Editing Art Nouveau (section)

==Characteristics, decoration and motifs==
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File:Tassel House stairway-00.JPG|Exposure of structural elements – [[Hôtel Tassel]], [[Brussels]], by [[Victor Horta]] (1892–1893)
File:Wand Decoration Obrist 1895.png|''Coup de Fouet'' or [[Whiplash (decorative art)|whiplash motif]], depicting the stems of [[cyclamen]] flowers – Wall tapestry, by [[Hermann Obrist]] (1895)
File:Paris 16 - Castel Béranger -10.JPG|Functional elements transformed into ornament – Pins on the jointings of a balcony of the [[Castel Béranger]] ([[Rue Jean-de-La-Fontaine (Paris)|Rue Jean-de-La-Fontaine]] no. 14, [[Paris]], by [[Hector Guimard]] (1895–1898)
File:Le Castel Béranger (5478758597).jpg|Windows not aligned horizontally, while still looking harmonious – Castel Béranger
File:Breast ornament René Lalique Berlin 24112018 1.jpg|Depiction of the woman as a creature of the night, fused with the natural world – Breast ornament, by [[René Lalique]] (1898–1900), [[Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin]]
File:Père-Lachaise - Division 2 - Ernest Caillat 01 (cropped).jpg|Decorative stylised lettering – Grave of the Caillat Family in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]], Paris, by Guimard (1899)<ref>{{cite web|author=Richard|title=Les tombes du Père Lachaise - Ernest Caillat|url=http://paristoric.com/index.php/musees-et-religions/pere-lachaise/3343-les-tombes-du-pere-lachaise-ernest-caillat|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803225059/http://paristoric.com/index.php/musees-et-religions/pere-lachaise/3343-les-tombes-du-pere-lachaise-ernest-caillat|url-status=usurped|archive-date=3 August 2020|website=paristoric.com|date=2018-09-10}}</ref>
File:Jane Avril, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.jpg|Flat colours and visible outline, inspired by Japanese art – ''[[Jane Avril]]'', by [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]] (1899), multiple exemplars in different locations
File:Pippermint Get frères.jpg|Faded earthy colours – Poster for Pippermint, by [[Jules Chéret]] (1899), [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]], Paris
File:Wisteria Tiffany Studios Lamp.jpg|Floral patterns – Lamp with [[Wisteria]] design, by [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]] (1899–1900), [[Virginia Museum of Fine Arts]], [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], US
File:Lars kinsarvik, poltroncina, norvegia ante 1900, 01.JPG|Inspiration taken from [[folklore]] and local tradition – Chair, by [[Lars Kinsarvik]] (before 1900), [[Musée d'Orsay]], Paris
File:Prague Praha 2014 Holmstad flott jugend metall-glass Bohemia metall- and glassworks art nouveau style Obechni Dum temporary exibition - 30.jpg|Organic shapes – Carafe, unknown designer ({{circa|1900}}), in a temporary exhibition in the [[Municipal House]], [[Prague]]
File:Mantel clock by Louis Chalon, E. Colin & Cie., Paris, c. 1900, gilt and silvered bronze, view 1 - Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt - Darmstadt, Germany - DSC00951.jpg|Flowers and plants (in this case poppies and sunflowers) – Mantel clock, by [[Louis Chalon]], E. Colin & Cie. ({{circa|1900}}), [[Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt]], Germany
File:21 Strada Jules Michelet, Bucharest (01).jpg|Horseshoe arches, present in both windows and doors, inspired by [[moon gate]]s (a traditional architectural element in [[Chinese garden]]s) – Window of Strada Jules Michelet no. 21 in [[Bucharest]], unknown architect ({{circa|1900}})
File:Encrier de Maurice Bouval (Musée dOrsay) (3335134093).jpg|Asymmetry (not just objects, but also buildings) – Inkwell, by [[Maurice Bouval]] ({{circa|1900}}), Musée d'Orsay
File:Judith 1 (cropped).jpg|The ''[[femme fatale]]'' – ''[[Judith I]]'', by [[Gustav Klimt]] (1901), [[Österreichische Galerie Belvedere]], [[Vienna]]
File:"Wohnhaus Eines Kunst Freundes". C.R and M. Mackintosh. 1901.jpg|''[[Gesamtkunstwerk]]'' (literally 'total artwork'), which refers to everything being designed to fit together, from carpets to wallpaper, and from room compartmentation to light fixtures – Design for a house of an art lover, by [[Charles Rennie Mackintosh]] and [[Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh]] (1901)

File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Maison-atelier du peintre Paul Verdussen - 03.jpg|Combinations of rectangular shapes, straight or almost straight lines, with sinous organic shapes (like ovals that are assymetfic horizontally) - door handle of the House of [[Paul Verdussen]] (Avenue Brugmann no. 211) in Brussels, by [[Paul Hamesse]] (1901)

File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Maison-atelier Dubois - 05.jpg|Sinous oblate arches – Windows of the [[Fernand Dubois House]] ([[Avenue Brugmann]] no. 80) in Brussels, by Horta (1901–1903)
File:Philippe Wolfers - Libelle (1902).jpg|Insects – ''Libelle'' ('Dragonfly'), pendant made of gold, [[opal]], [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]], [[ruby|rubies]] and diamonds by [[Philippe Wolfers]] (1902)
File:Félix Potin rue de Rennes.jpg|Sinuous onion-shaped tops – [[Félix Potin Building]] ([[Rue de Rennes (Paris)|Rue de Rennes]] no. 140–140bis) in Paris, by [[Paul Auscher]] (1904)
File:Louis Majorelle-Grand meuble d'appui nénuphar.jpg|Exotic materials and decoration – Mahogany and [[Brosimum guianense|amourette]] wood cabinet with water lily decoration of gilded bronze, by [[Louis Majorelle]] (1905–1908), [[Fin-de-Siècle Museum]], Brussels
File:Palais Stoclet, 1903-1904 - détail.JPG|Geometric lines (a key feature of the [[Vienna Secession]] and the [[Glasgow School]]) – [[Stoclet Palace]] in Brussels, by [[Josef Hoffmann]] (1905–1911)

File:Perrée vs Paul Dubois2.jpg|Ethereal scenes (used especially in reliefs on buildings and objects, and in posters) – Façade of [[Rue Perrée]] no. 18 in Paris, by [[Raymond Barbaud]] and [[Édouard Bauhain]] (1908)
File:Balcon de lhôtel Guimard (Paris) (4818661086).jpg|Highly stylised plant motifs, nearly abstract – Balcony of the [[Hôtel Guimard (Art Nouveau)|Hôtel Guimard]] ([[Avenue Mozart]] no. 122) in Paris, by Guimard (1909)
File:19 rue Octave-Feuillet, Paris 1 May 2016.jpg|Peacocks and motifs inspired by their feathers (and sometimes other animals) – Relief above the door of [[Rue Octave-Feuillet]] no. 19 in Paris, by [[Maurice Du Bois d’Auberville]] (1910)
File:1 Strada Sfinților, Bucharest (03).jpg|[[Nymph]]s – Relief on the Fanny and Isac Popper House (Strada Sfinților no. 1), Bucharest, by [[Alfred Popper]] (1914)<ref name="Croitoru-Tonciu 2022 p60">{{cite book|last1=Croitoru-Tonciu|first1=Monica|title=Alfred Popper - 1874-1946 - (re)descoperirea unui arhitect|date=2022|publisher=SIMETRIA|isbn=978-973-1872-51-3|page=60|url=|language=ro}}</ref>
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Early Art Nouveau, particularly in Belgium and France, was characterized by undulating, curving forms inspired by lilies, vines, flower stems and other natural forms, used in particular in the interiors of [[Victor Horta]] and the decoration of [[Louis Majorelle]] and [[Émile Gallé]].<ref name=":1">Ducher, ''Caractéristique des Styles'' (1989), pp. 198–199</ref> It also drew upon patterns based on butterflies and dragonflies, borrowed from Japanese art, which were popular in Europe at the time.<ref name=":1" />

Early Art Nouveau also often featured more stylised forms expressing movement, such as the ''coup de fouet'' or "[[whiplash (decorative art)|whiplash]]" line, depicted in the cyclamen plants drawn by designer [[Hermann Obrist]] in 1894. A description published in ''[[Pan (magazine)|Pan]]'' magazine of [[Hermann Obrist]]'s wall hanging ''Cyclamen'' (1894), compared it to the  "sudden violent curves generated by the crack of a whip,"<ref name="duncan27">Duncan (1994), pp. 27–28.</ref> The term "whiplash", though it was originally used to ridicule the style, is frequently applied to the characteristic curves employed by Art Nouveau artists.<ref name="duncan27" /> Such decorative undulating and flowing lines in a syncopated rhythm and asymmetrical shape, are often found in the architecture, painting, sculpture, and other forms of Art Nouveau design.<ref name="duncan27" />

Other floral forms were popular, inspired by lilies, wisteria and other flowers, particularly in the lamps of [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]] and the glass objects made by the artists of the [[École de Nancy|School of Nancy]] and [[Émile Gallé]]. Other curving and undulating forms borrowed from nature included butterflies, peacocks, swans, and water lilies.  Many designs depicted women's hair intertwined with stems of lilies, irises and other flowers.<ref>Renault and Lazé, (2006) ''Les Styles de l'architecture et du mobilier'', pp. 108–109</ref> Stylised floral forms were particularly used by [[Victor Horta]] in carpets, balustrades, windows, and furniture.  They were also used extensively by [[Hector Guimard]] for balustrades, and, most famously, for the lamps and railings at the entrances of the [[Paris Metro]]. Guimard explained: "That which must be avoided in everything that is continuous is the parallel and symmetry. Nature is the greatest builder and nature makes nothing that is parallel and nothing that is symmetrical."{{Sfn|Fahr-Becker|2015|pp=74–85}}

Earlier Art Nouveau furniture, such as that made by [[Louis Majorelle]] and [[Henry van de Velde]], was characterized by the use of exotic and expensive materials, including mahogany with inlays of precious woods and trim, and curving forms without right angles. It gave a sensation of lightness.

In the second phase of Art Nouveau, following 1900, the decoration became purer and the lines were more stylised. The curving lines and forms evolved into polygons and then into cubes and other geometric forms. These geometric forms were used with particular effect in the architecture and furniture of [[Joseph Maria Olbrich]], [[Otto Wagner]], [[Koloman Moser]] and [[Josef Hoffmann]], especially the [[Stoclet Palace]] in Brussels, which announced the arrival of [[Art Deco]] and [[modernism]].<ref name="oudin" /><ref name="sembach" /><ref name=stoclet/>

Another characteristic of Art Nouveau architecture was the use of light, by opening up of interior spaces, by the removal of walls, and the extensive use of skylights to bring a maximum amount of light into the interior. [[Victor Horta]]'s residence-studio and other houses built by him had extensive skylights, supported on curving iron frames. In the [[Hotel Tassel]] he removed the traditional walls around the stairway, so that the stairs became a central element of the interior design.