Product Information
"A new, imperishable beauty," was how the artist and architect Henry van de Velde described it. European Art Nouveau jewelry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries embraced a new aesthetic characterized by sensuous forms, dramatic imagery and vivid symbolism. Many of the designers associated with the movement sought their inspiration not in traditional jewelry, but in the work of the pre-Raphaelites and Impressionists and in the arts of Japan. Rejecting the rigid naturalism typical of European decorative arts, designers such as René Lalique and Henry van de Velde, and the artists of the German Jugenstil and Austrian Wiener Sezession movements, created ornaments that expressed the spirit and freedom of the era. These artists and designers adopted a free-flowing line and asymmetrical format that invigorated their work and set it apart, while their use of natural motifs and of the female form imbued their creations with energy, sensuality and dreamy mysticism. But underlying the undeniable exuberance of these works was a fin-de-sicle edginess that endows this period with inexhaustible fascination. With nearly 120 ornaments from a single private collection--the finest of its type in America-- Imperishable Beauty features all of the major designers and jewelers from this groundbreaking era. Paintings, prints, posters and textiles fill out the presentation, making this book as rich and intoxicating as the aesthetic it portrays.Product Identifiers
PublisherMuseum of FINE Arts, Boston
ISBN-100878467343
ISBN-139780878467341
eBay Product ID (ePID)64161995
Product Key Features
LanguageEnglish
TopicCollections, Catalogs, Exhibitions / Group Shows, Fashion & Accessories, Jewelry, American / General, History / Modern (Late 19th Century to 1945), Design, Art, Antiques & Collectibles
AuthorElyse Karlin
IllustratorYes
Dimensions
Item Height0.8in
Item Length9.5in
Item Weight34 Oz
Item Width9.1in
Additional Product Features
Publication Year2008
Dewey Edition22
FormatHardcover
Book TitleImperishable Beauty : Art Nouveau Jewelry
Lccn2008-924953
Target AudienceTrade
Dewey Decimal739.27
Number of Pages176 Pages
Text byMarkowitz, Yvonne, Karlin, Elyse