Art Nouveau
In exploring these different movements, I hope to create a personal database of artwork, styles, colors, shapes, ideas, etc. to use as inspiration for my work.
Starting my art history / design exploration, I am starting way back with Art Nouveau. Art Nouveau, “new art”, was a movement lasting from 1890 to 1905. Some believe it was the last movement of the Nineteenth-century while others feel it was the first movement of the Twentieth-century.
Coming after the movement Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau artists wanted to move towards creating with a more modern style. They believed that average objects could be beautiful and art should be apart of every day life. Art Nouveau artists took inspiration from organic shapes and combined them with more angular, geometric forms. Some of the creators in this movement include Antoni Gaudi, Alphonse Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Hector Guimard.
For design inspiration I enjoy the work of Alphonse Mucha. His distinct style includes rich, earthy colors mixed in with pastels and beautiful women with long, flowing hair. Mucha’s work had a revival in the 60s and became a major influence on psychedelic music posters. His color palette, to me, seems very similar to common color palettes in todays graphic design. His beautiful organic shapes and forms are inspiration for creating hand done pieces to incorporate into digital design.
