Aussie Federation & Art Nouveau

Until the late 1800’s Australia followed the architectural and interior styles of Europe. English style was particularly popular. As the new country moved toward Federation Australian designers started to move away from these old influences. As a result the Art Nouveau designs of Europe did not impact on Australia as did the styles of the past.     

During the early 1900’s Australia celebrated Federation. As a result the Federation style became popular as Australia’s first unique style. The Federation era began in the late 1890’s and was influenced by Victorian and Edwardian styles. 

But the exciting Art Nouveau motifs were used in the detailing of some Federation buildings. Robert Joseph Haddon an English trained architect was one of the few to work in the Art Nouveau style in Australia. ‘Anselm’ his own home in Caulfield Melbourne contains wave like tiles in the Art Nouveau style in the bathroom and he applied the sinuous Art Nouveau lines to the outside brickwork. Others used the stylised floral forms of Art Nouveau with the Australian Waratah, flannel flower, lyre birds, emus and kangaroo motifs. 

The Outside of the Federation House 
Bold red brick walls  
Tuck pointing
Marseilles tiled roof
Bay windows 
Casement windows 
Turrets 
Towers  
Verandahs
                Turned timber columns
                Brackets 
                Finials with Australian decorative motifs 

The Interior Design of the Federation House

Australian motifs were used on interior timber work and the stenciling on interior walls

Stained glass: Art Nouveau motifs Australian native flora and fauna motifs

Interior walls  
Paint:   Soft muted greens, Ivories, Reds 

Ceilings  
         Plastered  
        Cornices plastered  
        Ceiling roses  
        Pressed metal ceilings 

Wallpaper or stencil  
        Formal wreaths patterns
        Fleur-de-lis of the French Empire style 
        Stylised floral forms of Art Nouveau 

Frieze up to a meter deep

Federation Motifs 

Australian motifs  
        Waratah 
        Flannel flower 
        Lyre birds 
        Emus  
        Kangaroo  

Classical patterns  
Oval shapes of the Adams style 

Fireplace  
Iridescent glazed Art Nouveau tiles  
Shaped timber surrounds and mantel pieces 
Mirror incorporated into the design

Windows treatments 
Lace  
Plain and fancy nets 
Chintz or plain material  
Scrim 
Muslin 
Brass rods  
Holland blinds with lace scalloped edges or inserts    
Elaborate heavy curtains used until 1920’s

Floors 
Timber floors  - Varnish or black Japan formed borders  

Carpet squares 
Rugs  
Stair runners 
        Persian patterns  
        Floral motifs  
        Bold coloured backgrounds  

Fitted carpet had gone out of vogue  

Terracotta tiles 
Patterned tessellated tiles  
Linoleum 
        In plain colours
        Imitation carpet designs
        Tiles designs 

Parquetry designs 

 

Furniture in the Federation House 
Queen Anne (one of the most reproduced styles in Australia)
Chippendale  
Sheraton 
Rococo 
Renaissance 
Oriental cane  
Bentwood  
The Wing chair 
Palms  
Exotic plants  
Brass pots 
Ceramic pots  
Pot stands 

Australian designers created fretwork, leadlight, tiles, fabrics, wallpapers and decorative detailing in the Art Nouveau style but used the unique Australian motifs. Interior spaces were often decorated with a meter deep frieze. During this time the dado went out of fashion. Walls were often papered or stenciled. Pastel colours were popular for walls. The architectural detailing was brown and cream or stained timber.

There are a number of Art Nouveau buildings in Australia. In Melbourne: Victoria Arts Society, Milton House, Melbourne Sports Depot, Melbourne City Baths, Conservitorium of Music, Melba Hall, Paston Building and the Empire Works Building are some of the examples in Australia

The Wild Art Tile Company has a great range of Art Nouveau tile murals. This Australian firm has designed a range of murals based on the art work of Alphonse Mucha. You can find the tiles at http://www.wildarttiles.com/page18.htm

The Australian artist Christian Waller worked as an illustrator in the 1920’s. She was inspired by classical, medieval, Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau design. In the 1930’s her work changed, she moved from using the curvilinear of Art Nouveau to the angular forms, sunrays and zigzags of the Art Deco. 

During this time she designed books and stained glass windows for Melbourne and Geelong churches. She also created a mural for the Christ Church in Geelong. She was one of the few Australian artist at the time to be influenced by the Art Nouveau movement. 

‘Wherever you are in the world, 

there's always something 

about the Australian light. 

There's something about the 

sharpness of it, something about

the clarity of it, something 

about the colours of Australia.

And hopefully, something 

optimistic about Australian painting too.’

Ken Done Artist

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Stood on the Cusp of Art Nouveau and Art Deco

One of my favorite designers Charles Rennie Mackintosh stood on the cusp of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. I was fortunate to see an exhibition of his work last year in Australia. He was a very influential Scottish architect who had in turn been influenced by the designs of C.F. A. Voysey.

Voysey designed houses, wallpaper, textiles, carpets and furniture in the Art and Craft style. Mackintosh was to follow the same path. Charles had shown his work at the exhibition of 1895 in Paris. He had a great influence on German design particularly August Endell. His influence can been see in the Buntes Theater in Berlin where geometric forms were used.

Rennie Mackintosh was known as an interior designer during his life time. He worked with his wife Margaret Macdonald her sister Frances and Herbert McNair and they became known as The Four. Macintosh created tea rooms for Catherine Cranston in Glasgow. The Buchanan Street Tea Rooms were in the Art and Craft style. The Ingram Street Tea Room was in his own unique style. The furniture was painted white.

His interiors were bold in contrast. In his Main Street dining room he used wrapping paper in dull brown on the walls. The high backed chairs were stained oak. The ceiling and the wall above the picture rail were painted white in stark contrast.

The drawing room had white floor coverings, walls and furniture. He used white enamel paint on the furniture to ensure the joints and grains of the timber did not distract from the sculptural forms of the pieces. The windows were covered with muslin stretched to ensure maximum light and privacy.

What I love about Mackintosh; he worked from the inside out. He spent time with his clients to find out how they lived before he ventured toward creating a design. He followed this method in his design for Hill House (1901) in Helensburgh. White dominates the interior spaces.

He used stencils to create designs of pink roses and used rose coloured glass. Geometric forms were used in the door, window glass and shutters. His furniture was boxlike and linear. The famous Willow Tea Rooms built in 1904 had lead light windows with some mirror glass and he introduced silver high-backed chairs.

One of his greatest achievements; is the Library of the Glasgow School of Design. He suspended the bookshop over the ground floor of the library with steel strips. He did this to provide floor space on the ground floor. Exposed timber beams and lighting were used. The space appears larger than it is due to his great design flare.

The sad irony is Mackintosh was ignored in Britain during his life time. Yet he was admired throughout the rest of Europe as a master of his craft. I have always had a soft spot for Mackintosh. My husband and his family lived just up the road from Hill House. His mother told me some wonderful stories about the family who owned the house. She would often visit the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow. I was amazed to find she did not share my admiration for Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

"  Life is the leaves which shape
and nourish a plant, 

but art is the flower 
which embodies its meaning."

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Stile Liberty, Turin, Milan and Gesamtkunstwerk

In Italy, the Art Nouveau style was known as Stile Liberty. The style was influenced by the English fabric design of Arthur Liberty . His work was instrumental in disseminating the style on the continent.

Turin was the capital of the ‘Stile Liberty’ movement also known as stile floreade meaning curving floral design. In 1902 the ‘Prima Esposizone Internazionale d’Arte Decorative Moderna’ said to be the most ambitious display of international decorative art ever was hosted in Turin.

The furniture designs of Vittorio Valabrega and Agostino Lauro and designer Carlo Bugoitti were on display at the exhibition. Lauro’s work combined architecture, furnishings and decoration a theme know as Gesamtkunstwerk. The furniture designs he presented were from a room in a Villa he designed in Sordevolo

There are many Art Nouveau style buildings in Milan; the Palazzo Castiglioui designed in 1901-1904 by Giuseppe Sommaruga is well known for its metal work. Some streets in the city have a number of Art Nouveau buildings; the Via Piscane and Malpighi. The Casa Cambiaghi has peacock motifs as a feature.  

The style of the Casa Battaini building on Via Piscana was influenced by Victor Horta. The Art Nouveau style is also evident in building in the towns of Verbania, Stresa, Bellagio and Campode Fiori near Varese

On the street Via Malphighi the ‘Mucha House’ and the cinema ‘Dumont’ built in 1909 are housed. The Stile Liberty style is characterised by abstract flora wood work, stained glass and semi transparent glass. The trends toward geometric forms are evident in the Emporium Corso Venszia.

The German Youth Movement and The Vienna Secession

Art Nouveau in Germany was expressed in the ‘youth style’ or Jugendstil. In Austria the Vienna Secession group of artists and designers created a form of Art Nouveau. The Vienna Secession group of creative individuals had a great impact on what we call modern design.

It always amazes me (I know it shouldn’t) how even during difficult times the kindness, care and provision of God shines through.

‘I believe in the sun 
even when it isn’t shinning

I believe in love even when I cannot feel it

I believe in God even when he is silent’

Written on the wall by a Jewish prisoner in Cologne

Art Nouveau in Germany
In Germany the best example of Art Nouveau was August Endell’s ‘Atelier Elivra’ built in 1896. The façade was asymmetrical, the windows and door openings rectangular with curving corners. The building was decorated with a bas relief of curing lines giving a wave like appearance.

In Munich the German Art Nouveau developed as the ‘youth style’ or Jugendstil. In 1899 Richard Riemerschmidt designed a music room for the Dresden exhibition. He designed furniture, lighting and wall decoration. One of his chairs from this time has become a ‘classic’ and influenced modern design.

For the Paris exhibition in the same year he worked with Bernhard Pankok to create a dining room. Pankok also designed a smoking room. He lined the room with carved timber shapes creating what was called by some a Jugendstil fantasy world.

Another designer working in the Jugendstil style was Peter Behrens. The interiors of his home Darmstadt built in 1901 are an example of his work. Peter also designed electric fans, kettles and other products for the German electrical industry in a more reserved modern style.

The Vienna Secession
A group of artists and designers in Austria become known as the Vienna Secession. In 1897 they withdrew from the Vienna Academy in protest because the Academy would not accept modernist works. Gustav Klimt the painter headed up the group.

Joseph Oldrich created a design based on natural forms for the decorative detail of the Secession Gallery in 1897. There were hints of classicism in the symmetrical rectangular building. The arched ceiling had skylights and flowing Art Nouveau motifs decorated the walls. Oldrich also designed the Villa Friedmann.

Another architect involved in the Secession style was Josef Hoffmann. His later works became more rectangular. The Puckerdorf Sanatorium built in 1903-6 has white walls. The interior are simple with patterned tiled floors in black and white. The furniture is inclined to be of in straight lined modern style. His most famous work built in 1905-11 is the Palasis Stoclet found in Brussels.

The building is asymmetrical with sculpture placed on the large tower. Interior walls are thin marble sheets edged with gilding. Klimt created large murals for the dining room.

Adolf Loos was involved with the group but became concerned with what he thought was a superficial decorative slant in the movement. His work includes bentwood furniture for Thonet.

He also worked with the glassware firm Lobmeyr. His Steiner House built in 1910 was very austere with white block like walls with scattered windows.

The work produced by the Vienna Secession tended to be simple and geometric in form; craft orientated with the result it has had a greater impact on modern design than the other forms of Art Nouveau developed in France and Belgium.

Horta, Van de Velde, Bauhaus, & Bing

It is often suggested Art Nouveau first appeared in France and Belgium. This is mainly considered the case due to the work of the great architect Victor Horta and the designer Van de Velde both from Belgium. Their work first appeared in Belgium; townhouses featured elegantly twining wrought-iron staircases, balconies, and gates.

Velde moved to Paris and designed a shop for Samuel Bing. The La Maison de l'Art Nouveau shop would give its name to the Art Nouveau movement. Velde designed everything in his own house down to the table silver and cookware.

He was inspired by English Arts and Craft design and established a bridge between the two. He moved to Berlin and designed the Art School in 1904-11. This school would eventually become the world leading Bauhaus.

Victor Horta designed furniture, light fittings, stain glass panels, door and window frames and hardware. One of his most famous buildings the Tassel House (hotel) was built in 1892. He used flowing curves in the steps and iron railings of the stair way. He painted or stenciled mute coloured patterns on the walls and ceiling. The metal columns were slim, hanging light fittings with shades in curved flower like shapes and the floor was mosaic placed in an S curved flowing pattern.

Horta’s own house is now the Horta Museum. He used white tiles on the walls and ceiling in a brick like fashion. Timbers built in cabinets were created with stained glass inserts. Curved lines dominate the furniture and room.

Horta used a centralized floor plan instead of the usual corridor design of the era. He supervised all the interior decoration and furniture design in all his buildings. The four major town houses he designed Hotel Tassel, Hotel Solvay, Hotel van Eetvelde and the Maison & Atelier are located in Brussels. In 2000 the buildings were listed as World Heritage.

Victor Horta used

· Iron railings in curved lines

· Stenciled walls and ceilings

· Mosaic floor tiles

· Irregular shapes

· Exposed cast iron structurally

· A centralised floor plan

· Glass and iron facades

· Asymmetrical balance

· White tiles

· Muted colours (olive, mustard, sage, brown gold, salmon…)


France

Hector Guimard is the architect who developed the style in France. He designed the Parisian Metro subway entrances in 1898-1901.

Emile Galle’s glass work, Louis Majorelle’s furniture designs and the posters of the artist Alphonse Mucha are all contributors to the Art Nouveau movement.

Maxim’s Restaurant also had fashionable Art Nouveau interior décor. In 1909 Paris was invaded by the Ballets Russes. They used scenery and costumes in bright primary colours instead of the pastel shades of the era. This influenced the interior decoration of drawings rooms and salons. The rooms become richly textured, with patterned curtains and heaps of cushions in reds, green and orange.

"The artist is nothing without the gift,

but the gift is nothing without work."

Emile Zola (1840-1902)

Pre-Raphaelites and Art Nouveau

The actual term Art Nouveau is derived from a shop opened by Siefried Bing in Paris in 1896. The shop was called La Maison de l’Art. Yet a hint of the style can be found in the work of William Blake and William Morris. Art Nouveau advocates aimed to create a completely new style with no reference or influence from past styles. Architects were reacting against the drabness of neoclassic and imperial architecture. Art Nouveau was a vital force changing the face of architecture across the Western world.

England

The Pre-Raphaelites are thought to have influenced the Art Nouveau movement. The group made up of Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti was met with critical hostility in Victorian England.

Edward Burne – Jones used medieval models but treated them with a fresh and modern look. The subject matter used was legends, myths and spiritual stories. He broke away from the normal size canvas sizes. Creating works on long horizontal and tall narrow canvases. His compositions were made up of exaggerated dreamy, linear graceful figures. Form was more important to him than colour. He also produced art glass windows and tapestries for the Morris & Co company.

Ford Manox Brown’s paintings are now in high demand. His work was original in British art during his life time and was largely ignored. He used brilliant colour on white backgrounds, naturalistic detail and contemporary subject matter.

Millais painted what is often considered the most important Pre-Raphaelite work ‘Ophelia’. He painted on a white background; flowers, plants and Ophelia floating down the river in precise detail.

Rossetti was torn between his two loves poetry and painting. He paintings were informed and inspired by his favorite authors especially Dante. He worked mostly in water colours developing his own technique ending up with images that looked like art glass work.




The first example of the style outside of painting in England was a chair design by Arthur Mackmurdo in 1882. You can find images of this chair at http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary_02.aspx?id=5660.

Arthur Liberty also used art nouveau designs in his fabrics. An example of liberty fabrics can be found at http://www.historicstyle.com/artnouveau/fabrics/full/ianthe_lin_det.html.  Charles Ashbee also had an influence on English design at this time. The impact of the wonderful flowing illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley can be seen in Art Nouveau design. The new magazine ‘The Studio’ founded in 1893 helped popularize the style in Europe.


You may ask why this is all important. I agree with Goethe who stated:

‘It is impossible to understand

the present

without knowing the past’