This is a brilliant overview of how Art Nouveau arose from the cultural and political forces at the turn of the 20th Century. In just a few days the A to Z Blog Challenge kicks off. Many thanks to Fay Cullen for such a fascinating post!
Literally translated as �new art�, the Art Nouveau influence spanned roughly thirty years, from 1890 to 1919, shocking the Victorians and Edwardians in forms of diverted self expressionism. Greatly influencing Western architecture, textiles, metalwork and interior design, this period was fanciful, sensual, playful and sensitive in its use of feminine flowing curvilinear lines and exquisite depiction of the female form.
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While seemingly shameless and unimportant to the Victorians and excessively emotional to the Edwardians, its appeal was to a new generation excited to celebrate the non-conformist style of the day fed by environmental and social pressures. Such pressures included finding a style suitable for the industrial age, as opposed to applying past styles to contemporary works such as the academically trained architects of the �Parisian Ecole des Beaux-Arts� were doing.
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