveau, Szecesszió, Sezession, Jugendstil : catalogul expoziţiei.Bucharest : Patrimonia, 2022 ISBN 978-606-95194-7-9
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted by electronic, mechanical, copying, recording or other means without the prior permission of the National Institute of Heritage.
Stained glass skylight in the hall of honor Pelișor Castle, 1899-1903 Sinaia
Iconic detail on the façade from Unirii Square Salamon
Brück Palace, arch. Székely László, 1910-1911
Timișoara
Introduction
Art Nouveau is a style and an international movement of art, architecture and applied art with a captivating intensity, which predominantly manifested at the beginning of the 20th century. That is why it is also called the art from the 1900s. It is distinguished as a valuable, inspiring style of consistent aesthetic reconsideration and renewal through its manifestations in the decorative arts. It crosses domains, overcomes influences, dissolves canons and invents. Known in Europe under various names: Art Nouveau in France, Sezession in Austria, Szecesszió in Hungary, Jugendstil in Germany, Modernismo in Spain, Modern Style in Great Britain, Stile Liberty in Italy, etc., the style is popular between 1890 and 1910, in the Belle Époque period, which ended with the start of the First World War. A reaction against the academic art, eclecticism and historicism of the architecture and decorations of the 19th century, the style is fundamentally modern, new, graceful and elegant. The homonymous movement represents a release from canons and almost axiomatic compositional rules. Thus, Art Nouveau - or Total Art - invites to discover the beauty of nature, the contemplation of the perfect balance of asymmetry, the celebration of chance and the emotion of movement. Fluidity, grace and elegance make up its characteristic triad.
Often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers, Art Nouveau is characterized by dynamism, unexpectedness and floating. A whole stylized graphic arsenal - dominantly marked by fluency, finely balanced textures, novel combinations or even the plastic impertinence of lines - it resorts to the use of modern materials, especially iron, glass, ceramics and later concrete, supporting the concern to create unusual forms and wide open spaces.
The colouring and repetitive textures give the elements of early 20th century art a new visibility, and the territories of expression
are infinitely open. The simultaneity with Pointillism and with broad avant-garde movements explains the emulation of style. The standardization produced by the industrial revolution makes Art Nouveau embrace complexity and diversity, and Jugendstil intensify the beauty of series. Mosaics, stained glass, ceramic veneers and decorative plasters imprint the spatial identity of buildings regardless of whether they are public edifices or simple residences. They are answered by mascaron ornaments and carefully calibrated decorative registers, in new densities, or are spectacularly continued by entrance sequences, hallways and staircases where natural light becomes the main actor. The spatial effects are astonishment and surprise.
In the interiors, the furniture, the ceilings, the panelled or stucco wall elements, together with the lighting fixtures where the convergence is compositionally accentuated, propose graceful environments, with chains of harmoniously articulated moments and subtly drawn spaces.
Organic, with over-capitalization, elongated and highly decorative, Art Nouveau letters can constitute a manifestation in itself included in the field of illustrations. The advertising of the beginning of the 20th century includes, through Art Nouveau expressions, memorable, totally unusual elements and rewrites visual communication codes.
Exuberance, enthusiasm and spirit of the era are the characteristic elements of this style which, regardless of the name by which it is known in different countries, pulsates feverishly, develops amazingly and brings new expressions in all the artistic fields in which it manifests itself.
In Romania, the expressions of Total Art are known by those names given by the major influences through which architecture, interiors, furniture and applied art are coming to life.
Thus, we equally encounter Sezession, Szecesszió and Jugendstil in Transylvania, and Art Nouveau in the Old Kingdom.
Names such as Gustav Klimt, Baillie Scott, Ludwig Bernhard, Marcel Kammerer, Carl Witzmann, Hans Bolek, J. Soulek, Karel Liman, Queen Maria, Daniel Renard, Marcell Komor and Dezső Jakab, Székely László stand alongside the no less famous Émile Gallé, René Lalique, Karl Fabergé, L.C. Tiffany, the Daum brothers, Almaric Walter & Henri Bergé, Ferdinand Benedikt von Poschinger, Marius Ernest Sabino, Christian Désiré, R. Fournier, Emil Arnold Krog, Gotfred Rode, as well as Joseph Franz Maria Hoffmann. They all complete the beauty of the interior spaces together with well-established D’Argental, Loetz Wietwe or Eugene Baudin, Clément Massier and Zsolnay-Pécs models, to mention only a few.
The exhibition entitled „Expressions of Total Art in Romania. Art Nouveau, Sezession, Szecesszió and Jugendstil” invites you to discover the ephemeral beginnings of this style, to carefully observe the routes proposed in Pelişor Castle. Then the Casino in Constanţa brings before your eyes a space that belongs to both the city and the sea. The Palace of Culture in Târgu Mureş changes the vocabulary by being an elegant, refined emblem of modern society at the beginning of the 20th century. Industrial architecture is touched by Szecesszió, one of the examples brought by the exhibition is the Urseni Water Plant in Timișoara.
The Bucharest General Exhibition of 1906 marks a triple anniversary: 1800 years since the establishment of the first Romanian settlers in Dacia, the 25th anniversary of the declaration of the Kingdom of Romania in 1881 and 40 years of reign of Carol I, being inspired by similar universal or national events throughout Europe. The general plan is made by the architects Ștefan Burcuș, Victor Șephănescu, together with the landscape designer Édouard Redont, the general inspector is the architect Ion D. Berindei, all of them being appointed by the general commissioner Constantin Istrati. The exhibition includes the pavilions: national (France, Hungary, Austria), regional (Transylvania, Bucovina, Dobrogea), of the local and general administration, and of the representatives of industry, agriculture, trade, transport, and food, a total of 167 buildings. The vast majority of them are ephemeral structures. The invited countries have chosen to express their identity in their own way: France in the Beaux Arts style, while Austria chooses Sezession modernity, and the Hungarian Pavilion displays a specific vernacular style. The predominating general architectural image is that of the neo-Romanian style, but as the whole of Europe is fascinated by Art Nouveau, we also notice in the photos some picturesque, even exotic presences, despite the clear desire of Constantin Istrati. The temptation of the freedom of the new shapes was too strong for the Romanian architects, the Bucharest public and not only.
In the extra-Carpathian arc of our country Art Nouveau / Sezession / Szecesszió asserts itself with some delay, architects adopt this unique style especially in general exhibitions and leisure programs: casinos, large department stores, restaurants, cinemas, hotels, pavilions in parks, bathing establishments.
After the First World War, the public loses interest in Art Nouveau, and the mercantile value of these buildings decreases, and the profit along with it, that is why, at least in Bucharest, some owners radically rearrange the façades of buildings built in the Art Nouveau style. It happened in the case of the cinemas: Boulevard, Lumina, Regal and Trianon on Elisabeta boulevard and the Athénée Palace hotel built between 1912-1914 by the French architect Théophile Bradeau, the building was modernized at the end of the 1920s by the architect Duiliu Marcu.
4. The Triumphal Arch, architect Petre Antonescu, Bucharest, 1918-1921
The summer residence of the heirs to the throne, built at the request of Carol I, between 1899-1903, complements the entire royal complex in Peleș, built in the “Altdeutsch” style of the German Neo-Renaissance. The Czech architect Karel Liman encountered numerous obstacles in the construction of Pelișor, which is built on already existing foundations. He adapted the project from 1883 that had an administrative function and strengthened the area against landslides. The lack of a main façade is substituted by the volume of the roof accentuated by the two towers, the round one from the southwest, and the main square one from the southeast, which gives verticality to the edifice. The alternation between the faceted stone that decorates the entire height of the ground floor, the stone-carved frames of the windows and entrances and the Fachwerk system of the floors, complemented by the dancing gaps of different shapes, of the balconies and terraces, are the result of the collaboration between the king and the architect.
At Pelișor, the place where Queen Maria created a “continuum”, each of the 70 rooms has its own story, starting from choosing the right size of the hall and the staircase of honour to be able to reproduce the prestige of a royal residence and continuing with the association of colours, textures and parietal building outline, the representation of the ceilings, the selection of the essences of carpentry and furniture, to preserve the tranquillity of a home. In fact, the interior design works of Pelișor were carried out until 1929.
The main entrance with a platform of the castle is located on the east side, since the royal residence develops on the east-west axis. The hall of honour punctuated by wooden columns is clad on the entire surface of the ground floor in coffered panelling. Light enters here through the glazed ceiling, decorated with floral elements and a generous window placed on the north side. The fireplace is fit in an alcove on the same side. But the central elements are the carved oak staircase and the gallery on the first floor.
At the ground floor, on the south side, is King Ferdinand’s Apartment (living room, workroom, bathroom). Then comes the Royal Dining Room on west wing, followed on the north side by the Court Marshal’s Apartment. On the first floor of the east side is the Children’s Apartment (playroom, dining room, governess’s room, bedroom and bathroom). The south wing is occupied by Queen Maria’s Apartment (marble room, chapel, workroom, bedroom, boudoir, bathroom) and then the Apartments of the maids of honour located on the west side. The Golden Chamber was arranged on the second floor of the main tower between 19031905. Acanthus stems and leaves, in gilded stucco, cover the ceiling, the entire parietal surface and part of the fireplace. The doors are decorated with the royal flower carved in ivory, and the skylight and gilded furniture pieces recall Celtic tradition to our mind, while the Tiffany stained glass windows soften the light.
Built during the casino frenzy, which spread throughout Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, the Constanta Casino defined itself, as early as its construction stage, not only as the main representative of leisure programs in our country, but especially as a symbol of Frenchinfluenced Art Nouveau architecture in Romania. The building was designed between 1903-1907 at the request of Constanța municipality by the young architect Daniel Renard, who recently graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Paris and had chosen the Art Nouveau style as a way to express the modernization process of Romania during the reign of Carol I. The construction of the casino took place between 1907-1910, rising on a specially chosen site in the peninsula of the old town, along the spectacular promenade on the shore of the Black Sea.
Taking advantage of the privileged position, by means of an ingenious resolution of the plans and the volume, but especially through the masterful treatment of the decorative vocabulary, the architect managed to create an object that seems to belong to the city and the sea, the earth and the sky at the same time. The Casino in Constanța is set as an emblem of the Art Nouveau style in Romania, primarily due to its identification with a defining architectural object for the “Total Art”, the movement that redesigned modern art and architecture from the beginning of the 20th century. Daniel Renard carefully considered all aspects of the construction, from the structure and architecture to
the decoration and interior design, skilfully incorporating the entire register of the French Art Nouveau vocabulary into most of the building’s elements. Thus, the exterior makes a suggestive reference to the symbiosis of the two worlds, the city and the sea, which is dominated by large, welcoming openings, such as the portico on the main façade towards the boulevard or the generous voids that follow fluid lines, decorated or even designed in shapes of marine inspiration. The decorative motifs of marine or plant inspiration, the curved and sinuous shapes are also taken over inside, they are found in the language of wall decorations, ironwork and carpentry elements, as well as in installations and decorative objects.
The Palace of Culture in Târgu Mureș is an emblematic building of the Szecesszió (Hungarian Sezession) style from Transylvania, which represents one of those synthetic works of Total Art, through its identification with a complex architectural object, which deals deeply and unitarily with all types of art, down to the smallest details.
The palace was designed starting in 1908 by the well-known architects of the time, Komor Marcell and Jakab Dezső, in response to a draft law that provided for the construction of houses of culture in provincial cities on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Franz Josef’s coronation. The mayor of Târgu Mureș at that time, György Bernády, noticed the opportunity to align the city with the great cultural centers in the west of Austria-Hungary, by erecting some important public buildings that would meet the needs of modern society from the beginning of the 20th century.
Thus, according the project of the new city hall, the two architects thought, in the same newly created central urban space, an important cultural nucleus not only for the city of Târgu Mureș, but for the entire Transylvania. The palace includes a concert hall, a museum, a library, a music school, but also commercial spaces and a cafe. From the first sketches made in 1908 to the grand inauguration in 1913, more than 150 people worked to create the edifice, who thought and implemented the smallest details. Thus, if the architecture of the
building is the work of the architects Komor and Jakab, the iconographic program and the exterior and interior decoration elements are attributable to the members of the Gödöllő Art Colony.
The crown of the Szecesszió, in its mature version, is felt at the Palace of Culture in Târgu Mureș in every detail, from the façades decorated with mosaics, reliefs and profiles, to the rich interiors, interweaving several types of art - figurative, decorative, furniture - a synthesis of style in Romania.
Strengthening the cultural identity of the Danube region by building on common heritage of ART NOUVEAU
The exhibition ‘Expressions of Total Art in Romania. Art Nouveau, Szecesszió, Sezession, Jugendstil’, the catalogue and other related materials and events were produced by the National Institute of Heritage within the ART NOUVEAU 2 project. The project is carried out through the Danube Transnational Program, co-financed from the European Union Funds (ERDF, IPA II). This product is a greeting card.
1. Palace of Culture architect Szántay Lajos, 1911-1913
Water plant no.1 Urseni - Timișoara
Inaugurated in 1914 as part of the initiatives to switch to a centralized water supply system in the city of Timișoara, the Plant no. 1 is a representative objective for Szecesszió industrial architecture, not only from Timișoara, but from the whole country. The significance of the building for the architectural heritage belonging to the beginning of the 20th century is intensified by its membership in the industrial construction program, which at that time gained particular momentum, the public utility edifice deftly responding to both technical requirements, while appropriating the language of the Art of the 1900s at the same time. It keeps the same sources of inspiration, but the details and motifs used at the plastic level are much more abstracted and geometrized, and the mastery with which they are treated defines the decorative density.
The building with a round-shaped plan named “The group of wells” is part of the ensemble of the water treatment plant located in the southeast of the city of Timișoara. A series of buildings were built during that period for the centralized water supply of Timișoara. The sewerage, the treatment plant, the water towers and the entire centralized system are the work of the chief engineer of the city hall’s technical department, Stan Vidrighin, who became the mayor of Timișoara as from 1919.
Entrances to buildings are astonishing, revealing, leading and exciting. The Art Nouveau, Sezession, Szecesszió claim natural light as their partner. Consisting of monumental or gentle staircases, filters and reception areas, the entrance sequences of palaces, museums or other public buildings are luminous containers. In these spaces, real three-dimensional, rhythmic ribbons lead us through the fine alternation of light and shadow. Moments of natural usage scenarios such as access, orientation and distribution are transformed by carefully coordinated compositional complicities. Thus, stairwells with skylights become immaterial tubes –The Szántay Palace, weaving graceful filters – The Albert Spitz Palace or marking monumentally articulated horizontal platforms – The Szekler National Museum. In other instances, a reggia staircase climbs towards the golden light - the Casino or connects the levels of a double-height hall in a Cartesian coordinate system, through dosed split levels - the Palace of Culture. The polychromies calibrated through the materials of the finishes receive the light to enrich it spatially
1. The Old City Hall, architects Komor Marcell and Jakab Dezső, 1906-1908
Performance halls are those spaces whose interior architecture can act charmingly, and can be an additional actor in the perception or empathy of the ensemble. As a subject of special characteristic sections, the meeting between vertical and horizontal planes represents a rich source of volumetric articulations, decorative motifs, textures and lighting fixtures. The art and architecture of the 1900s somewhat tame the glamour of the reunions. It invites the spectators to experience the joy of feeling the domestication of the environment by bringing it to the human scale with the writing and drawing of fine fabrics that unify morphologies and clothe the bodies of the rooms with dense, homogeneous registers. Thus, horizontal bands with well assigned aesthetic missions define the refined lined walls in the Palace of Culture. Here again, the osmosis between the curved boxed geometry of the ceiling and the lighting fixtures generates an amazing light mesh. The zoomorphs - embodied in vultures or plaster griffins - emphasize and rhythm the ceilings and walls of the Black Eagle Palace, continuing the care of drawing a relevant, comprehensive “topside”. Stuccoes and mouldings are expressive skins.
The Black Eagle Palace, architects Komor Marcell and Jakab Dezső, 1907-1908
The Palace of Culture, architects Komor Marcell and Jakab Dezső, 1911-1913
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Decorative façade imprints
One of the finest nuances that Art Nouveau acquires in its multiple approaches on the territory of Romania is that of creating, at the level of façades - through the use of finishes and textures in various materials and techniques - of rich and even impressive decorative densities, though graceful at the same time. Thus, often the finishes in the form of plasters applied in different ways, such as the calcio vecchio or sgraffito techniques, the use of stone veneers, ceramic and glass elements or even apparent brick, give depth and sophisticated valences to the wall surfaces, however without losing the gentle simplicity characteristic of the style. Using the same sources of inspiration derived from the natural world, transposed at an early stage into sinuous and winding shapes and lines, which are later geometrized and abstracted, by applying them to certain key areas or covering the façades entirely, depending on the desired effects, the Art Nouveau finishes can create real games of contrasts, rhythms and accents, or on the contrary, they can produce consensual simultaneities.
1. Kiss Károly tenement building, architect Székely László, 1912
The pediment and the frame are ornamental crowns placed at the top of a building, an entrance or a window. If Greco-Roman, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance or Baroque architecture have clearly defined rules for decorating façades, Art Nouveau has no rules. The pediments and frames can be fragmented, trilobed, ogival, in a full arch bond, in a broken arch, in a brace, in a curvilinear trapezoid, in a triangle, grouped or not. One can find them on façades wrapped in plant decorations with delicate, puffy, elongated or sinuous shapes of olive, laurel, chestnut, lotus, papyrus, thistle, palm, pumpkin leaves, etc., which nestle in the most unexpected corners. The flowers of iris, lily, rose, rose hip, tulip, poppy, chrysanthemums, daisies, peonies, sunflowers are not purely ornamental. Nothing is accidental, each conveys a coded message. Stucco is mainly used to decorate the façades, being less expensive. Ceramic tiles and metal also translate into vegetal, floral and geometric motifs. A careful look reveals the wealth of symbols of the ornamentation of Art Nouveau buildings.
5. Former Agricultural Bank, architect Gyula Sándy, 1909
3. „István Király Szálló” Hotel, architects Zoltán Bálint and Lajos Jámbor, 1909
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Iconic details
The mascaron ornament is a human figure attached to the façades at the top of a building, an entrance or a window. It is usually a frightening or chimerical face, looking at you, which was originally supposed to protect the house and scared off evil spirits. Later it becomes a symbol of the seasons, the elements of nature, the ages of life, some regions or parts of the world. It is part of a large family along with the Atlanteans, Caryatids, Gorgons, Seraphim, Cherubim, etc. Moreover, the Art Nouveau decorative vocabulary also borrowed from the medieval bestiary: griffins, unicorns, harpies, basilisks, dragons, chimeras, phoenix birds, hippocampi, hippogriffs, birdmen, sea monsters, mermaids and mermen, which we find represented alongside eagles, hawks, doves, lions, bears, dolphins, owls, fish, snakes, wolves, foxes, rabbits in real ornamental life forms. Of course, each one has a meaning, chosen by the owner of the house or the architect, which can recount about trades, ethnicities, religions, legends and others.
Metal, whose use in architecture is strongly influenced by the evolution of technologies in the 19th century, knows new and multiple hypostases during the expressions of the Art of the 1900s. Still used further on as a structural building element, metal, especially found in the form of iron or its alloys, acquires artistic valences and becomes a sculptural material, enriching the exteriors and interiors of buildings.
The malleability of the material and its spatial-aesthetic qualities give architects and engineers infinite possibilities of use in the form of twisted, organic or geometric elements, sinuous lines or even natural and figurative motifs. Metal is found outside in architectural elements at the level of façades, such as canopies, awnings, doors, windows, grills, balconies or consoles, being present indoors at the level of lighting fixtures, in various decorative elements or ennobling staircases.
1. Cantacuzino Palace, arch. I. D. Berindey, 1901-1902
In the architecture of Art NouveauSezession - Szecesszió, perhaps even more than in the manifestations of other styles, the wooden joinery, used in both doors and windows, helps to convey the strong connotations of these elements of passage, connecting spaces and worlds. As it is a fragile and natural, but durable material at the same time, wood gracefully resonates with the welcoming atmosphere pursued by the Art of the 1900s, welcoming and inviting the user. Ecclesiastical spaces, which have always paid special attention to the portal, create a true art from the craft of carpentry, often integrating natural or traditional motifs into the architecture of these elements. The treatment of carpentry is equally important in the case of public buildings, but also in private ones. We thus find, all over the country, a variety of joinery, different in shape and surface, which mostly follow sinuous and wavy lines and whose silhouette is covered by spectacularly decorated frames. The soft expression of wood is often amplified by the addition of glass or some fine iron elements, creating contrasting compositions, but also unifying images.
Stained glass is a decorative composition made of mass painted or coloured glass fragments, arranged symmetrically or asymmetrically, fixed in lead ribs, caught in metal profiles within a door or window. The 19th century brings stained glass back into the spotlight, which becomes a characteristic element of Art Nouveau.
Since the Middle Ages, light and painted glass have been fascinating, being one of the defining decorations of supreme refinement of Gothic cathedrals, making contemplation delightful. In the 19th century, the technique of execution is the traditional one, from the medieval era, but the quality of the glass has been greatly improved, and the design reproduces the exuberant Art Nouveau shapes. The colour palette varies depending on the theme and function of the building, etc. At the beginning of the 20th century, stained glass ennobles churches, palaces, but especially commercial stores, cinemas, public or cultural institutions and private residences.
Industrial decorative tiles for walls and floors are specific to the Art Nouveau style, characterized by their abundance on façades, loggias, etc. The first floor tiles in the innovative powder-pressed tile technique are produced in 1862. The rapid success can be explained by the permanent increase in demand, as new types of buildings appear, such as: railway stations, hotels, town halls, courts, libraries, post offices, banks, museums, theatres, baths, hospitals, schools. The boards are visually attractive, standardized, durable, and easy to maintain. In a short time, thanks to the development of manufacturing methods and the diversification of the offer, luxury products become standard elements of everyday comfort. Floor tiles are used inside public buildings, churches, factories, shops and residences. Models vary in the first stage of the artistic current. Plant and floral motifs predominate: sunflowers, irises, lilies, poppies, lotus, chrysanthemums, etc. After 1905 decorative elements tend to become geometric and abstract and are available in multiple colour schemes. To make the models, the artisans in the production factories used books for the study of ornaments, art and architecture magazines and graphic works of the artists of the time.
The fluidity of shapes and decorative patterns and the continuous dance of the linkage between exterior and interior are an example of the application of the notion of Total Art. This unity of art is supported by many artists of the time. The Art Nouveau style marks a true collaboration between architects and artisans. Painters, cabinet-makers, ceramists, glaziers, blacksmiths all work together to make the interiors and exteriors as harmonious as possible and thus participate in beautifying the everyday décor.
In Art Nouveau, the volumes, all surfaces, and the materials are decorative, but privileged are the sensory attributes of materials (texture, relief, colour, transparency, light effects).
Stucco is predominantly used for interior decoration, by creating profiles, soffits, ornamental compositions. Being inexpensive, it is easily transposed into plant, floral and geometric motifs.
Marble, natural stone, rare wood essences are practices that are less common in the Art Nouveau architecture. However, they can be seen in representative, public or private buildings.
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The expressiveness of appliances
The atmosphere of the Art Nouveau, Sezession, Szecesszió interiors is also supported by the manner of handling the ceilings and, implicitly, of the lighting fixtures, the various solutions generating an amazing spectrum of effects such as springing, texturing, accentuation or diffusion. Thus, the high, grandiose spaces of reception rooms in large public or private palaces or those of religious spaces are crowned by richly decorated chandeliers through which the light spreads veiling the entire room. The lighting of the intimate spaces of residences is often treated as spot lighting, placed on the ceiling or on vertical surfaces. The light flows smoothly, integrating diaphanously into the architecture of the room.
The outdoor lighting installations of Art Nouveau buildings complete and enrich the architecture of the buildings, either by harmonious integration into the decorative plastics, or by creating contrasting effects, often obtained through texture or colour.
The Art Nouveau decorative objects have nature in common, as a source of inspiration, the method of production (from the unique object to the industrial series) and the desire for modernity by invoking innovative techniques and materials, thus offering greater freedom of forms. Thus, the Art Nouveau style applies to all objects, whether decorative (mirrors, photo frames, decorative dishes, platters) or functional (clocks, fireplaces, lamps, coffee and tea services, cutlery, glasses, etc.), which transform interior space and its components. The multitude of diverse Art Nouveau forms is a testimony to the expression of the artistic current as Total Art.
At Pelișor, various Art Nouveau and Sezession objects made of glass, crystal and ceramics are exhibited, which are famous throughout the world, bearing the signatures of: Émile Gallé, René Lalique, Karl Fabergé, L.C. Tiffany, the Daum brothers, Almaric Walter & Henri Bergé, D’Argental, Ferdinand Benedikt von Poschinger, Marius Ernest Sabino, Christian Désiré, Loetz Witwe, R. Fournier, Emil Arnold Krog, Gotfred Rode, as well as Joseph Franz Maria Hoffmann. Spectacular are the Gallé, D’Argental, Tiffany, Loetz Wietwe models in coloured, layered, pigmented, freeblown glass, with interspersed or applied decoration, hand-painted with enamel, iridescent or etched with acids. Objects in wheel-shaped or patterned earthenware, painted by hand or with stencils, glazed, bubbled, such as those signed by Eugene Baudin, Clément Massier or Zsolnay-Pécs, are important pieces of resistance.
1. Powder case, Émile Gallé, about 1910
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Mastery of interior space pieces
Pelișor Castle represents the expression of an innovative Total Art, through the involvement of Queen Maria, who assumes the Art Nouveau style in its nonconformist and spectacular essence. Considerable influences on the furniture creation conceived by Queen Maria were due to the Darmstadt School. Scotsman Baillie Scott was one of the most important European representatives of the Arts and Crafts movement. He decorated many rooms in the palace of Duke Ernst Ludwig von Hesse in Darmstadt, who was the nephew of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and the husband of Victoria Melita, Queen Maria’s younger sister. The furniture sets for the Golden Room and bedroom, designed around 1909 at the court of the Dukes of Hesse, made at the School of Arts and Crafts on the site of the royal residences, are the most original works preserved in the Pelișor Castle collection, presenting medieval decorative motifs. The lily flower and the iris are leitmotifs of the creation, also found on the backs of some chairs and armchairs. The Viennese workshop Bernhard Ludwig supplied a number of furniture sets, including those in the princes’ playroom. Bernhard Ludwig’s son later became, at Sinaia, the most important decorator. It adopted the Sezession design, governed by geometric elements, with slightly curved lines and sculptural inserts.
1. Sofa with shelf, cabinets and chairs, Bernhard Ludwig workshop, 1903, Pelișor Castle
The pieces of furniture gradually received different valences, in accordance with the stylistic evolution of the Art of 1900s. The integration of the evidence of human involvement is a general principle of Arts and Crafts, and the furniture industry favoured its manifestation through the multitude of elements - complex or simple - that compose, towards for example, a banquette or a buffet. The decorative vocabulary of the pieces of furniture currently found in the country uses simple lines and geometric shapes or conventional natural motifs. The concept of a buffet is complex due to the functional parts that make it up, but at an aesthetic level it presents clearly defined vertical and horizontal registers, with an emphasis on the craftsman’s personality in openwork or carved details and pull systems (buttons, handles, locks) or rotation (hinges, pivots). In addition to individual pieces of furniture, continuous furniture fronts or pieces framed in niches specifically intended for them were also made, thought at the same time as the wall decoration.
Art Nouveau manifested itself in Romania in the first two decades of the 20th century. As a result of cultural influences, it is known under different names - in Transylvania Sezession, Szecesszió and Jugendstil, and in the Old Kingdom Art Nouveau. Representative buildings or simple residences illustrate Art Nouveau aesthetically and technically especially in the intra-Carpathian arc. As we advance to the east or south, its manifestation “dissipates”, being rather pointwise examples.
The promoters of Art Nouveau (architects, engineers, artists, etc.) sought to express dynamism and movement through innovation and inspiration and aimed to reduce the differences between the traditional fine arts (especially painting and sculpture) and the applied arts (graphics , theatre, crafts). Accomplished artists (town planners, architects, glaziers, ceramists, goldsmiths, etc.) wanted to unify in a common style architecture, exterior and interior decorations, furniture and useful objects (lighting fixtures, heating installations, table services, etc.). That is why Art Nouveau is considered to be a Total Art.
By visiting representative buildings, some of which are covered in the exhibition, you will be able to observe the diversity of Art Nouveau in forms that inspired city dwellers at the beginning of the 20th century. With the beginning of the First World War, Art Nouveau loses its expressive influence, the Art Deco style being its successor on the list of worldwide art movements.
