A revolutionary reaction to traditional 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 craftspeople attempted to create a style suitable for a "modern" age. In this absorbing, exceptionally detailed, and well-researched book (one of the first scholarly works to revive interest in the style after World War II), a noted Norwegian authority on the subject examines the movement in depth. Stephan Madsen offers a wealth of facts and insights about the origins and development of the style; trends leading up to Art Nouveau, including the influence of Blake and the Pre-Raphaelites; early Art Nouveau posters and book illustrations; and its use in architectural ornamentation, furniture, jewelry, wrought-iron, glass, and other applied arts. A magnificent selection of 264 photographs and line drawings accompanies the text, which gives broad coverage to the movement, as well as insightful discussions of such important artists as Emile Gallé, Alphonse Mucha, Walter Crane, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Aubrey Beardsley, Henry Van de Velde, Victor Horta, William Morris, and Eugène Grasset. Artists and students, admirers of Art Nouveau, and anyone interested in this enduring and influential style will welcome Professor Madsen's expert, fully documented study.

A completely revised edition, covering every period and development to the present, the designers and makers, the woods and other materials, the architecture and decoration. 2,000 photographs. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.

What is Architectural History? considers the questions and problems posed by architectural historians since the rise of the discipline in the late nineteenth century. How do historians of architecture organise past time and relate it to the present? How does historical evidence translate into historical narrative? Should architectural history be useful for practicing architects? If so, how? Leach treats the disciplinarity of architectural history as an open question, moving between three key approaches to historical knowledge of architecture: within art history, as an historical specialisation and, most prominently, within architecture. He suggests that the confusions around this question have been productive, ensuring a rich variety of approaches to the project of exploring architecture historically. Read alongside introductory surveys of western and global architectural history, this book will open up questions of perspective, frame, and intent for students of architecture, art history, and history. Graduate students and established architectural historians will find much in this book to fuel discussions over the current state of the field in which they work.

What does citizenship mean? What is the process of "naturalization" one goes through in becoming a citizen, and what is its connection to assimilation? How do the issues of identity raised by this process manifest themselves in culture? These questions, and the way they arise in contemporary France, are the focus of this diverse collection. The essays in this volume range in subject from fiction and essay to architecture and film. Among the topics discussed are the 1937 Exposition Universelle; films dealing with Vichy France; François Truffaut's Histoire d'Adèle H.; the war of Algerian independence; and nation building under François Mitterrand. -- Amazon.com.