Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

The movement of art nouveau began in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Art Nouveau began in Europe, this movement is known by various names, such as the Glasgow style or, in the German speaking world, Jugendstil but its name was taken from the French, literally means “new art” and is characterized by the use of organic shapes and dramatic, curving lines that encompass many forms of art including paintings, glassware, furniture and architecture artists from this style Aubrey Beardsley, Thomas Malory and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The influence of art Nouveau is not characterized on nature only; it has inspiration from High Victorian, Rococo and Japanese art. This artistic style is like the contemporary Pre-Raphaelite, symbolism and Arts and Crafts styles.

Aubrey Beardsley

Cover of "the yellow book"

Aubrey Beardsley was an artist and illustrator and is best known for the black and white illustrations. The first published work of Beardsley was “The Valiant” a poem in the June 1885 issue of past and present the Brighton Grammar school magazine. In the year of 1893-94 Aubrey Beardsley made illustrations and book covers and periodicals, including his first commission, J.M. Dent’s edition of Malory’s Morte Darthur. The fame of Beardsley was established in “The yellow book” that was appeared in April 1894. In this book Beardsley was the art editor that made black and white drawings, title-pages and covers.

Jules Cheret

Jules Cheret was born in Paris. At the age of thirteen he took an art course at the Ecole Nationale de Dessin. Cheret was influenced by works of Jean-Honore Fragonard and other Rococo artists such as Antoine Watteau. Jules Cheret created poster ads for the Cabarets, music halls and theatres such as the Eldorado, the Olympia, the Folies Bergeres, Theatre de l’opera, the Alcazar d’Ete and the Moulin Rouge. Cheret was famous for the posters displaying females that were called “cherettes”. This was a taboo for the society because of the clothes, wearing low-cut bodices and smoking in public.

Peter Behrens

The kiss

Peter Behrens was born in 14^th April 1868 in Hamburg. He was an architect and an artist. Behrens was an Art Nouveau designer of decorative and graphic art. From 1890 he worked as a painter and graphic artist in Munich. In the woodcuts of illustrations are all surrounded by a border. The theme of the border is always connected with the illustration like the woodcut “The Kiss”. Behrens was also an artistic adviser to AEG electrical company. Peter  Behrens was mostly was mostly inspired from William Morris. Behrens was an early advocate of sans-serif typography, and used a grid system to structure space in his design layouts. He was also called “the first industrial designer” because he designed manufactured products such as street lamps and teapots. Peter Behrens also explored

formal geometric design motifs with modular sans-serif characters based on a square. 







Posters that are inspired from Art Nouveau:

References:


Art Nouveau Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2014. Art Nouveau Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-art-nouveau.htm. [Accessed 25 October 2014].


The Life of Aubrey Beardsley . 2014. The Life of Aubrey Beardsley . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/beardsley/bio1.html. [Accessed 25 October 2014].


Jules Cheret Biography. 2014. Jules Cheret Biography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.jules-cheret.org/biography.html. [Accessed 25 October 2014].



Inkling. 2014. Inkling. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.inkling.com/read/history-of-graphic-design-philip-meggs-5th/chapter-12/peter-behrens-and-the-new. [Accessed 25 October 2014].