Art Nouveau Furniture
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, 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.
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Marble, Bronze
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Furniture
Stone
Early 1900s Danish Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Unknown Art Nouveau Furniture
Brass
Early 1900s Italian Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Terracotta
1920s French Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Bronze
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Silver
Late 20th Century French Art Nouveau Furniture
Crystal
1890s German Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Pewter
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Silver
20th Century Unknown Art Nouveau Furniture
Bronze
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Art Nouveau Furniture
Bronze
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Silver, Sterling Silver
19th Century French Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Bamboo
Early 1900s American Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Silver, Sterling Silver
Early 1900s English Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Stoneware
Late 19th Century English Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Steel
1880s French Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Bronze
1920s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Mirror
Early 1900s German Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Steel
Early 1900s Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Paper
1890s French Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Ceramic
1910s French Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Furniture
Bronze
Early 1900s German Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Steel
1910s English Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Gold, Enamel
Early 20th Century Italian Art Nouveau Furniture
Wood
Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Bronze
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Silver
1920s American Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Art Glass
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Metal
Late 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Art Glass
Early 1900s French Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Art Glass
1910s French Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Bronze, Silver Plate
Early 20th Century Danish Art Nouveau Furniture
Ceramic
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Furniture
Marble
Late 20th Century European Art Nouveau Furniture
Crystal
2010s Austrian Art Nouveau Furniture
Brass
Late 19th Century Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Beech, Bentwood
1910s German Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Silver
1920s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Art Glass
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Furniture
Sterling Silver
20th Century French Art Nouveau Furniture
Crystal
Early 20th Century Italian Art Nouveau Furniture
Iron
Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Wood
Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Furniture
Brass
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Furniture
Glass
Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Furniture
Bentwood
20th Century French Art Nouveau Furniture
Art Glass
Early 1900s Dutch Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Fruitwood
20th Century French Art Nouveau Furniture
Iron
1970s American Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Paper
20th Century Art Nouveau Furniture
Porcelain
1910s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Furniture
Brass
20th Century Danish Art Nouveau Furniture
Porcelain
Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Furniture
Terracotta
Art Nouveau Interiors
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