Artnouveau by Maria

Art Nouveau

Contents Introduction_________________________________________ p. 4 Influences___________________________________________ p. 5 Art Nouveau__ ______________________________________ p. 8

Jules Chéret p. 9 Eugène Grasset p.12 Audrey Beardsley_____ ____________________________________ p.12 Henry Toulouse de Lautrec p. 13 Alfonse Mucha___________ ______________________________ p. 13

Conclusion and Legacy

p. 16

Figure 1.1 - Privet Livemont, poster for Rajah coffee, 1899.

Figure 1.2 - Henry van de Velde, poster for Tropon food concentrate, 1891.

Introduction Being a direct descendant to the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau was created as a rebellion against Victorian sensibilities. It was the first style used in commercial art consistently in order to enhance the beauty of industrial products. Additionally, the movement increased trade and communication between Asian and European countries during the 19th century. Asian art provided new American and European artists with different approaches in relation to space, color, drawing and subject matter that were very different from the Westen Tradition. Art Nouveau grew into becoming an international style that flourished for two decades (1890-1910). It encompassed everything from architecture, furniture design, fashion and graphics. It also adopted the visual characteristics of being very organic and plantlike shapes such as flowers and vine tendrils. The subject matter was often depicted as images of beautiful women, as well as birds (especially peacocks).

Influences During the late 1800s, Europeans were drawn to anything Japanese that was created in the Ukiyo-e movement. Developed in the Wokugawa period (1606-1867), when it was a time of economic expansion and stability for Japan. Leading to thrive in their cultural arts, ukiyo-e style blended stories from traditional picture scrolls with influences of the decorative arts. The movement’s name means “pictures of the floating world”, because it presented scenes of the every day life of the people. Other subjects depicted in these works portrayed scenes and actors from theatrical plays, famous courtesans and prostitutes, as well as erotica. Japanese woodblock prints were the used by ukiyo-e artists to showcase their work by applying water-based inks with subtle blends. The fondness of artists in relation to nature and human expression resulted in prints of birds, flowers, and women, which possessed great beauty.

Figure 1.3 - Artist unknown, woodblock print from a bok about roses, after 1868.

Figure 1.4 - Kitagawa Utamaro, portrait of a courtesan, late 1700s.

Figure 1.5 - GisbertCombaz, poster for La Libre EsthĂŠtique, 1898.

Figure 1.6 - Peter Behrens, The Kiss, 1898.

Art Nouveau The term “art nouveau” comes from a gallery show in Paris of 1895, were American and European artists showcased their “new art” in addition to the Japanese art. This gallery would later on become the place where international young artists were introduced. Due to its characteristic as transitional style, evolved from the historic designs that prevailed for the most part of the 19th century and created a bridge between Victorian clutter to modernism. Its graphics create organic movements of line that regularly dominate as surface decoration. Other visual properties that were encompassed in this style were color and texture. In earlier threedimensional design decorations were often placed on top of a surface, but in art nouveau basic forms and shapes evolved with the design of the ornament. This new design gave a purpose to the making of ornaments and function. The movement introduced the a new principle that included the incorporated the creation of lines and forms that were invented rather than replicated from nature or past objects, this gave birth to abstract designs. One of the most notorious artists to apply this theory was the Belgian architect Victor Horta with his townhouse from Emily Tassel. The construction was made from unified tendrils that intersected in curvilinear networks, this was the first building of its kind created in England. Horta strived for harmony between form, material and color. On the other hand graphic designers and illustrators attempted to make a living by applying their knowledge and fine arts training with applied art techniques that had been created with 8

the development of commercial printing. Consequently, they were able to improve significantly the quality of mass communication. Curvilinear shapes and floral abstraction were some of the influences of the Arts and Crafts movement adopted by Art Nouveau, although the ornamentation was used more sparingly. Two important graphic artists who took very a very important role into the transition of Victorian graphics to the art nouveau style were Jules Chéret and Eugène Grasset. Living in Paris (1891) there was a new law placed that lifted may censorship and restrictions from the press. This is when streets started to become a type of art gallery where painters felt no shame in making advertisement posters.

Jules Chéret

Jules Chéret (1836-1933) played an important role as the “father of the modern poster”. Trained as a lithographer, he was convinced that pictorial lithographic posters would replace the regular typographic letterpress posters. He enjoyed drawing directly on the lithographic stones, unlike his generation who created designs on paper then to be translated by a lithographer. Influenced by both impressionist painters and the simplicity of the Japanese woodblock prints. Most of his posters were life-size (around 7 feet tall) and printed in 2 pieces then joined on the wall when posted by afficheurs. Initially, he created his work to promote nightclubs and theatre events, although later on he used posters to advertise virtually any product. Some people named Chéret also “the father of the Women’s liberation”, because changed the women’s new role model that was common in the Victorian Era, by portraying them often drinking and smoking in public. Chéret also paved the way for other painters like Toulouse-Lautrec to become “commercial artists”.

Figure 1.7 - Jules Chéret, poster “L’auréole du midi, Pétrole de Sureté”, 1893.

Figure 1.8 - Jules Chéret, “Palace de Glace, Champs-Èlisées” (Ice Palace, Champs-Élysées), 1893.

Figure 1.9 - EugĂ¨ne Grasset, title page for histoire des Quatre Fils Aymon (Tale of the four sons of Aymon), 1883.

Figure 1.10 - Audrey Beardsley, first cover for The Studio, 1893.

Eugène Grasset During the same period Eugène Grasset (1841-1917) was the first designer to compete against Chéret. Born in Switzerland, his influences included medieval art and Asian art. This love for the exotic reflected in his furniture, textiles, books and glass designs. In 1883, Grasset designed and printed Historie des quatre fils Aymon (Tale of the four sons of Aymon, Figure 1.9), which is considered one if his greatest achievements. The publication was greatly assimilated by the public due to its decorative borders that frame contents, incorporation of illustration and text to a same unit, and type that was printed over skies or other areas. Afterward, Grasset began with his first poster commissions where showcased his work applying “the coloring-book style”. This style referred to thick black outlines that encompassed flat areas of color, similar to images placed on medieval stain glass windows.

Audrey Beardsley Alternatively, in England the art nouveau movement was mostly concerned graphic design and illustration rather than architecture or product design. It’s foundations come from Gothic art and Victorian painting. Audrey Beardsley was considered “the enfant terrible” of art nouveau, his style depicted prominent pen line, black-and-white work and exotic imagery. His work caused a lot of controversy, due that it was considered that his worked vulgarized design ideas of the Kelmscott style, replacing it the naturalistic borders with flatter designs.

Henry Toulouse de Lautrec In the late1880s in France, a lot of artists enjoyed getting together at Le chat Noir nightclub which included: Grasset, Georges Auriol, Henri de Toulouse de Lautrec and Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen. This group met and shared their love for color printing. This was when Toulouse-Lautrec made his first impression with the poster “La Goulue au Moulin Rouge” (Figure 1.11). He created images as simplified abstract shapes and silhouettes and designed his layout with dynamic spatial relationships and flat colors for most of his posters. Inspired by Japanese art, impressionists and Dega’s design he passed his time on Paris cabarets and bordellos, watching, drawing and developing a journalistic illustration style. He often worked from memory when creating his posters.

Alphonse Mucha It was also at this time the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha (18601939), which had gained fame as a dependable illustrator with strong drawing skills. Mucha received his first commission on 1894 to create a poster for the play Gismonda (Figure 1.12). This is when he elongated Grasset’s format and used Byzantine-inspired mosaic as background design, which made this poster totally unique from his earlier work. Because of its complexity and muted colors Mucha’s work was better appreciated from up close than from a distance, which caused sensation in Paris. He be didn’t want to be labeled as an “art nouveau artist”, because he believed that art should be evolving along with time. The further development of his artwork and poster design is what made him internationally known. Mucha’s known for portraying sensual women and creating stylized hair patterns.

Figure 1.11 - Henry Toulouse de Lautrec, poster “La Gouloue au Moulin Rouge”, 1891.

Figure 1.12 - Alphonse Mucha, Gismonda poster, 1894.

Figure 1.13 - Alphonse Mucha, cover for Wiener Chic (Vienna Chic), 1906.

Figure 1.14 - Alphonse Mucha, poster for French Commerce Ministry exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1904.

Conclusion and Legacy Art Nouveau was a movement that lasted a short period of time that was put to a halt when the First World War started. Some of the factors that contributed to its decline was that as the style became more popular it ended up being commercially exploited, which created the deterioration of the designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quality and taste. In addition, the best artists lost interest due that the work they produced was considered to be expensive and furthermore inapt for mass production. However, Art Nouveau succeeded in clearing obsolete ideas from the 19th century in order to pave the way for the development of modern art on the 20th century. These teachings were later applied by Henri van de Velde for the creation of the Bauhaus in Germany, which would later be considered the most famous school of architecture, art and design of all times. Additionally Peter Behrens (art nouveau designer) taught architecture in Munch to Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier. Currently there still great practitioners of Art Nouveau that create masterpieces costing very large sums of money, which are sought by collectors worldwide.

References Corbiere, A. (2010). The growth of Art Nouveau. Fine Arts. Retrieved from: alain.corbiere.free.fr/finearts/yearone/Art_Nouveau_texts. doc Gutenbrunner, C. (2009). Art Nouveau. Graphic Design History. Retrieved from: http://gds.parkland.edu/gds/!lectures/ history/1890/artnouveau.html Meggs, P., Purvis, A. (2012) Meggâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history of graphic design. (5th edition). Wiley.

Colophon This catalog was printed at the University of Texas at El Paso in December 2012. The headings were placed in Bocklin and the text in Century Roman. Bocklin typeface was created in 1904 by Schriftgiesserei Otto Weisert foundry in honor of Arnold Bocklin.Century Roman type was designed by American type founder Linn Boyd Bentonin 1894. Design and composition by Maria del Pilar Cruz.