Three Nouveau Artistes

The brilliant but brief period of European art history known as the Art Nouveau was spearheaded by the work of three men: Hector Guimard, Henry van de Velde, and Victor Horta. The contemporary theories of Eugene Viollet-le-Duc on exposed steel structure and ornament influenced each of these men in their architectural endeavors throughout their careers. Active for a very short period (from about 1890 to 1920), these men would nonetheless exert great influence on the course of modern architecture.

The Belgian Victor Horta was chief among all Art Nouveau theorists and practitioners. He was trained and firmly grounded in the Beaux-Arts style, yet, he soon began to develop what would become an intensely personal and ahistorical design aesthetic. Taking inspiration from both Viollet-le-Duc's discussions of iron and steel structure and the earlier, emotional Italian Mannerists, Horta gave lyrical life to the Art Nouveau movement in Europe.

The dome of the Grand Palais in Paris, a fine example of Art Nouveau detail

One of Horta's important early works, the Hotel Tassel in Brussels, set the tone for much of his career. The sensuous and curvilinear facade gives way to a rationally planned interior that is made cohesive by the use of exuberant ornamentation. Both of these aspects - the rational and logical plan and the use of curvilinear ornament on all interior surfaces - would become the defining hallmarks of Art Nouveau architecture.

Another Belgian, Henry van de Velde, would expound upon and clarify the Art Nouveau architecture of Victor Horta. Van de Velde would follow in Horta's footsteps in terms of allowing interior volumes to influence the exterior expression. However, van de Velde began stripping away the curvilinear ornament and structure that had so defined Horta's earlier works. So, in essence, all that was left of the Art Nouveau in van de Velde's works was a penchant for a rational plan and a good interior-exterior relationship. These twin desires are at the core of all subsequent modernist architectural works. Given van de Velde's presence at the school that would become the Bauhaus, we can easily trace his influence in the work that that institution produced.

Barcelona Pavilion by Mies Van der Rohe

Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion, for instance, has traces of the theories that began with Horta and matured with van de Velde. The rational planning around structural elements and the interaction between interior and exterior are clearly delineated in the structure. Also, the use of modern materials such as concrete and glass echo the Art Nouveau movement's fascination with steel - which was the most modern of all materials at the time.

Another link between the 19th Century and Modern Architecture was the French architect Hector Guimard. Guimard, like Horta, was intrigued by the whiplash organic nature of Art Nouveau decoration and the integration of various parts into a harmonious and total whole. Guimard sought in his work to weave the Art Nouveau aesthetic throughout the project - in its decoration, ornamentation, and interior design. His dedication in standardizing design over an entire project is most evident in his famous work on the entrances to the Paris Métro. This devotion to the entire work of art would, for instance, foreshadow Le Corbusier's devotion to each aspect of his designs.

Additionally, Guimard was a proponent of mechanization and industrialization to make the Art Nouveau more readily available to the lower classes. Standardizing parts, though not entirely successful in Guimard's case, would become a constant in all modernist architectural works - even to the present day.

Though the Art Nouveau is often seen as an anomaly on the long historical route from 19th Century eclecticism to Mid-Century Modernism, its additions to the architectural canon cannot be discarded. The Art Nouveau devotion to integrating the whole structure into a rational sum total is an integral component of each architectural development that was to follow.

Related Links
Images of the Hotel Tassel by Victor Horta
Various Works of Hector Guimard
Discussion of Henry van de Velde by those who still produce furniture to his designs