Having the crisis generated by industrialization as its first apprehension, the manifestations of Art Nouveau show themselves constantly concerned with checking the ability of their representatives to explore traits obtained in the nature. The sinuosity and complexity of the forms operated as a kind of confirmation of the limits that industrial production would have in the art world. In other words, the existence of forms of plants and animals would demonstrate the exact distance that differs the artistic work from the reproduction carried out by machines.
At the same time, we must also emphasize that the options for this style were manifested in the choice of materials that were far from the raw material commonly found in manufacturing environments. The materials should reinforce the uniqueness of the artistic action, being thus worked through so many steps and processes that could not fit precisely to the determination of a product that could be remade using the same materials and the same technique. No doubt we had an ingenious challenge to the power that machines were rising at that time.
We must also point out here that Art Nouveau had great strength for its style to manifest itself in different fields of art. Thus, paintings, furniture, decorative objects and buildings integrated this same trend. In the field of plastic arts, we can highlight the legacy of Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918), author of "O kiss" (1907); Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 - 1901), who signs "Baile no Moulin Rouge" (1890); and Pierre Bonnard (1867 - 1947), creator of "Plate of Apples on a Table" from 1905.
In architecture and decoration it is possible to find a large number of objects representing this trend. Both on the outside and inside of the buildings, we observed the existence of flames, flowers, foliage and animals that conferred the organicity and naturalness intended by their authors. Among others, we can highlight the legacy of Antoni Gaudí (1852 - 1926), who was notable for his mosaics found in Park Guell and the large and surprising forms explored in the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, located in Barcelona.
In Brazilian lands, Art Nouveau ended up emerging as a major influence of European production. The edition of several posters and magazines from the beginning of the Republic presented an ornamentation occupied by floral and curvilinear forms. In the city of Manaus, the economic prosperity brought about by the rubber trade opened space for this new type of concept. In general, the style's influence was commonly called by the name of "floral art".
By Rainer Sousa
Master in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/art-nouveau2.htm
