Despite so much perceived movement in Art Nouveau artwork and architecture, the harmony in its designs is what stands out the most. The ornamentation and linear patterning was not mere decoration for Art Nouveau artists, but, instead, represented the symbolic content in the pattern, functioning as a visual metaphor imbued with spiritual energy and meaning: (Mucha 126) Optimism and fatigue are symbolized by two movements, an upward one and a downward one, which occur together in serpentine sinusoids between two poles which attract alternately, thus formulating the profile of the movement which can be seen in all structural and decorative elements
, manipulating) a mass society; to that end it covered almost every genre -- from painting and sculpture to architecture and all sorts of crafts, such as furniture making, ceramics, glass works, and jewelry. (80) In fact, the art nouveau movement was originally referred to as "the aesthetic movement" because of its emphasis on such details, and art nouveau sought to bring beauty, sensibility and maximum utility to objects that ordinary people use on a daily basis or otherwise experience up close and personal (Cantor 11)
The work of the architects and decorators of Art Nouveau -- in spite of the predominance of decoration and arbitrary proliferation -- began to show signs of functional intention, of concern with the practical comfort of the customer" (21). At this time, and in a dramatic departure from traditional architecture, the Art Nouveau movement began to inspire simple plans with straight lines as witnessed in the works of designers such as van de Velde, Mackintosh, Behrens, Hoffmann and, of course, Horta (Cassou, Langui and Pevsner 21)
Some sites are an awkward shape and this may determine the form of the building. The Maison du Peuple in Brussels, was located on a circular place and its curved facade was designed by Victor Horta to reflect this" (Conway and Roenisch 126)
This is evident, when, for example, their work is contrasted with that of the Symbolists or when we contrast the two towers by Obrist and Auguste Rodin" (270). Although Obrist's tower sought to communicate "man's eternal striving to reach upwards" through the use of spiraling forms, Rodin's version, while earlier, is somewhat weighed down by its lofty and socially relevant symbolism and the greater control of its spiral form (Cordulack 270)
He led the field from the very outset, having begun to practice a few years before Van de Velde, and later subscribed wholeheartedly to the French school, as is indicated by his display rooms at the Turin Exposition of 1902" (75-76). According to one of his many biographers, Victor Horta was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1861 and went on to become the leading European architect of the movement to create a modern architecture during the 1890s (Stennott 2004:650); Horta died in 1947 (Joedicke 1959:44)
In this regard, Horta summarized his objective as follows: "To construct a palace that wouldn't be a palace but rather a 'house' in which the air and light would be the luxury so long excluded from the workers' hovels" (47 quoted in Kohn at 503). In truth, Horta developed the effect of grandeur through his innovative use of light and air instead of the traditional finery and ornamentation that characterized the bourgeois palaces of the day (Kohn 503)
There was also a roof garden" (77). Likewise, "The furnishings and fixtures for which Horta was also responsible, were simple and substantial, in keeping with the spirit of the building itself" (Lenning 77)
According to one of his many biographers, Victor Horta was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1861 and went on to become the leading European architect of the movement to create a modern architecture during the 1890s (Stennott 2004:650); Horta died in 1947 (Joedicke 1959:44). Horta studied in Ghent and in Paris before enrolling in the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels; he is widely regarded as being a pioneer of modern architecture in Belgium and one of the Continent's most influential practitioners of art nouveau (Levin 2002:1)
This was a self-consciously modern expression, owing little in a strictly formal sense to earlier historical periods. (Roth 456) These continuous curvilinear patterns can be clearly seen in the graphics of Tassel house's staircase and a detail from a staircase in the Maison du Peuple shown below: Figure 3
At this time, and in a dramatic departure from traditional architecture, the Art Nouveau movement began to inspire simple plans with straight lines as witnessed in the works of designers such as van de Velde, Mackintosh, Behrens, Hoffmann and, of course, Horta (Cassou, Langui and Pevsner 21). According to Schmutzler (1962), "Victor Horta achieved, with his Maison Tassel in Brussels, the first true example of Art Nouveau architecture and of Continental High Art Nouveau in general" (114); however, as this author emphasizes, in 1893 "A style of curved and linear High Art Nouveau had thus attained full maturity in England twelve years before Victor Horta built the Maison Tassel in Brussels" (Schmutzler 111)
He led the field from the very outset, having begun to practice a few years before Van de Velde, and later subscribed wholeheartedly to the French school, as is indicated by his display rooms at the Turin Exposition of 1902" (75-76). According to one of his many biographers, Victor Horta was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1861 and went on to become the leading European architect of the movement to create a modern architecture during the 1890s (Stennott 2004:650); Horta died in 1947 (Joedicke 1959:44)