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Art Nouveau Period Collection

Art Nouveau Antiques (FRANCE, UNITED KINGDOM, CA. 1880–1914)
Art Nouveau Antiques (FRANCE, UNITED KINGDOM, CA. 1880–1914)

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

Art Nouveau can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. The 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. The style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri 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, bedframes 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 studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany 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.

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French Art Nouveau Statuary Marble Mantelpiece
Located in London, GB
A refined French Art Nouveau white Statuary marble fireplace. The shaped frieze with delicately carved rose and foliage to centre and ends, the jambs with full length tapered panels....
Category

Late 19th Century French Art Nouveau Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Marble

Pair of Art Nouveau Iron Andirons
Located in New York, NY
Pair of American Art Nouveau iron andirons with foliate finials over a fluted design. (PRICED AS Pair)
Category

Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Iron

Mother of Pearl and Black Lacquer Decorative Planter
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Black lacquer decorative planter with prnate mother of pearl inlaid details. Signed and Numbered by DK Home with C.O.A
Category

20th Century Dutch Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Lacquer, Mother-of-Pearl

“ Rodin and the Chaste Suzanne” by Pierre Bonnard
By Pierre Bonnard
Located in Sheffield, MA
Bronze Height 7 1/4" in. Width 11 in. Depth 3in. Circa 1905 Signed with monogram and numbered on the left side Bonnard was born in Fontenay-aux-Roses, Hauts-de-Sei...
Category

Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Bronze

Minton Secessionist Art Nouveau Porcelain Garden Seat
By Minton
Located in Great Barrington, MA
A rare and fabulous Minton garden seat that can be used as a seat, a table base (add a glass top?) or a side table. Very bright earth-tones with add...
Category

20th Century English Art Nouveau Period Collection

Pair of Weller Ivory Planters on Stand
Located in Montreal, QC
Pair of Weller Clinton Ivory Art Nouveau Jardinaires, on Stand with Rosebud Design.
Category

Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Pottery

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Elegant Pair of Blue & White Planters on Teak Stands
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Willy Guhl Saucer Planter on Stand
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The Famous Bronze Sculpture Entitled “Panthère Saisissant Un Cerf” by Barye
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