Art Nouveau was an international style of art, architecture, and applied art that flourished between the 1890s and the 1910s. It emerged as a deliberate reaction against the academic and historicist styles of the 19th century, aiming to create a new, modern aesthetic free from the historical imitation of past eras.

The movement's philosophy was centered on the idea of a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), seeking to unify the fine arts and applied arts and to bring artistic design into all aspects of life. Its visual language was inspired primarily by the complex, organic forms of nature, characterized by long, sinuous, and asymmetrical "whiplash" lines. Common motifs included stylized flowers, vines, insects, and graceful female figures.

The style was truly international, manifesting under numerous different regional names such as Jugendstil in Germany, Secessionsstil in Austria, Modern Style/ Glasgow Style in the United Kingdom, Modernisme in Catalonia, and the Tiffany Style in the United States. Despite its association with the Belle Époque, it did not dominate Western art of the period. Historicist styles (e.g., Neoclassical , Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival) coexisted with Art Nouveau, sometimes leading to blended styles.

After World War I, its ornate naturalism fell out of favor and was largely replaced by the geometric, machine-inspired aesthetic of Art Deco and various forms of Modernism . However, its influence was revived in the 1960s psychedelic art movement, and the work of artists like Alphonse Mucha remains widely recognizable today.

The taste of Europeans for Japanese art was one of the key factors that led to the emergence of the movement. Multiple Western artists who worked in this style had collections of Japanese art in their homes. Art Nouveau posters were particularly influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, featuring blank colors and faded earthy tones, like olive green, and visible outlines. Ceramics and glassware were inspired by Japanese pottery, usually being simplistic and in darker earthy colors. Another Japanese influence were the circle-shaped windows present in Art Nouveau architecture, frequently based on moon gates found in Zen gardens.

Due to the fact that Art Nouveau appeared in the late 1880s and 1890s, the movement was somewhat influenced by styles of the 19th century, specially the Arts and Crafts movement, which also utilized flower motifs into designs. In rare cases, some Art Nouveau objects like furniture, ceramics, or metalworks may have some Gothic Revival or Rococo Revival elements, especially in France. In Spain, Antoni Gaudí, the most famous Art Nouveau architect and designer, frequently took inspiration from traditional Catalan styles and Mudéjar and Gothic architecture, and was a prominent figure of the Modernisme movement in Catalonia. In the UK, artists were influenced by the complex knots found in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon artifacts. In Romania, Art Nouveau was a factor that led to the emergence and popularity of the Romanian Revival, or Brâncovenesc Revival style, using elements taken from peasant and Brâncovenesc architecture. Similarly, the National Romantic style appeared in Northern Europe (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia), and some Hungarian examples of Art Nouveau have folkloric sources of inspiration.

Despite historic inspirations in some cases, Art Nouveau was a form of anti-historicism. This is because the 19th century was one of revivals, with Greco-Roman revivals (aka Neoclassicism and the Greek Revival style), the Gothic Revival, the Rococo Revival , the Renaissance Revival, the Egyptian Revival , etc. At the end of the century, some artists felt the need to free themselves and their art from this historicist tradition, creating new styles adapted to the spirit of their time. This is particularly the case of the artists and architects of the Vienna Secession, who reacted specifically against the conservative historicism of the Künstlerhaus.

Art Nouveau wasn't a consistent style, having different local versions in multiple countries. The French and Belgian versions are the ones that are the most associated with Art Nouveau by most of the public's perception, with whiplash lines and foliage ornamentation. The British version had its roots in the Arts and Crafts movement , and because of that, in the UK, the Glasgow School produced objects and structures using straight geometric lines and gentle floral decoration. In Austria-Hungary, artists of The Vienna Secession reacted against the mid-late 19th Century academic eclectic style, and like in the UK, they frequently used straight lines and geometric designs. Examples of this are the Secession Hall in Vienna, Austria (1897-1898, by Joseph Maria Olbrich), the Stoclet Palace in Brussels, Belgium (1905-1911, by Josef Hoffmann), and Gustav Klimt's paintings from his golden period, like The Kiss (1907-1908). Due to these facts, some of the fonts used in British and Austrian Art Nouveau posters are reminiscent of Art Deco and Bauhaus typefaces. Local versions of the movement were also determined by the fact that artists sometimes took inspiration from styles that were specific to their countries. In Sweden and Norway, some of the Art Nouveau buildings and objects were inspired by those of Vikings, usually with complex knot-shaped ornaments, also known as interlaces. In Romania, the style was not allowed by the authorities, due to the fact that it was popular in Transylvania, a region of the Austro-Hungarian empire at that time where Romanians were oppressed. So the Romanians who wanted an Art Nouveau home in the 1900s and early 1910s could only show subtle ornaments reminiscent of the style, while the rest was completely in the academic Beaux-Arts style.

Key Art Nouveau visual elements and features:

The most recognisable and iconic characteristic of Art Nouveau is the use of motifs based on plants and organic shapes like flowers, vines and leaves, most often represented in ironwork. In many ways, the use of organic shapes was a conscious reaction to the Beaux-Arts academic style. The whiplash, or whiplash line, is a motif of decorative art and design that was particularly popular in Art Nouveau. It is an asymmetrical, sinuous line, often in an ornamental S curve, usually inspired by natural forms, which suggests dynamism and movement.

Architects liked to use the mix of glass and metal in Art Nouveau architecture, which was seen as a sign of modernity at that time. The Paris metro entrances, designed by Hector Guimard around the year 1900, are a very good example of this. Thus, in contrast with the past, Art Nouveau architects didn't try to hide the metal structure of a building, instead making metalwork an integral, intentional, and beautiful part of a building.