Art Nouveau

- The sinuous forms of Art Nouveau were the hallmark of Europe's and America's boldest and most fashionable style at the turn of the 19th century
- Art Nouveau brought a new decorative language to furniture, jewellery, graphic arts, architecture, sculpture and painting
- The first book to examine Art Nouveau worldwide in the context of the issues of the age, from the pressures of modern life to nationalism, spiritualism and the emancipation of women


At the turn of the nineteenth century, Art Nouveau was both Europe and America's boldest and most fashionable style. It could be seen in the sinuous ironwork of the new Paris Metro stations, the curving asymmetry of Lalique's jewellery and Tiffany's Japanese-inspired glassware. Art Nouveau brought a new decorative language to furniture, jewellery and graphic arts, as well as architecture, sculpture and painting.

Known by a variety of names - Jugendstil in Germany, Secession style in Austria, the Modernista movement in Catalonia - it was a truly international new art for an explosive new age. This is the first book to examine Art Nouveau worldwide in the context of the issues of the time: from fin-de-siècle anxieties about the pressures of modern life to nationalism, spiritualism, the emancipation of women and the heroic cult of youth.