Jugendstil. Die Utopie der Versöhnung

by Klaus-Jürgen Sembach

Organic reform: Reactionary tendrils, flowers, and flowing linesFor a fruitful period between the 1880s and the First World War, European and North American culture deferred to nature. With a symphony of flowing lines and organic shapes, Art Nouveau ( New Art ) inflected architecture, design, painting, graphic work, applied arts, and illustration.

Art Nouveau was deliberately nouveau. With a spirit of willful reform, its practitioners sought to distance themselves from the imitative historicism that characterized much 19th-century art and replace it with undulating, decorative qualities. Turning to vine tendrils, flowering buds, and bird feathers as ornamental reference, they pursued not only a linear freedom but also liberation from the weight of artistic tradition and expectation.At the same time, Art Nouveau followed the example of the earlier English Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements to reject established hierarchies of artistic practice, to emphasize a return to handcraftsmanship, and to synthesize artistic media and practices into a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art.

In this, as in its turn to nature, Art Nouveau is often seen as an aesthetic response to the Industrial Revolution, a recoil from the mass-produced and mechanic, and an elevation of the human hand and wonders of the great outdoors.This fresh TASCHEN edition considers Art Nouveau as a broad historical phenomenon with distinct local features. We consider the style s wider artistic, economic, and political circumstances, as well as its particular flavor in such hubs as Vienna, Glasgow, Munich, Weimar, and Chicago. Outstanding proponents such as Victor Horta, Antoni Gaudi, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh are featured in connection with the cities of their greatest activity. The result is a vivid portrait of the age and a movement that is as much entrenched in our imagination of the fin de siecle as it is in the trajectory of modernism."

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Architecture, Design, Art Design, Art and Photography, Reference

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, but rounded down because of the incredibly disappointing lack of female representation. also because i stan the macdonald sisters super fucking hard and the way he describes them is SO disappointing. going on and on about charles mackintosh and then he talks about which sister is supposed to be more talented and speculates on whether margaret wanted to be a mother?? um????? "margaret has genius, whereas i have only talent" - charles himself thanks!!!

nice pictures tho and i learned a lot, but god this book was disappointing in so many ways

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would rate is as a reasonable book, on Art Nouveau, especially as introductory reading. It starts with some history of the style and covers main centers of the style including Nancy, Brussels, Glasgow, Darmstadt, Munich, Vienna, etc. However, it is not the best of the overview books on Art Nouveau that I read so far. The narration is not as informative and systematic as in Fahr-Becker book, it is more a collection of essays on the topic. It took me much less time to get through it than through Fahr-Becker. The coverage of material is very uneven - extensive coverage within Germany - Munich, Darmstadt, Weimar - and sketchy outside. A unique and interesting in this book is a large number of period B/W photos of Art Nouveau building - exterior and interior. In fact, these pictures form the majority of illustrations. Furniture, lamps, jewelry and other "small art" objects that are plentiful in other style books are rather few in this one and paintings are not represented at all. With this, it is a good addition to more systematic books on the subject, but not the best "one book" to keep at home.

[Theodor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations that accompany the reader throughout the text. Narration can be a bit hard to follow, especially at the beginning of each chapter during the so-called historical context giving part which can feel like a jungle at times. Even so, on the whole, it is an easy book to swoosh through, as certain parts really manage to capture the reader's attention by offering insightful information on the subject. Slightly annoying and misleading how there are three huge chapters on German Jugendstil (Munchen, Darmstadt, and Weimar) considering the fact that the title of the book is, widely put, "Art Nouveau". The last chapter, which covers Vienna quite well, came as a salvaging force, the book ending beautifully with descriptions of Hoffman's Palais Stoclet, building which crowns the entire artistic movement.

[Aidan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The publication suffers from a couple of organizational issues. The font is too big and the images have been placed in a non-optimal arrangement on the pages. The relationship between the font size to the page is out of proportion, the font ends up taking up too much of the valuable space on the pages. And the images are sometimes erratically positioned and sized. Sometimes a single image is dedicated to a single page, but it only takes up 40% of the whole area, and is positioned off-center.

Non-rational use of space describes the publication itself.

Then there are the spelling errors. One or two is understandable, but the number of errors here is considerable, especially toward the end. The last chapter (on Vienna) appears to have been poorly proofread, since there are quite a few grammatical errors and mumbled sentences even.

Autocorrect and spellchecker are no excuse for not proofreading your publications! You're still professionals, not randomly writing pages into your drawer. Non-serious handling of the material can't be taken seriously.

[R.G. Ziemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Text is a little on the rough side, maybe because the German was translated badly? I found the background info really informative, historic perspective we normally don't learn in school in the U.S. Also the structure of the book is interesting -- the author describes the movement and then moves about the "provincial" cities where art nouveau style was developing: not just in Germany, but Belgium Finland, and even Chicago. He ends with a section on the showpieces in Vienna. A lot of photos to illustrate the style, in architecture and other aspects of design.

[Eva_812 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Op zich wel een interessant boek over Jugendstil in het algemeen, maar de schrijfstijl is lastig door te komen, mogelijk heeft dat met de vertaling te maken.
Opvallend is dat er bijna alleen maar mannen worden aangehaald. Eén van de weinige keren dat er een vrouw (kort) wordt benoemd, staat er bij: "Vermoedelijk zou ze graag moeder zijn geworden" huh en wie ben jij, meneer, om dat statement zo vol zelfvertrouwen te maken?

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read this text but enjoyed looking at the many pictures of Art Nouveau works primarily in Europe.

[Tasneem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a treasure trove of information and was accompanied by wonderful photography. A very helpful guide to understanding the different ways in which art nouveau was utilised in different parts of the world.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The typesetting job kind of bothers me (if you choose to omit paragraph indents, I really feel like you're required to increase the spacing between the paragraphs). Still, I love Horta.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really informative - lots of background on the movement etc - and the pictures were all stunning!