Something Beautiful #5

If you've never heard of Art Nouveau or Art Deco, it's really time you had. They are of the more modern art movements and like most modern-ish art tend toward defying any sort of definition. And I'm not really interested in supplying a definition because, in my experience, there is always something someone will call Nouveau or Deco which will contradict whatever I could come up with [for example, Gaudi's fascination with formless blobs]. Instead, I'll explain what it is that I'm referring to when I say Nouveau or Deco and why it is I love that.

The wonderful thing that I think best characterizes both Nouveau and Deco is that it is functional art. They enliven menial everyday items with inspirational art, not by pasting art on top of things, but by making the style an integral/natural part of the structure of the things one creates. Nouveau does it in a flowing, curvy, often described as "whiplash" style (usually busy). Deco does it in a geometric, angular, bare-bones sort of way. But the same glorious idea that I adore applies to both: beauty and elegance are necessary in the structure of living, and not to be added as an after-thought. Here are some cherished examples:



A door by an artist I haven't been able to identify.




Cover art by Nick Gaetano of The Romantic Manifesto by Ayn Rand.

Update [6.14.2006]: Special hello to visitors from Rule of Reason!