Ludwig Alter Darmstadt

In its sinuous lines and flamboyant curves inspired by the natural world, antique Art Nouveau furniture reflects a desire for freedom from the stuffy social and artistic strictures of the Victorian era. The Art Nouveau movement developed in the decorative arts in France and Britain in the early 1880s and quickly became a dominant aesthetic style in Western Europe and the United States.

ORIGINS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN

• Emerged during the late 19th century
• Popularity of this modernizing style declined in the early 20th century
• Originated in France and Britain but variants materialized elsewhere
• Informed by Rococo, Pre-Raphaelite art, Japanese art (and Japonisme), Arts and Crafts; influenced modernism, Bauhaus

CHARACTERISTICS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN

• Sinuous, organic and flowing lines
• Forms that mimic flowers and plant life
• Decorative inlays and ornate carvings of natural-world motifs such as insects and animals 
• Use of hardwoods such as oak, mahogany and rosewood

ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

• Charles Rennie Mackintosh
• Louis Majorelle
• Émile Gallé
• Antoni Gaudí
• Tiffany Studios

ANTIQUE ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Art Nouveau — which spanned furniture, architecture, jewelry and graphic design — can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. Although Art Deco and Art Nouveau were both in the forefront of turn-of-the-20th-century design, they are very different styles — Art Deco is marked by bold, geometric shapes while Art Nouveau incorporates dreamlike, floral motifs. The latter’s signature motif is the "whiplash" curve — a deep, narrow, dynamic parabola that appears as an element in everything from chair arms to cabinetry and mirror frames.

The visual vocabulary of Art Nouveau was particularly influenced by the soft colors and abstract images of nature seen in Japanese art prints, which arrived in large numbers in the West after open trade was forced upon Japan in the 1860s. Impressionist artists were moved by the artistic tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking, and Japonisme — a term used to describe the appetite for Japanese art and culture in Europe at the time — greatly informed Art Nouveau. 

The Art Nouveau style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha. While all Art Nouveau designs share common formal elements, different countries and regions produced their own variants.

In Scotland, the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed a singular, restrained look based on scale rather than ornament; a style best known from his narrow chairs with exceedingly tall backs, designed for Glasgow tea rooms. Meanwhile in France, Hector Guimard — whose iconic 1896 entry arches for the Paris Metro are still in use — and Louis Majorelle produced chairs, desks, bed frames and cabinets with sweeping lines and rich veneers. 

The Art Nouveau movement was known as Jugendstil ("Youth Style") in Germany, and in Austria the designers of the Vienna Secession group — notably Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich — produced a relatively austere iteration of the Art Nouveau style, which mixed curving and geometric elements.

Art Nouveau revitalized all of the applied arts. Ceramists such as Ernest Chaplet and Edmond Lachenal created new forms covered in novel and rediscovered glazes that produced thick, foam-like finishes. Bold vases, bowls and lighting designs in acid-etched and marquetry cameo glass by Émile Gallé and the Daum Freres appeared in France, while in New York the glass workshop-cum-laboratory of Louis Comfort Tiffany — the core of what eventually became a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory called Tiffany Studios — brought out buoyant pieces in opalescent favrile glass. 

Jewelry design was revolutionized, as settings, for the first time, were emphasized as much as, or more than, gemstones. A favorite Art Nouveau jewelry motif was insects (think of Tiffany, in his famed Dragonflies glass lampshade).

Like a mayfly, Art Nouveau was short-lived. The sensuous, languorous style fell out of favor early in the 20th century, deemed perhaps too light and insubstantial for European tastes in the aftermath of World War I. But as the designs on 1stDibs demonstrate, Art Nouveau retains its power to fascinate and seduce.

There are ways to tastefully integrate a touch of Art Nouveau into even the most modern interior — browse an extraordinary collection of original antique Art Nouveau furniture on 1stDibs, which includes decorative objects, seating, tables, garden elements and more.

Your living room — how your antique and vintage living room furniture is arranged, what style of furniture you’ve chosen, what kind of decor best suits your needs — should be an opportunity to express yourself as well as to unabashedly show off your design taste and preferences.

Common wisdom used to declare the kitchen the hub of the house. These days, the living room seems to have assumed the role of domestic focal point. Unlike the Victorian parlor, stiffly furnished and reserved for guests, today’s living room is a central place for reading and displaying your books, conversation and, well, living, with furnishings that lend themselves to both casual lounging and elegant entertaining.

A living room that doesn’t double as a family or TV room is a luxury. But even if the electronics are elsewhere, this is a hard-working, well-used space.

In an era that sees an increasing number of professionals working from home, sometimes your living room is multifunctional in ways you never thought possible. A corner of this room might be a designated home office, outfitted with a desk, your laptop and notebooks and, of course, the best possible lighting for those unscheduled Zoom calls. Perhaps you’ve sectioned off an area with side tables and armchairs for entertaining small groups while another corner of the room is home to a cozy reading nook.

The appetite for antique and vintage furniture — sculptural mid-century modern case pieces crafted in teak and other dark woods, the sexy, sensuous seating of the 1970s — has only broadened in recent years, with design lovers treasure hunting online and on Instagram.

A Scandinavian modern living room set, featuring lounge chairs and sofas by the likes of Hans Wegner or Kaare Klint, will help you introduce quality craftsmanship characterized by gentle, organic contours into your space, while a Camaleonda sofa by legendary Italian designer Mario Bellini will dazzle with its chunky form and convenient modular setup.

On 1stDibs, find an extraordinary collection of antique and vintage living room furniture inclusive of Space Age living room sets, other clever and provocative furnishings of the 1950s and ’60s, postmodern pieces and much more.