Special Lectures | Art Nouveau, 1890–1915: Presented by Diane Kane | Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

Art Nouveau, 1890–1915

Presented by Diane Kane

Mondays, March 31, April 7, 14 & 21, 2025

The international art movement known as Art Nouveau flourished from the early 1890s to 1914. Rejecting historical references and traditional geometric forms, it featured florid vegetation, sinuous lines, and asymmetry. Although the design approach encompassed all visual art forms, it was most prevalent in architecture and the decorative arts. Furniture, mirrors, metalwork, art glass, carved plaster, and intricate paneling all featured the signature “whiplash” lines of Art Nouveau. Originating in Brussels, and highlighted in the Exposition Universelle of 1900 (better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition), the style is strongly associated with the wealthy and fashionable.

Popularized in smaller cities, the style easily integrated into new building types—elegant apartments, boutique retail, brasseries, bistros, and cabarets—associated with sophisticated urbanization.   

In four richly illustrated lectures, this series will examine the style’s Belgian origins and its regional variations in Paris, Vienna, and Barcelona during the 1890–1915 period.