From Nouveau to Deco

A style that took over worldwide and was used for design on applied art, graphic work and illustration, of the time. This was art Nouveau, influenced mostly by styles such as post-Impressionism and symbolism, from which designers took aspects from the natural world.

Henry Van de Velde , Vignette, decorative kunst |||, 1898-1899

The forms of this desk, by Henry Van de Velde, are very flowing and in a natural kind of way. A combination of flat surfaces divided by flowing lines. It is proportionally balanced, being divided equally vertically. It is called the beans desk because of its kidney like shape. Art nouveau varied to all kinds of designs, even illustrations and prints. Such posters are recognized by, their fluid lines, repetitions, patterns and more.

Henry Van de Velde, Poster for the factory trop, 1897, Lithograph Poster

Laurel Lady, Alphonse Mucha, 1901

A painter and a decorative artist of art Nouveau is Alfons Mucha, he mostly portrayed images of women surrounded by nature. This portrait of ‘Laurel’ 1901 shows a lot of varied influences such as, Japonisme, the Byzantine mosaic patterns and post-Impressionism. There’s the cropping style of Japonisme, also the flatness and boldness of color. He gives balance to the painting using a contrast between cool and warm colors. Visual balance along the pattern of the leaves complementing the whole composition. Also the mosaic compliments the whole picture balancing the colors of the figure.

Documents decoratifs, Plate 38, 1902, 

Alphonse Maria Mucha

Although his main composition was of females, you can observe some works that consist of floral patterns only. One such design is ‘Documents décoratifs. Plate 38. 1902’. It is geometrically balanced, using repetitive form of flower and leaves and also contrasting colors. He makes a frieze like design on top that splits the painting in thirds, using the golden ration and also the frieze itself. Using this ratio, it gives perfect balance to the composition of the picture. Use of complementary colors is also effective. This also shows an influence from Japanese art.

Desk, Sir Edward Maufe, London, 1925.
Museum no. Circ.898-1968.
 Given by Prudence, Lady Maufe. ©
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Art Deco followed art Nouveau, and just like art Nouveau, it affected all forms of fine arts, fashion design, product design, film and photography. This desk by Sir Edward Maufe, 1925, which is in the art Deco genre, shows a completely different approach to Van de Velde’s desk. It does not have the same flowing lines or same product functionality. It is more linear; more in a modern approach and silver finish other then the visible vein of wood. It is symmetrically balanced, with only a touch of decoration on the handles. This style is going to influence more modern styles which leads to our modern world of today.

 Szecessziós Magazin, Henry van de Velde . 2014. Szecessziós Magazin, Henry van de Velde . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.szecessziosmagazin.com/magazin9/henryvandevelde150.php. [Accessed 24 November 2014].

Art Deco: The 1925 Paris Exhibition - Victoria and Albert Museum. 2014. Art Deco: The 1925 Paris Exhibition - Victoria and Albert Museum. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/the-1925-paris-exhibition/. [Accessed 24 November 2014]. 

Art Nouveau | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2014. Art Nouveau | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/artn/hd_artn.htm. [Accessed 24 November 2014].

The Dancers

The Golden age of art is during the reign of Queen Victoria. Because of the industrial revolution, people were able to rise from poverty and this led to people with self-confidence to acquire fame.

Edward Poynter was a painter in the Golden age. In his painting ‘Horae Serenae, detail’ the figures in the middle are of classical maidens, who appear to be dancing.  It is a very happy and peaceful painting that has a great attention to detail. Poynter gave a lot of importance to detail and correct geometry, which is why you can see the background and the garden sculptures perfectly positioned and complete. The composition is well portrayed and well balanced. It has to equal sides distributing an even weight, were on the right, there are the musicians and on the left whom appears to be the landlord and his wife. Also a balance with color effects, where the maidens are dressed in warm colors, which stand out in front of the green grass and flowers. Also the musicians are dressed in some cool colors as to balance out the shadow on the left side. There is also physical balance as they are dancing, some of them are on one foot and one of them is not even touching the grass. The sense of balance in this picture is varied.

Edward John Poynter, Horae Serenae (detail), 1894, oil on canvas

Several new approaches to art were being discovered through that time and one remarkable and most influential artist of the 20^th century is Henri Matisse. There were realists, who started portraying ordinary life, livestock and other ordinary activities, and also Impressionists, who depicted their paintings in a blur, featuring a fleeting moment in time, and then Matisse and Fauvism. Matisse was very diverse in his work, with his first work showing influence from Edouard Manet and Paul Cezanne, but as time goes by, his paintings become less detailed and more colorful. He became more interested in the form, and color.

Henri Matisse, Bonheur de Vivre (The Joy of Life) 1905-1906, 

Barnes Foundation, oil on canvas

 One of his greatest paintings is of an Arcadian landscape, which is in a very primitive style filled with bright colors, is ‘Bonheur de Vivre’ (The Joy of Life). The forest is in shades of yellow, red and green, and bold, dark, blue-ish, green tree trunks. The flesh is also in varied colors, which are rather unrealistic. There’s a visual balance of colors throughout the picture. Like Poynter’s painting, there’s also a group of people dancing around in a circle, giving the same feeling of joy, and also a sense of physical balance. Unlike Poynter’s, Matisse portrayed this circle far more distant and far less detailed. This is the kind of approach that artists were beginning to follow, breaking away from academic traditions and portraying work more momentary and spontaneous.

Henri Matisse, Dance 1910, oil on canvas,

Hermitage Museum (since 1948), Museum of Modern Art

 2.6m x 3.9m

A few years later, Matisse works had already started to show less detail and more attention to form and color. In 1909 he created a work called ‘Dance’ commissioned by an industrialist.  He used the same dancers from ‘Bonheur de Vivre’, which brings the same joy, but less brightness, less color and a less dancer. There is flatness in the picture, even lightness. They are all in a balancing pose and there surely is a sense of movement. The flatness makes you think that it is simple and there’s not much to interpret from it but, Matisse had done this intentionally, and without thinking you might say that the background is the sky rising up from the hill, but what if it was water? Here, Matisse “use spatial ambiguity to explore one of the key issues in modern painting, the conflict between the illusion of depth and an acknowledgement of the flatness of the canvas.”

Henri Matisse, Dance 1910, oil on canvas, 

Hermitage Museum (since 1948), Museum of Modern Art

 2.6m x 3.9m

Sir Edward John Poynter :: Biography and Image Gallery at ArtMagick. 2014. Sir Edward John Poynter :: Biography and Image Gallery at ArtMagick. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.artmagick.com/pictures/artist.aspx?artist=edward-john-poynter. [Accessed 24 November 2014].

Henri Matisse (1869–1954) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2014. Henri Matisse (1869–1954) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mati/hd_mati.htm. [Accessed 24 November 2014].

WebMuseum: Matisse, Henri (-�mile-Beno�t). 2014. WebMuseum: Matisse, Henri (-�mile-Beno�t). [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/matisse/. [Accessed 24 November 2014].