Art Nouveau is an international style of decoration and architecture that developed in the 1880s and 1890s. The name derives from the Maison de l'Art Nouveau, an interior design gallery opened in Paris in 1896, but in fact the movement had different names throughout Europe. In Germany it was known as 'Jugendstil', from the magazine Diejugend (Youth) published from 1896; in Italy 'Stile Liberty' (after the London store, Liberty Style) or 'Floreale'; in Spain 'Modernista', in Austria 'Sezessionstil' and, paradoxically, in France the English term 'Modern Style' was often used, emphasizing the English origins of the movement.
Art Nouveau as a style does"nt result from European history soely but consits of a mixture of elaborate, oriental, and classical elements, wanting to express the break with traditional forms, on one hand reflecting the spirit of the Belle Epoque and influencing it at the same time. In the western world as similar to the east, Art Nouveau was primarily a movement of the applied arts - interior and furniture design, architecture, book production and illustration - Art Nouveau, characterized with its graceful, asymmetrical lines based on organic forms, and exotic, rich imagery, is among the most immediately recognizable and widely appreciated of all artistic styles. In a broader sense it includes the geometrical and more abstract patterns and rhythms that were evolved as part of the general reaction to 19th-century historicism (Johnson 12). The exponents of this style insisted that all types of art should be equal, accessible and to be enjoyed by everyone: "Art for art's sake". There are wide variations used in this style according to where it appeared and the materials that were employed. .
Art Nouveau designers demonstrated an appreciation of the natural world and were inspired by the depiction of lines of flowers, animals, insects, birds and plants. They used the pliancy of wood, molten glass, clay and metal, and applied them to the flowing curves we see in buildings, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, glass and sculpture.
