Art Nouveau (this word is a spelling nightmare)

So I'll admit that I'm quite daft when it comes to art history. It's been a long time since I've had to study any art history and back when I was in high school I didn't care about it. The notion of Art Nouveau makes me realise how naive I really am. I can't imagine a time without art/design encompassing everything around my daily life.

But back in the time of the Industrial Revolution, art was something only for rich people. Being an artist was actually a viable job back in those times and then these Art Nouveu dudes came along and decided to make art more accessible to the masses. Oh how those fine artists must have been spewing over all the simplified illustrative styles of Art Neuveux. Art began to permeate into all the objects of daily life such as utensils and furniture.

Personally I love the style of Art Neuveux. It reminds me a lot of comic books and animated films, a genre that I love to bitsies. I'm a big fan of Japanese manga/anime and it seems that Art Neuveux even has its roots in Japan from the inspirations of wood block prints.

The most well known artist from the Art Nouveau movement was Alphonse Mucha, in fact the whole thing was originally called Mucha Style. His posters and paintings often featured a use of soft pastel colors and the subjects of his art were beautiful young women surrounded by flowers and decorative borders.

Many artists began to mimick Muchas style many decades later. Naoko Takeuchi, famous for creating Sailor Moon released a series of 5 posters featuring the main characters based on the Mucha style. Joe Quesada, a comic book artist that works for Marvel Comics has also borrowed heavily from Muchas style in his cover art.







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