Distinguished by their lavish sculpture, metalwork or tile facades, Art Nouveau buildings certainly stand out. Art Nouveau buildings are unique, audacious and inspirational. Rejecting historic styles, considered inappropriate for an era driven by progress, architects and designers sought a new vocabulary of architectural forms. Their vision was shaped by modern materials and innovative technologies, including iron, glass and ceramics. A truly democratic style, Art Nouveau transformed life on the eve of the twentieth century and still captivates our imaginations today. Beautifully illustrated, this book explains how the new style came into being, its rationale and why it is known by so many different names: French Art Nouveau, German Jugendstil, Viennese Secession, Catalan Modernisme, Italian Liberty and Portuguese Arte Nova. It covers the key architects and designers associated with the style; Victor Horta in Brussels, Hector Guimard in Paris, Antoni Gaudi on Barcelona, Otto Wagner in Vienna, Odon Lechner in Budapest and Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow. There are detailed descriptions and stunning photographs of buildings to be found in Brussels, Paris, Nancy, Darmstadt, Vienna, Budapest, Barcelona, Milan, Turin and Aveiro. Finally, it covers the decorative arts, stained glass, tiles and metalwork that make Art Nouveau buildings so distinctive.

A revolutionary reaction to the eclectic historical styles of nineteenth-century art, the turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau movement drew much of its inspiration from nature. Applying its sinuous, curvilinear motifs to the decorative arts, graphics, architecture, sculpture, and painting, artists and crafters attempted to create a style suitable for a "modern" age. This treasury of rare Art Nouveau decorative ornaments offers an unusual selection of the genre's most strikingly imaginative graphics. Originally published in Paris in 1899 and sold by subscription, the collection features fifty full-page plates depicting a rich profusion of everyday items rendered in the distinctive Art Nouveau style. Intricate patterns of flowers, vines, faces, and other designs decorate scores of objects made of metal, ceramic, and glass: pitchers and vases, cutlery, walking sticks, jewelry, and other objects and artifacts. A source of authentic Art Nouveau graphics, this compilation will serve as an inspiration for artists, illustrators, and designers.