Art Nouveau was influenced by and reacted to the Industrial Age.
Art Nouveau was an artistic movement which started in France and Belgium and spread through Europe and the United States. It began in the last two decades of the 19th century and was popular until about the First World War. With its roots in the onset of the industrial age and the modern world, Art Nouveau combined a variety of influences to take art in a new direction.
Total Art
Artists of the Art Nouveau style sought to bridge the gap between between major and minor arts. For example, some artists made art from ordinary objects in the same way as they would with fine art, elevating them to that level. By blurring these distinctions, artists sought to create a total art, one that combined all types of art. This meant that artists used furniture, textiles, clothes, jewelry and book illustration and decoration as media. The most popular medium for the Art Nouveau artist, however, was architecture, because of its great and elementary role in everyday life.
Organic Form
Art Nouveau artists believed that nature should be the model of good design. The main features of the style were its flowing, curved lines. Art Nouveau design also often focused on organic geometrical forms and asymmetrical arrangement of forms and patterns. With their focus on the natural and organic, artists took inspiration from and emulated shapes like those of grasses, lilies and vines. More unusually, they also looked at peacock feathers, butterflies and insects.
Wide Range of Influences
Art Nouveau artists tried to create an international style that crossed borders and cultures. The style was also created as the modern world was taking shape and the impact of the Industrial Revolution grew. Some artists embraced the new forms and materials of the industrial age, while others looked back to earlier styles and customs. Because of this, Art Nouveau took influences from cultures and artistic styles like the Japanese, Greek, Rococo, Dutch, Celtic and Pre-Raphaelite.
New Materials
Some artists embraced new material that became available with the onset of the Industrial Age. A notable example was the use of cast iron. Iron, steel, concrete and electrical lighting were also popular, having been recently introduced in architecture, and thus were emblematic of the Industrial Age. Artists also often worked with ceramics and glass. These were practical materials --- they are waterproof, sanitary and functional --- and still provided decorative potential.
