PTA I,

Nouveaw’s real father

ART NOUVEAU was born of
afer. a root, a shell. the blas-
som of a lily. the wings of a
butterfly and the undulating
shape of a jellyfish,

lis mother was the earth and its
father the ocean. And if you think
that this sounds just a touch too
poctic, you are right. Art
Nouveat’s real father was Chartes
Darwin.

When Charles Darwin published
his theory of evolution in 1839, the
British Empire was powerful: the
Victorian era was at its height.

Homes were heavily ornimented
with carved wood decorations,
added like starched face to dormer
windows, entrances und porches.

Interiors were draped. festooned
and ruffled in purple brocades and
flowery chintses.

Furniture had Greek. Gothic and
Egyptian revival motifs.

Ladies drank tea while gentle-
men retired to the smoking room
for port and cigars. Life was sedate
and well-mannered, on the surface.

It was an era we still associate
with British tradition: and while the
Victorian style was accepted in
Canada and America, if was always
seen as truly British in origin.

No wonder then that the rest of
Europe did not fully embrace the
style. It simply did not appeal to the
French or Italians.

But Darwin's theory mesmer-
ized the world. For decades it was
hotly debated in churches. living
rooms and universities.

Scientists at first denied it and
then carried on their own investiga~
tions into the origin of species.

When they eventually accepted
the theory, they wrote and iflustrat-

th
tkam

bites

DESIGN OF THE TIMES

ed. Never before had there been so
much published material on the nat-
ural world, life on and underneath
the earth. on the ocean floor and in
the sky.

Books. photographs and draw-
ings illustrated plant growth, the
form and function of insect wings,
and the intricate shapes of sea
unemones.

This wealth of information on
nature caught the imagination of
craftsmen and artists alike.

The Art Nouveau style was born
in the late 1880s in Belgium and
quickly spread through Europe and
on imo the New World. it was the
first and only style in history that
was not influenced by earlier peri-
ods.

Art Nouveau objects were pure-
ly omamental, based on the irregu-
lar curves and asyminetric shapes
of nature and iis creatures.

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The ideals of classical Greek
and Roman architecture were for-
gotten while fascination with nature
took over.

Butterflies. tree roots and styl-
ized sea creatures appeared in
graphic art, in furniture, china and
glass.

Louis Comfort Tiffany created
irridescent whasses in shapes of
blossoms on deliciutely curved
stems.

Thin glass threads in many col-
ors grew through the stem and into
the biessom of te ghiss. His
fumous iainps were made of
stained-glass Cloawer petals and
leaves, their shades reminiscent of
mushrooms,

Other artists fashioned bronze
into tree-shaped light fixtures with
elongated female figures ‘embed-
ded? in the tree trunk - the base of
the lamp.

Sword Jilies inspired carved-
wood mirror frames and backs of
chairs.

A dangling octopus was the
model for a copper lamp with glass
inserts. its tentacles curved into tiny
spirals at the bottom of the lamp.

The urmrests of chairs were
carved to simulate tree roots,

Flowering trees appeared in
stained-glass windows, The straight
line almost disappeared, replaced
by unfolding leaves.

The creative arts seemed
obsessed by organic shapes. The
ormament became the object. often

See Fantasy page 14

Complete with Deluxe

teld

THIS ART Nouveau lamp is an excellent example of of the style
that was common circa 1900. The art form was born of atten-
tion paid to Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution which was
first publicized at the height of the Victorian era. Britain was
arguably the most powerful nation on the planet. Ladies drank
tea while gentiemen retired to the smoking room for some port
and a cigar. The lamp is from Deeler’s An:iques in Park Royal.

ANP TS
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Cover, pillows and lacquer finish not included

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