

Art Nouveau and the Industrial RevolutionĪrt Nouveau emerged as a reaction to major world events including the Industrial Revolution which began in the eighteenth century. However, one major element that differentiated Romanticism from Art Nouveau was that romantics criticised the industrial revolution while the Art Nouveau movement embraced it and was even fueled by it.

Romanticism began in the eighteenth century and had an emphasis on individualism, spontaneity and freedom from rules and encouraged people to rely on their imagination. Keeping in touch with its British, medieval and romantic origins, Art Nouveau drew inspiration from the world of plants and nature quite similar to the imagery associated with the artistic and literary movement romanticism.

As William Morris said “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

This was a radical philosophy in the elitist art world. The sentiment of Art Nouveau is the importance of seeing the beauty in all objects: art does not have to be a lifeless painting you hang up but can be functional and available for more than just the few. Peacock and Dragon, Woven woollen fabric, 1878. That sentiment behind the Arts and Crafts movement can be seen in Art Nouveau: the desire to deconstruct the traditional and often elitist ideas around the hierarchy within art. The Arts and Crafts movement came before Art Nouveau and aimed to reform quality functional design by bringing dignity to Art being applied to day-to-day life, which was often underrepresented and unappreciated in the art world at the time. The Art Nouveau movement began in the late nineteenth century and was coined by British textiles designer, writer and social activist William Morris, along with other collaborators within the Arts and Crafts movement. So how do brands and design use Art Nouveau today? In this article, we’ll cover the history of Art Nouveau and key characteristics of Art Nouveau to help you spot it in designs today. Today we still use art in the same way, we use it to identify ourselves with a particular movement or a school of thought in order to draw in customers and viewers. Looking back at the history of Art, revolutionary works of Art were not just about aesthetics but a reflection of a part of society, a movement and the desires and repulsions within a society. We implement these historic designs, like Art Nouveau, through our branding, graphic design, home decor, architecture and so much more. In today’s society, we have moved more toward using different art styles from centuries ago without even knowing it. The Art Nouveau movement sought to bring beauty to all aspects of life and to all people. Head back to the Jazz Age of F Scott Fitzgerald in his pomp and enjoy the zigzags and the ziggurats, the fountains and the sunbursts, and the jagged shapes and the towering skyscrapers.So off the bat what do you think when you hear the words Art Nouveau design? Something french, classic, fancy and probably pricey? Well Art Nouveau is French for “New Art.” It was intended to be art for the people and an attempt to move away from traditional art forms that were often restrictive and exclusive. The Book League of America was just one publisher to reprint large quantities of classic novels with Art Deco-styled covers. Art Deco cover art can be found in almost every genre from children's fiction to memoirs and countless popular novels. Just like architecture, furniture, the motor industry and the fashion world, publishing embraced Art Deco from around 1915 until the outbreak of World War II. The Art Deco label comes from Paris' 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes - a showcase event, organized by a loose collective of artists known as La Société des artistes décorateurs, for everything modern, stylish and high-end after the austerity of the post-World War I years. Oddly the actual label of 'Art Deco' was not popularized until 1968 when art historian Bevis Hillier published a book called Art Deco of the 20s and 30s. Art Deco, which originated in Paris, is one of the most memorable of all design movements thanks to its modern feel and use of mathematical and geometric shapes.
