ID 2202 Art Nouveau Belgium/Scotland
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
- 1868-1928 - noted architect/designer who was born, schooled, and worked in Scotland - integrated Arts and Craft Movement and Art Nouveau style: - from the Arts and Craft Movement: unique and individually handcrafted designs which remained "truthful" to the materials - from the Art Nouveau style: focus on "abstracted nature"
Bloemenwerf chairs (Van de Velde)
- 1895 - expressive theory of lines: Dynamogeny (happy) -- movement
Tropon poster (Van de Velde)
- 1897 - Tropon: a manufacturing company developed a product to improve public health -- protein power developed from egg white - expressive theory of lines: Dynamogeny (happy) -- positive ad (subliminal message) - nature: egg
stoneware vase (Van de Velde)
- 1900 - Art Nouveau: ornament derived from nature: stalks, buds - expressive theory of lines: Inhibition (lazy, sad) -- solid, heavy, staying in place
Hill House (Mackintosh)
- 1900 - dining room: vertical/horizontal grid (table, bottom of chair, lighting), circular grid - Argyle Chair (1899): circular grid (vines, curves, oval) - Hill House Chair (1902): complement cabinets, vertical/horizontal grid - Windyhill House, cabinet (1902) - lighting (1902): circular grid, vertical/horizontal grid
candle holders (Van de Velde)
- 1902 - Art Nouveau: ornament derived from nature, flower stalks, bud - expressive theory of lines: Dynamogeny (upward, dynamic) -- dancing figure Equilibrium (relaxed, balanced) -- linear movement, vertical and horizontal elements
gravy boat (Van de Velde)
- 1902 - Art Nouveau: ornament derived from nature: stems, thorns, leaves - expressive theory of lines: Dynamogeny (smile, dynamic) -- hands going up, move it around
sofa (Van de Velde)
- 1903 - Art Nouveau: ornament derived from nature: vines, stalks, buds - expressive theory of lines: Dynamogeny and Inhibition -- sit upright on one side, slouch on the other side - manipulated
Willow Tearoom (Mackintosh)
- 1904 - designed series of Tearooms for Miss Cranstons - designed facades, furniture, cutlery, china, linens, and all interior decoration details - abstract process - collaborate with wife Macdonald - circular grid (wall painting, stained glass, back of chair), vertical/horizontal grid
Willow Bench (Mackintosh)
- 1904 - vertical/horizontal grid (back of chair conforming with horizontal) -circular grid (circular curve in back of bench)
Miss Cranston's Tea Room (Mackintosh)
- 1906 - vertical/horizontal grid (back of chair, shape of table, textile on rug) - circular grid (cutout in back of chair, repeated in table) - nature conforming to two different natures - Macdonald : menu, 1911 -- vertical/horizontal grid (lines in menu), circular grid (contrast with other grid)
language of contrasts
- Art Nouveau focus on "abstracted nature" - In nature, a plant grows vertically and encounters gravity and conforms with a horizontal bend -- horizontal/vertical (horizontal/vertical grid) - vines coil around a support, but also reach toward the sun -- circular/angular (circular grid) - rose pattern: circular grid -- Mackintosh rose: in stained glass, metal, textile design
Art Nouveau
- Belgium/Scotland - Victor Horta: architect and designer, introduced Art Nouveau style of architecture to Belgium - Henry van de Velde: Belgian painter, architect, interior designer; considered one of the main founders/representatives of Art Nouveau in Belgium - Charles Rennie Mackintosh: architect/ designer who was born, school, and worked in Scotland, integrates Arts and Crafts Movement and the Art Nouveau Movement
Tassel House (Horta)
- Brussels, 1893 - Horta commissioned to design a home for professor Emile Tassel - "vitalism": open floor plan, organized around central staircase, use of curvilinear botanical forms - abstracted natural forms: trunk, roots, branches, "vitalism" - interior space: "vitalism" -- ascending, descending multiple levels - ornamental (natural forms: vines, tree) but also functional - vortex/vortices: patterns that curve back onto themselves, patterns that express centrifugal motion (refer to "vitalism") - manifested in metal, wood, tile work, and wall painting
Eetvelde House (Horta)
- Brussels, 1895 - spiral open area as main feature with glass sky window at the top (natural forms) - remarkable example of the way that "vitalism" is expressed: - the multi-levels of staircase landings climb and stack as "vital" - the climbing patterns on the balustrades match the "vitalism" with the vortices - light becomes "vital" moving through the filigreed dome descending through the levels
Horta House (Horta)
- Brussels, 1898 - vital movement through staircase - metal/glass work, incorporating vines, letting natural light in - railing (vines coiling, metamorphosis) - integrating stairs, lights, furniture through materials/natural forms - curves everywhere - wood becomes metal - door knocker: vital, part of experience
Glasgow School of Art (Mackintosh)
- accepted commission to design building in 1897 - building completed in 1909 - not only designed the building, but also furniture and interior details - library: horizontal/vertical grid (chairs, tables, ceiling, lights) - office: horizontal/vertical grid (panes of window, back of chair, clock, lights), circular/angular grid (window, table)
expressive theory of lines
- developed by Charles Henry - "expressive theory of lines" - connected lines with moods, states, or attitudes - ascending lines = joy -- Dynamogeny: dynamic, happy, joyful - descending lines = sad -- Inhibition: that which is lazy, sad, depressed - vertical/horizontal lines = neutral -- Equilibrium: that which is relaxed, balanced
Henry Van de Velde
- very accomplished graphic designer for printed materials - developed a graphic language called "dynamographique lines" which focused on: - how linear configurations represent and express movement (ascending, descending, and equalizing) - how these different types of movement can be associated with moods and attitudes - He was influenced in formulating his graphic language of d-lines from the work of Charles Henry, a mathematician: