Art Nouveau: Art and design 1900
The day was
divided into four lectures with plentiful breaks for coffee and lunch. In the
morning Ann led us through a good overview of the main motifs of Art Nouveau
style with really good visual examples from different countries and in
different mediums. She also talked about the different between this style and
the arts and crafts movement.
The second talked
looked at who this art was for and how people bought the objects. I had not
come across Samuel Siegfried Bing, the owner of the Art Nouveau Gallery, the
Liberty’s of Paris. Ann gave us a good overview of what we might have been able
to buy there. She also talked about the Paris exhibition of 1900 and how that
led and influenced style.
In the afternoon
we looked at two producers of this period. We began with Rene Lalique focusing
in particular on his jewellery. Ann had some wonderful pictures and took us
through the styles and themes of his work. She also talked about the history of
his factories and his move into glass.
We finished with a
look at the L’Ecole de Nancy, a group of artists and craftsmen who fled to the
city of Nancy when Alsace Lorraine became part of Germany. The main stays of
this group were Galle and Daum, the glass designers, but there were also
architects and furniture makers. I’ve added Nancy to my list of places to
visit.
The day have a
good overview of the main themes of the period but you realised just how much
more there was to see and learn.
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