Art Nouveau

Cologne: Konemann, 1997. Cloth, 425 pages, illustrations (some colour); 33 cm. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Tiny stain/foreedge. Dust jacket, with light edgewear, protected in a mylar book cover. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by special arrangement. Profusely illustrated. "The unity of art and life was the goal of the Art Nouveau movement, the prelude to modernity. On the basis of shared ideas, its adherents strove for a homogenous style, which nonetheless took on manifold variations in its expression. Dr. Gabriele Fahr-Becker explores this artistic movement in architecture, interior decor, furniture design, silver and gold smithery, ceramics and glasswork, graphic arts and painting. The author leads her readers through the diverse national variations of Art Nouveau in Europe and the United States. The significance of the literary and philosophical as well as cultural and political background is explained by means of many theories and writings by artists and their contemporaries. The countless permutations of Art Nouveau are woven into a complex and yet distinctive picture of this artistic movement at the turn of the twentieth century." - Publisher. CONTENTS: The final chord and a new beginning. Introduction; England. Ruskin, Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites; Glasgow. The blossoming interior design; Paris. World exposition and the bourgeoisie; Nancy. The langauge of flora and fauna; Belgium. The new architecture; The Netherlands. Abstract line and De Stijl; Italy and Russia. A step into the future; Barcelona. Architecture as a natural phenomenon; Munich. Capital of arts and crafts; Darmstadt. Revolution and art; Berlin. German factories and workshops; Scandinavia: National consciousness in the "Light of the North"; New York and Chicago. Form follows function; Vienna. End of an era; The Wiener Werksta tte. The total work of art accomplished; Appendix.. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Folio.