Art Nouveau was an international art movement during the late 1800’s that focused on decorative arts such as glass work, interior design and jewelery, along with other departures from tradition in design, painting and sculpture. The movement was characterized by an elaborate ornate style of flowing curvilinear forms that frequently depicted leaves and flowers.
Key artist in the movement included: Gustav Klimt, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Otto Wagner, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Stanisław Wyspiański.
Although Art Nouveau took on distinctly localized tendencies as its geographic spread increased some general characteristics are indicative of the form. A description published in Pan magazine of Hermann Obrist’s wall-hanging Cyclamen (1894) described it as “sudden violent curves generated by the crack of a whip”, and this description became well-known during the early spread of Art Nouveau. Subsequently, not only did the work itself become better-known as The Whiplash, but the term “whiplash” is frequently applied to the characteristic curves employed by Art Nouveau artists. Such decorative “whiplash” motifs, formed by dynamic, undulating, and flowing lines in a syncopated rhythm, are found throughout the architecture, painting, sculpture and other forms of Art Nouveau design.
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