Art Nouveau And Art Deco: A Comparative Analysis

Superior Essays
Art Nouveau (1890 – 1910) and Art Deco (1925-40) are two major graphic design art styles, during which combined many art forms in a new and enhanced way creating distinct themes. During these periods there were artists that employed each style reflecting, on how artist ideas and values had progressed. This essay compares and contrast these two art styles through the historical aspects of how these styles came into existence, the many cultural aspects and beliefs that helped create some of the main characteristics of these styles, the social aspects of these Graphic Design styles, and what the artist were trying to express in a creative way; through these many elements you are able to grasp an enhanced understanding of how these styles have …show more content…
One difference was the philosophy of Art Nouveau, which was that “Art should be a way of life” (Purvis 200). It was concerned with nature and our body. “Art Nouveau is particularly interesting for the way its pattern of dissemination reflects the economic landscape of fin de siecle Europe and for the way in which it was put to use by socio-political forces beyond art” (Greenhalg 6). Another difference was that these artists during this time didn’t work separately but worked together in large groups. They all focused on changing the lives of the people and wanted to convey art to all social classes of people. “This had a positive and impactful influence on the society. “Now labor classes were able to obtain art and it wasn’t just targeted towards one group of class” (Horth 3). The belief that was carried throughout this era was that art was for everyone. They had even changed the society’s views of the labor classes by making little houses for them. Some artist had even created furniture for the labor class. “At the same time they enthusiastically embraced applied-art techniques that had evolved with the development of commercial printing processes and as a result, they were able to significantly upgrade the visual quality of mass communications” (Purvis 200). On the other hand, Art Deco had influence society in a different way. When the end of World War I was coming to a …show more content…
“Art Deco 's visual motifs include geometric shapes, curves, Egyptian zigzags, sunburst, lightning bolts, airbrushed screened ray bands, motion light, aerodynamic and streamlined forms” (Pacitti 8). This style had grasped many ideas from different other styles such as cubism, futurism, modernism, as well as many others. Art Nouveau “included identifiable flat, outlined illustrations and hand-drawn typefaces” (Purvis 200) that lead to the confusion with Art Deco, but there is a clear distinction between the two when it comes to these distinct themes from each style” (Cahill 9). “Art Nouveau’s identifying visual quality is an organic, plantlike line” (Purvis 200). Art Nouveau looks a lot more like it was drawn by hand and has more of an organic way with lines and shapes compared to the “highly geometric shapes that define the Art Deco style” (Cahill 9). The themes behind these styles are similar. They both wanted to create their own feel and look for the style and separate themselves a little bit from the past art forms that had been created. But they also incorporate new technology as well. A similarity between these two styles was that they both incorporated more than one art form in a new way. An example of this would be “The Museum of Applied Art, Budapest” (Art Nouveau/Image 1) and the Rockefeller Center, New York (Art Deco/Image 2). In “The Museum of Applied Art, Budapest”, you can see how

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