How to create an Art Nouveau interior

Recommendation points

• How Art Nouveau differs from Art Deco and Art Nouveau
• Distinctive features of the Art Nouveau style
• Classic interiors in Art Nouveau style
• Conclusion

Since 1890, there have been global changes in culture that affect all areas of human expression. The era of the Silver Age in Russian poetry – bewitching and romantic, beautiful and unforgettable, like a woman’s kiss, was accompanied by the birth of the fine art of forms in France.

Fireplace and room interior decoration, Eugene Valen

This period of free splash in art after the sacramental, static perception by society of a person and his world around him, found its expression in the interior and was marked by the emergence of the Art Nouveau style, which later manifested itself in multiple interpretations and genres. The birth of this style is historically associated with a period of time when industrial technologies for the manufacture of consumer products were finally established as a result of the industrial revolution prevailing at that time..

The multi-genre art of the Art Nouveau style and its interpretations flourished for almost half a century, right up to the Great Patriotic War. Currently, many designers are turning to this style in search of new ideas and solutions. The implementation of stylistic forms typical of Art Nouveau in modern interiors is a compositionally complex, often difficult task. Design mistakes when creating modern Art Nouveau interiors are striking and make an expensive interior completely tasteless. We tried to select materials for this style in such a way as to help our readers to independently create interiors with Art Nouveau elements, as well as to follow the author’s work of designers.

How Art Nouveau differs from Art Deco and Art Nouveau

The name art nouveau (fr. Artnouveau) means “new art”, was given to a new artistic direction, which began to develop at the end of the 19th century. Despite the fact that the names of the same Art Nouveau style (fr. Moderne – modern) and Art Nouveau are almost identical, in fact it is customary to separate them. This is how Art Nouveau is associated with the authors: furniture design – Emile Galle, Camille Gaultier, Michael Tonet, architectural objects – Gustav Eiffel, Antonio Gaudi, Victor Horta, painting – Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha. The art nouveau style actively developed from 1880 until 1905, after which it became a secondary component of commercial design, which is known as modern.

In turn, Art Deco is a decorative art that appeared as a result of the synthesis of neoclassicism and modernity. This genre is characterized by a graphic pattern, ornamentation, mainly ethnic, the use of expensive modern materials such as ivory, rare leather, expensive woods and silver inlays. The above styles are often confused with each other.

Art Deco interior

The art nouveau style borrowed its forms and lines from nature and in any art object, architecture, interior reveals its organic nature. Art Nouveau artists managed to make large and massive objects fragile and visually weightless. In all cases, a plane perception is characteristic of any volumetric Art Nouveau decor. As a basis, wavy and curved lines inherent in nature are used. Art Nouveau artists drew inspiration from the world of plants, many of whom knew botany intimately. Plant elements were often used as the subject, preferably lilies, orchids and irises, but other natural forms could be used to create a living pattern..

During the heyday of the artistic direction of Art Nouveau, industrial design of objects also often returned to the old styles: Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism. If Art Nouveau includes all the trends of commercial design, then Art Nouveau is a real pure art direction, free from the direct influence of old styles. Indeed, art nouveau has undergone the greatest commercialization, but never became a craft.

Distinctive features of the Art Nouveau style

Like any artistic style, Art Nouveau is characterized by its inherent details. The most commonly used ones include: stained glass windows, stairs with characteristic floral decorations, carved doorways, decorative lighting with stained glass technique in the Tiffany style, paintings by Art Nouveau artists, tall elongated vases. These elements can be used in the interior, both in combination and separately. Often in modern design, it is allowed to combine styles, especially when adding details from another style. These details become a small performance in a fundamentally different interior style. The simplest and safest design option is considered a combination of classicism and elements inherent in the Art Nouveau style..

Left: Original Tiffany lamp with distinctive zoomorphic motifs.
Right: Tiffany style lamp with stained glass lampshade

Making stained glass windows is a complex and expensive job. The original stained glass technique uses glass casting followed by firing. Various techniques are currently used to imitate stained glass..

Contemporary Art Nouveau doorway decoration

To create the entrance group shown in the photo, the glass painting technique was used, which is quite simple and accessible. All materials for painting on glass can be found in specialized stores and simulate a stained glass window yourself. The original stained glass windows, made in the Viennese technique, are often fabulous. In many cases, they are considered full-fledged objects of art..

Stained glass window at the medical school in Nancy, Jacques Grubert

When self-painting glass in the Art Nouveau style, you need to pay attention to color ratios – all primary colors should be in different proportions (80-40-20), you should not use more than three colors. The ratios of the format of ornamental patterns are also important, they should most closely correspond to natural natural proportions – some stylization of natural elements is allowed, but it should not be at the expense of the ratios of natural lines. In this case, it is better to use the “beautiful” Pythagorean ratios. In the simplest case of self-painting, a contour technique with a weak color tint of glass is used..

In some cases, Art Nouveau artists transferred the stained glass style to other interior elements. An example is the ceiling in the Old House hotel, built in Rostov-on-Don. The contrast of dark walls and light ceiling with dark wood ornamental inserts makes the ceiling look like a giant stained glass lamp. Also note that the curtains in Art Nouveau interiors are mostly dark and heavy, reminiscent of stained glass veins, often stand out in contrast to the walls, or delicate and almost weightless like glass inserts.

The interior of the Old House hotel in Rostov-on-Don should be attributed to the modern commercial style, since borrowing elements from old styles is typical.

Stairs, which are often the center of the composition in Art Nouveau interiors, deserve a separate comment. The Art Nouveau staircase is characterized by lightness and delicacy, despite the use of heavy and massive elements. The main decoration is the stair railings, which can be made using the technique of forging or wood carving. Such work is done only by hand and has a high cost..

Modern staircase in Art Nouveau style

Art Nouveau staircases often resemble bizarre shapes, reminiscent of the bodies of giant animals. This technique was applied by Antoni Gaudi in the design of the famous Batlot House and became a classic for Art Nouveau interiors. Expensive carving and forging can be replaced with a more uncomplicated one, through the use of stylized floral ornaments. The Art Nouveau style is flexible enough and transforms well, therefore, with all the initially high cost of such interiors, you can completely replace expensive parts with elements that are less difficult to manufacture..

1. Modern staircase in Art Nouveau style. 2. Bank Ladder in Nancy, Louis Mozherel.
3. Modern wooden staircase in Art Nouveau style. 4. Modern staircase, Alex Haw

The design of doorways or entrance groups for Art Nouveau has its own pronounced features. Of course, in most cases, doorways should be decorated with carved elements. Often, to save money, modern designers create entrance lobbies using drywall. This technique does not give the desired effect, and the plant elements are heavy and tasteless. Entrance groups designed as wall elements require large space and high ceilings.

Above: Successful modern Art Nouveau entrance lobby.
Below: Unsuccessful modern solution for an Art Nouveau entrance

Entrance lobby decoration in Art Nouveau style

Art Nouveau wall decoration is characterized by the use of painting, and, most importantly, graphics, of course, first of all, we are talking about Gustav Klimt and Alphonse Mucha. Graphic works of Alphonse Mucha, executed with perfect taste, often become the object of not very successful plagiarism when they are chosen as plots for decorating walls and other interior details. At the moment, reproductions of Alphonse Mucha are on sale, so there is no need to make copies yourself.

Unsuccessful design of the entrance group with graphic elements by Alphonse Mucha

Left. Calendar design by Alphonse Mucha.
Right: Alphonse Mucha cigarette advertisement poster

In modern interiors, Art Nouveau furniture is practically not used, primarily because it is not available. Antique furniture is practically not found in Russian flea markets, and modern furniture production according to sketches or to order from catalogs of European companies is a very expensive pleasure. Typically, modern Art Nouveau interiors use modern furniture with few exceptions if possible..

1. Piano, Luis Mojorel. 2. Modern office chair in Art Nouveau style.
3. Bed “Sunset and Twilight”, Emile Galle. 4. Modern model of mahogany bed in Art Nouveau style

Decorating premises in the Art Nouveau style on the basis of classical elements in compliance with the basic rules of style gives a high-quality search result for beautiful interior solutions. The interior will be expressive, interesting and lively, these are the features of all organic design styles.

Classic interiors in Art Nouveau style

In 1898, the album Art nouveau decoration & ameublement ”dedicated to Art Nouveau interiors. It contained about 50 sketches of interior fragments. If at that time these interiors were just becoming fashionable, nowadays it is useful to get acquainted with them in order to feel the purity of the first steps of the Art Nouveau style. Note that the album sanctified the approach that showed the state of the style in 1898, later the works of Antoni Gaudi, Emile Galle, Luis Mojorel, as well as other masters of this surprisingly sophisticated artistic direction became famous.

Billiard room, “Art nouveau decoration & ameublement “, 1898

The first manifestations of Art Nouveau are most closely associated with the characteristic features of Rococo. The pretentious, airy elegance of restless lines is reflected in Art Nouveau. Interior compositions are characterized by symmetry, multiple stylized floral ornaments, which are performed in the democratic technique of painting walls or using wallpaper. The first Art Nouveau furniture is still heavy and pompous, but already has characteristic signs of style based on light curved forms. Applying techniques and inlay are used in the manufacture of furniture. Art Nouveau is characterized by the use of carved parts, which are now extremely expensive..

Library, “Art nouveau decoration & ameublement “, 1898

To make the new style popular, interior decorators skillfully combined traditional straight lines with curved ones. The composition of circles and straight shapes became the graphic basis. They gave special meaning to the rhythmic pattern and combination of ornaments. If we analyze the sizes of the motifs of the ornaments, then they correlate with each other in terms of golden proportions.

Left: Fireplace group, Art nouveau decoration & ameublement “, 1898.
Right: Staircase, Art nouveau decoration & ameublement “, 1898

In some interiors of the early Art Nouveau edition, new trends can already be traced, which are categorically different from the Rococo stylization. Ornamental details are becoming more and more flattened and have a purely decorative character. Symmetry becomes a secondary compositional element. In the design of interiors, experiments in the compositional combination of forms of flat and volumetric elements are traced, decorative forging is used, which had not been previously used in interior design. The rhythmic pattern of ornaments becomes more active, vibrating, affecting the entire composition.

Bedroom, Art nouveau decoration & ameublement “, 1898

Art Nouveau is the origin of furniture solutions that fill the entire wall. We are talking about the traditional modern furniture walls, which were so popular in the furniture of living rooms in the recent past and still remain relevant. When looking at these sketches, it becomes obvious that Art Nouveau made a significant contribution to the derived decorative genre – Art Deco, which is characterized not only by the use of expensive materials, but also by the rejection of expensive carving..

Cabinet, “Art nouveau decoration &ameublement “, 1898

Art Nouveau masters could not ignore the optical play of light and shadow, in the interiors there are stained glass solutions and glass inserts that bring lightness and delicacy into the interior.

Dining room, Art nouveau decoration &ameublement “, 1898

Art Nouveau interiors are always distinguished by increased functionality and ergonomics, it seems that there is a place for every little thing, and the cabinets provide compartments for frequently and rarely used items. Some tableware becomes a decorative component of the interior, for safety they are hidden under the glass of the sideboards. So that the increased functionality of the furniture does not make the interior overloaded, the furniture is made lighter and a little pretentious due to the shape, which only complements the overall style without conflicting with it.

Conclusion

The creation of classic interiors in the Art Nouveau style is subject only to professionals, which is characteristic of a pure art style. A subtle sense of Art Nouveau style should not change the designer throughout the entire interior decoration period. Each detail of the Art Nouveau interior has its own meaning and participates in creating the overall impression; the interior elements can only be conditionally called main and secondary. The simplest method is to create contemporary interiors with Art Nouveau elements that give any static classic interior a lively decorative touch. This approach will allow you to avoid gross mistakes in interior design and bring the elegance of the stunning Art Nouveau style to any apartment..