Art Nouveau by Renato Barilli

Art Nouveau

by Renato Barilli

Paul Hamlyn Cameo Art Series

Hamlyn Publishing Group, 1969, colour photographic plates throughout, hardcover, dust-jacket

Very Good Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, previous owners stamp inside front cover, price-clipped dust-jacket minor edge and shelf wear, minor rubbing to edges and corners, small chips and small tear to bottom spine (see photographs)

"Late in the 19th century artists and designers were searching for an alternative to the ponderous Victorian style which then predominated.  William Morris with his Arts and Crafts Movement was the first to strike out on his own, and he was followed by three mildly dissimilar men who were to have a strong influence on the whole of European art: the Scottish architect-designer Charles Rennie Macintosh, the English artist Aubrey Beardsley, and the eccentric Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi.
The new style was based on graceful plant-forms, and the distinctive sinuous shapes appeared everywhere, from the entrances of the Paris Metro to the strangely elegant glass and furniture.  The delicacy of the lines gives a feminine air to most Art Nouveau design, a feeling echoed by such artists as Mucha, Maillol and Limt, who often portrayed women."