Art Nouveau (Abbeville Stylebooks)

Called variously Le Style Moderne, Liberty Style, and a host of other names, the style known today as Art Nouveau - the art of the new - flowered in the mid-1880s and did not fade until World War I. Predominantly a decorative style, its lushly curving forms and ornament found inspiration in nature rather than in classical shapes. As Constance M. Greiff describes in this exuberant sampler, Art Nouveau curves showed up in the Paris Metro stations, idiosyncratic buildings by Antoni Gaudi in Spain, and a seductive collection of jewelry, furniture, Tiffany lamps, Liberty textiles, wallpapers, and ceramics in which the swirling line was dominant.
Art Nouveau reprises the fin de siecle, highlighting the era and its personalities, architecture, decorative designs, funishings, arts, and significant buildings - all in a delightful format that brings back the voluptuous age of Oscar Wilde and Sarah Bernhardt, Toulouse-Lautrec and Sigmund Freud.
The undulant lines of Art Nouveau imprinted themselves on pendants by Rene Lalique, posters by Alphons Mucha, glass by Emile Galle, the interior of Maxim's in Paris, and apartment houses from Brussels to Barcelona. Art Nouveau presents the story of the designs and the designers who helped this new age blossom.