Art Nouveau: The Grand Style of the ‘Beautiful Age’
Art Nouveau is not only a style of visual art and architecture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, it also represents an entire epoch, which is called the ‘Beautiful Age’ (from the French La Belle Époque). People also refer to this epoch as the fin de siecle (‘end of century’), while in Russia the more common name for this period is the ‘Silver Age.’
A New Era in Art: Breaking from Tradition
This style is called differently from one country to another as each region offers its own interpretation of this style, given the local peculiarities. For example, in France and Belgium one would name it Art Nouveau (ie, ‘New Art’), in Germany, Austria, and the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe people use the term Jugendstil (‘Young Style’), in Catalonia the style is referred to as Modernismo, in Italy - Stile Liberty (‘Liberty style,’ honoring the businessman A. Liberty), in England, Scotland and Russia - The Modern Style, in the United States - Tiffany (in honor of the designer L. C. Tiffany).
Their names hint at the fact that the artists sought to break away from the traditions of classical and academic art, which demanded to follow strict rules and limited their freedom of expression immensely.
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