Art Nouveau

Art & Ideas (Phaidon)

by Stephen Escritt, Anne Béchard-Léauté (Translator), Susanne Bosch-Abele (Translator)

At the turn of the nineteenth century, Art Nouveau was both Europe and America's boldest and most fashionable style." "In this comprehensive and lucid book, Stephen Escritt defines Art Nouveau broadly, analysing the work of such diverse designers as Victor Horta in Belgium, Emile Galle in France, Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow and Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona. He argues that Art Nouveau was evolutionary, drawing on a range of sources including the French Neo-Rococo, the English Arts and Crafts Movement and Symbolism, as well as revolutionary, exploring the inherent possibilities of steel and glass and the functionalism that was to be taken up by the Modern Movement. This is the first book to examine Art Nouveau worldwide in the context of the issues of the age, from fin-de-siecle anxieties about the pressures of modern life to nationalism, spiritualism, the emancipation of women and the heroic cult of youth.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Art History

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2000

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10

[Emma Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

one day i will live in a gaudi-esque cob house and it will rival god

[Kevin McDonagh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps the world's first globalised Art movement? Taking shape in the 1880s and 1890s, bursting into a wider public at the 1900 Universal exposition and by 1905 was on the wane. I'm glad to finally have a cemented knowledge as to some of the visionary figures behind this movement but Escritt fails to breath much romance into their legacy.

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A weighty but comprehensive digest. Was able to pick out the key points without having to read the whole book cover to cover.