ART NOUVEAU

Art Nouveau, whose emergence at the same time as cinema was no merecoincidence, represents the most remarkable attempt to reconcile thedemands of the technical age with the undying wish for beauty andglorification—or to pit them against the other. Here the reform movement of the turn of the century is not only dealtwith as an artistic event, but those economic and political interestswhich inspired, supported, and handicapped it are also taken into account.In the chapters "Movement," "Unrest", and "Equilibrium," the historicalphenomenon as a whole is characterised and is also presented with its owndistinct local features. The centres of Brussels, Nancy, Barcelona,Glasgow, Helsinki and Chicago are dealt with in subchapters as are Munich,Darmstadt and Weimar. Finally, Vienna, that city in which the synthesisachieved its culmination, is described separately. The outstanding artistsare examined in detail in connection with the respective cities of theirgreatest activity. The result is a complex picture of the symbiosis ofarchitecture, furniture design, and craftsmanship with their correspondingapproaches to artistic revitalization.