Art Deco vs. Art Nouveau: What’s The Difference? Art History 101

What's the difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco? I mean, Art Deco. They are two of the most influential design styles of the 20th century, but it can be hard to tell the difference. I did an art history deep dive to try and get to the bottom of each movement's main themes and historical contexts. This analysis is not perfect. There may be some flaws and blind spots, but this is what I learned. In a nutshell, Art Nouveau took us through the turn of the 20th century, from 1890 till about 1914. Art Nouveau means new art in French and has its roots in England, France, and Belgium. Art Nouveau is inspired by nature. It uses many floral motifs, French curves, and fluid designs. Art Deco came right after Art Nouveau. It had its heyday in the 1920s and 30s, but Art Deco's legacy continued throughout the 20th century. Art Deco is short for Art Décoratif or decorative arts in French, but it actually wasn't called this until the 1960s. Art Deco was a global movement with international influences from places like China, Egypt, and the American Southwest. You might hear Art Deco used interchangeably with Jazz Age, Gatsby, or simply Deco. Art Deco uses many sharp angles, solid colors, and clean lines. It is easy to get confused. Both movements have the word art in their names, and there is a bit of overlap in the design trends, especially in art made between 1900 and 1930. And I noticed that some search algorithms will often confuse the two. But on the whole, as they're used today, the terms mean very different things. Let's learn more about Art Nouveau. Art Nouveau is associated with the Belle Époque, which means beautiful time or blessed era. The Belle Époque was an era of optimism. At the turn of the last century, a lot of the world was recovering from wars, like the Napoleonic Wars, the Franco-Prussian Wars, and the American Civil War. Rapid industrialization polarized natural landscapes. The destruction left people dreaming of hope, beauty, and newness. Groundbreaking inventions like photographs, automobiles, and motion pictures excited people about the possibilities of a new century. People wanted new art, art that didn't remind them of the stinky, horrible past. They wanted art that suggested a kind of utopia. They wanted Art Nouveau. Let's look at a few examples. Mucha's advertisements gave us some of the most iconic examples of Art Nouveau. I'm focusing on a quintessential series, which you can still find on home design websites today, the Four Seasons. Mucha took photographs of models and painted over them to get accurate anatomy. This method gives us a striking amount of realism in an otherwise very impressionistic composition. The panels don't have scenes or action or even complete backgrounds. The environment serves to decorate the model. All the seasons except summer are floating in space, suggesting a total rejection of gravity. Mucha creates contrast between areas of intricate detail and areas of flatness. This adds to the panel's ethereal nature. Your brain is constantly switching between noticing realistic elements, like the perfect anatomy or the realistic drape of fabric, and relaxing into simplicity, like on a foot with no toes. The Four Seasons offers a simplistic, whimsical view of the body and of nature. This is a classic example of Art Nouveau illustration. Thousands of people pass through the Abbesse metro station in Paris, France every day, and it's one of the most accessible examples of Art Nouveau. Notice how the metal curves in ways that mimic flowers or vines. The metal pieces come together like bones, creating joints and protecting the glass. More on bones later. The textured glass and the dragonfly edicule creates a hazy lens between us and reality. The Abbesse metropolitan station brings a touch of whimsy to an everyday activity, like riding the train, and it's a Parisian classic. Next, let's look at an Art Nouveau building, Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelonans call Casa Batlló Casa dels Ossos, or House of Bones, because the exterior looks like a human skeleton. I told you the bones would be back. The artist Salvador Dalí thinks the structure mimics the ocean. He says, Gaudí drew inspiration for the house from the shapes of the sea, representing waves on a calm day, shapes of still water, shapes of shimmering water, and shapes of water ripples caused by the wind. Gaudí was intentionally vague about the inspiration behind Casa Batlló, but both water and bones reflect the Art Nouveau themes of humanity coexisting with nature. And if you want to see something new and exciting, this building is it. Gaudí created a house full of symbols, fantastic imagery, a canvas that explains a virtually indecipherable story to be completed by each individual within their own imagination, according to the website. To me, Casa dels Ossos embodies the spirit of Art Nouveau. New art. Exciting art. Inspiring art. Different art. Art with no rules. Art that belongs to the person looking at it. Art Nouveau had a resurgence in the late 1960s with the psychedelic movement, and I like to think the style spoke to people back then for the same reasons it intrigued people at the turn of the century. In the 1960s, people were starting to use mind-altering substances to process an incomprehensible reality. They did this during the Belle Epoch, too. People in the 1960s saw the horrors of war on TV and wanted to escape. Art Nouveau is a kind of mind-bending style, and I like how it's not really based in a strict reality. It totally makes sense for a fantasy aesthetic, and you can see it showing up in Elfcore and Fairycore today. It's whimsical, beautiful, fantastical, and one of my favorite design traditions. The Belle Epoch and the whimsical optimism of Art Nouveau ended with World War I. Turns out all the art in the world couldn't stop people from blowing each other to smithereens yet again. World War I left people feeling even more lost and confused about their relationship to so-called progress. Out of the rubble came a reaction. Some might even say a backlash to Art Nouveau, and that was Art Deco. Technically, the decorative arts movement began before Art Nouveau even ended. The Society of Decorative Artists, or SAD, formed in Paris in 1901. The Society included furniture designers, textile designers, and object designers. Decorative arts was shortened to Art Deco in the 1960s when art dealers started using the term to describe stuff that looked like this. Art Deco is one of the most lasting design traditions to this day. I really don't think I can do a better job of summing up Art Deco than Wikipedia. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress. World War I was devastating, but the rapid development of technology made travel more accessible than ever. And after World War II, the airplane took off. New things called airlines developed, allowing people to travel great distances very quickly, which resulted in a travel boom. Where Art Nouveau simplified the natural world, Art Deco flattened it entirely, offering a simple graphic look at anything and everything. Art Deco also had a huge impact on architecture, because strong lines make for strong buildings. In the 1920s, Art Deco boomed in expanding American cities like Miami, Tulsa, and Long Beach. Let's look at some examples of Art Deco design. One of the quintessential Art Deco illustrators is the artist known simply as Arte. Arte was born in Russia. They loved French fashion magazines, so at 17, they moved to Paris. They became one of France's most popular fashion illustrators, drawing several covers for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Arte lived almost 100 years. They died in 1990 at age 97. And some of their most iconic designs, like this symphony in black and much of their Alphabet series, were actually produced during the 1970s and 80s. But for this video, I wanted to examine an early piece. This is the winter 1917 issue of Vogue magazine. The strong silhouettes and high contrast between the background and the subject give the piece a graphic, attention-grabbing quality. The model has a short black bob, which would become the hottest hairstyle of the 1920s. Chinese knots strip off her costume, nodding to Art Deco's international influences. And notice her anatomy. It's completely unnatural. Check out the way her pinky finger slips off into space. Arte almost always depicted models either head-on or in full profile, giving the body a striking unnatural symmetry. The sharp crescent moon also simplifies nature in a bold graphic way. Arte defined Art Deco illustration, and this cover is just one example. Next, let's look at some travel posters. Art Deco travel posters promise luxury, adventure, and a two-dimensional view of the world that feels both safe and enticing. There are numerous examples of Art Deco travel posters that were made after the 20s and 30s, but inspired by designs from those times. Art Deco is still one of the most popular choices for travel posters because it flattens a lot of visual information. Look at this photo of New York. Pretty busy, right? Now, look at this Art Deco-style illustration, which is easier for your eye to look at. Let's look at this poster for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. The building creates symmetry by splitting the composition in two, right down to the typography. Notice the water. The chunky shapes and colors at the bottom of the composition look nothing like water, but we know it's water because of the reflection, the boats, and the contrast with the red sky. Tiny, featureless people dot the steps. This gives the structures authority and minimizes people in the scope of, as the poster says, progress. Does this image make you want to visit the Chicago World's Fair? Let me know in the comments. There are many rich examples of Art Deco architecture in the United States. The Chrysler Building in New York City is the poster child for Art Deco, but Art Deco is also used in many iconic Hollywood theaters. For this video, I'm focusing on a more indie Art Deco building. This is the Pythian Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I love this building because of the way it layers shapes, rectangles on the ceiling, triangles in the tile, and terracotta waves on the exterior. Both the inside and the outside feature the zigzag pattern, a staple of Art Deco. The building uses blue, green, and burnt sienna tones, which nod to the earth tones of the American West. One local architect calls it an Art Deco delight. It's simple, but includes so many elements of Art Deco all in one building. Art Deco evokes luxury, simplicity, and a kind of safety. It has a timeless sort of glamour because of all the Art Deco theaters and its coincidence with the Jazz Age. It's one of the most popular design styles to this day. Art Deco and Art Nouveau both offer new ways of looking at the world. They were both influenced by turmoil, but represent attempts to create beauty out of chaos. They're evocative, graphic, and beautiful. What do you think? Do you prefer Art Deco or Art Nouveau? Do you have a favorite Art Deco or Art Nouveau piece? Please let me know in the comments. If you enjoyed this video, please like, subscribe, share it with someone who's interested in art, or even if you don't do any of that stuff, I'm so glad you stopped by. Take care, everybody. Cheers.