Art Nouveau (New
Art) started in Belgium and was inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement which
is very much inspired by nature. Therefore, flowers, leaves and natural,
organic shapes are also seen in Art Nouveau paintings. The main characteristics
of Art Nouveau are the whiplash curves, absence of straight lines and 90° angles and elements of living
organisms such as animals, insects and birds. The most common organisms were
the swans, dragonflies, peacocks and swallows. All these had a symbolic meaning
to the artists.
Alphonse Mucha was an Art Nouveau painter. He was Czech but lived in
Paris. The ‘Laurel Lady’ and ‘Ivy Lady’ are two of his paintings which are a
great example of art nouveau. As you can see in both the paintings, there are a
lot of natural elements and curves shown.
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| A.Mucha. 'Laurel Lady' and 'Ivy Lady' [oil] |
The pattern
with an artichoke is a painting by John Henry Dearle from the Arts and Crafts
Movement. The other one is from Art Nouveau. As you can see, organic shapes are
very common in both styles. The difference between Art Nouveau and the Arts and
Crafts movement is that Art Nouveau usually includes a female figure.
References:
G, Cybele,
2006. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [online]
Available at: <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/artn/hd_artn.htm>
[Accessed 29 March 2014].
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