Art Nouveau and Its Interpretations Around Europe

'F.Champenois' by Alphonse Mucha (1898)

Art Nouveau is a style of art that emerged in the 1890's throughout Europe and the United States. Frustrated by the rigid constraints of 19th century academic art, a growing number of artists sought to develop a new art style which would embrace the modern to transform society for the better. For its motif, they chose nature, which since the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859, had come to represent evolution and therefore progress. Inspiration from nature can be seen in Art Nouveau through the use of long, sinuous line, and organic and geometric forms. Art Nouveau had its origins in the English Arts and Crafts movement and went on to have influence throughout Europe and beyond. Each country blended nature with its own symbolism and history to create its own unique take on the style. 
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​Glasgow

'The Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts' by Frances Macdonald, Margaret Macdonald, and Herbert McNair (1895)

In Scotland a unique brand of Art Nouveau developed, led by the 'Glasgow Four', Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his wife Margaret Macdonald, her sister Frances Macdonald, and her husband Herbert McNair. This interpretation of the Art Nouveau movement became known as the 'Glasgow Style'. Inspired by Celtic spirituality and Victorian purism, the four created graphic works consisting of elongated silhouettes with dreamlike colour schemes. They make use of colours that are light, neutral, natural and mythical at the same time. The group's work reveals some early elements of modern art, such as the use of symmetry and geometric figuration. Their poster "The Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts" (1895) displays the four's take on Art Nouveau through its use of long sinewy figures with similarly attenuated plant forms. The male figure's cloak and the female figure's hair both sweep around behind them, forming part of the abstract design. The work of the four was strongly influenced by Celtic art. Characteristics of Celtic art include dense, interlaced patterns, curvlinear elements and zoomorphic forms, much like that of the work of the Art Nouveau.
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​Vienna

​Left: The Secession Building by Joseph Olbrich (1898)
Right: 'Water Serpent II' by Gustav Klimt (1907)

Vienna became the centre of a distinct variant of Art Nouveau which became known as the Vienna Secession. The Secession was a group of artists who sought to distance themselves from historicism, creating the Viennese interpretation of Art Nouveau. The secession movement was led by Gustav Klimt from 1897 to 1905. In 1898, the Secession commissioned the architect Joseph Olbrich to build an exhibition hall. The result was a masterpiece of Art Nouveau architecture that remains one of the gems of Vienna. The building is striking with strong axial symmetry and contrast between the blank spaces of the walls and the elaborate gold decorations over the main entrance. The secessionist's work provides in large part the visual representations of the new intellectual and cultural flowering of Vienna around 1900 in fields such as medicine, music and philosophy. The Viennese take on Art Nouveau is particularly prominent in the leading figure of the Secession's work, Gustav Klimt. The organic feminine patterns of his works are intertwined with floral motifs and the subjects of his paintings are mainly ancient or biblical myths, allegories and female forms. 
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Madrid

Top left & right: 'Palacio de Longoria' by Jose Grases Riera (1904)
Bottom left & right: 'Casino de Madrid' by Jose Lopez Sallaberry (1903)
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A remarkable variant of the Spanish interpretation of Art Nouveau is the Madrilenian Art Nouveau or "Modernismo Madrileno", which emerged in Madrid in the early 20th century with such notable buildings as the Palacio de Longoria , the Casino de Madrid, or the Cementario de la Almudena. Renowned modernists from Madrid were architects Jose Lopez Sallaberry, Fernando Arbos y Tremsanti and Francisco Andres Octavio. The palace de Longoria is the headquarters of the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers in the Masalana district and is well known for being one of Madrid's few totally Art Nouveau buildings. The palace was built for the financier Javier Gonzalez Longoria as a family home, and is notable for its luxurious, highly ornamental external appearance, very much in line with the Art Nouveau taste. The artificial stone of the exterior creates smooth, organic forms using interlinked decorative elements. The building is topped by an impressive iron and glass dome. Inside the building the main staircase is striking with its circular outline, and takes its inspiration from French Art Nouveau architecture, as does the rest of the decor. Another building, the Casino de Madrid, is a magnificent example of Madrid's eclectic ideas in the early 20th century, with a mixture of french and baroque trends. The building consists of the French classicist style with Art Nouveau details. Much like the Palacio de Longoria, the casino is highly decorative with flowing, organic forms that can be seen throughout the structure.
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Nancy

Left: 'Wisteria' table lamp by Emile Galle (1920)
​Right: 'LYS' vase by Emile Galle (1903)

In France, it is in Nancy that the Art Nouveau movement gained momentum after the loss of Alsace and the Lorraine departement of Moselle to the Prussians in 1871 at the Treaty of Frankfurt. From the 1870's Nancy began to attract young, cultivated people who had fled the German annexation, and so its population doubled between 1870 and 1914. The economic development of Nancy was considerable and the group of Art Nouveau artists known as "Ecole de Nancy" made the capital of Lorraine a major centre of French decorative arts. The leader and founder of the Ecole de Nancy was Emile Galle, one of the best glass artists of his time and the leading initiator and driving force behind the Art Nouveau movement in Nancy. Galle's deigns took inspiration from nature along with heavy Japanese design influence. Galle's glass vases became famous for their beautiful forms, rich colour palettes, and inspired decoration often featuring popular Art Nouveau motifs relating to nature, botany, and insects.