What Art Nouveau Means to Me

2010-01-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Heya! Welcome to my blog.

I wanted to chat with you a bit about the basics of Art Nouveau before I get into what it means to me as an artist in today's world. Some of you may be somewhat unfamiliar with the style so I'll give you a quick run-down.

History:
Art Nouveau was an extremely popular style from 1890 until about 1915 or so. Before this, art was all about portraits and landscapes and everything had to be painted in a photo-realistic fashion. Because this was such a time-consuming process for the artist, they charged a lot of money for their services, which meant that only the wealthy could afford to be surrounded by art. There were a lot of young, talented artists who felt that everyone should have access to art and that it should be a part of everyday life. They also wanted to completely rebel against standard definitions of what art should be and how it should look. Artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Walter Crane and Gustav Klimt lead the way into the rebellion.

The Style:
The style can best be described as organic and graceful. The various lines used were often curved (sometimes almost violently so) and there was a flow and movement to the pieces. The use of nature was also very prevalent; from the artistic use of vines acting as a border to the abundance of leaves and flowers as decoration, these things helped to put a stamp on the style itself.
Another interesting thing to note was the fact that many artists used pen & ink and even those that painted their work used a very flat style of shading. They wanted to get away from the photo-realistic and more into the interpretive. In a sense, each artist wanted to create their own ways of drawing leaves, trees and people. They were unfettered... unchained by other peoples' definitions and expectations. This way of drawing became known as illustration and these illustrators were the naughty kids of the new world!

Here are some examples: Mucha - http://www.rare-posters.com/p1226.html

Klimt - http://www.ancienttreasuresusa.com/v/vspfiles/parastone_paintings/kiss_klimt.jpg

Beardsley: http://www.bibi.org/box/2005/setembro/Aubrey_Beardsley.jpg

The Effect:
The Art Nouveau movement had a pretty profound effect on just about everyone and here's why... Before 1890, packaging was pretty plain, functional and boring - in other words very conservative. Once the movement started, saavy business owners started using these artists to jazz up their book covers, advertisements, packaging, etc. This resulted in huge sales because folks could have the product and as a bonus, get some free art into their homes by way of the biscuit tin or magazine cover. The movement also spilled over into furniture design, architecture, jewelry, silverware, etc. Art Nouveau was literally changing the way that people looked at the world!

Some examples: http://www.riga-life.com/media/pics/art-nouveau.jpg

http://amournouveau.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/art-nouveau-doorway-paris.jpg

http://www.tademagallery.co.uk/hairCont/Medium/3084_Aucoc_Comb_325.jpg

http://imagecache5.art.com/p/LRG/15/1556/M8HDD00Z/alphonse-mucha-cycles-perfecta.jpg

What Does Art Nouveau Mean to Me?

Because this is the style that I've happily chosen to adopt I feel a bit rebellious. I've had art directors tell me that my style won't sell. I've had other artists tell me that my backgrounds are too elaborate and draw too much focus away from the main piece. I've had clients shy away from hiring me because they want their marketing materials to look like everyone else's. They all certainly have a right to their opinions and I'm very cool with that. Their words, however, will not deter me or sway me from my path in the least bit. Because of the doubters and the nay-sayers, I feel even more of a kinship with the original Art Nouveau illustrators than ever before. They had their doubters too and they kept going.

I love the style of art to be sure, and you can see it in my work, but more than the art - it's the attitude and the sheer determination that these guys had. They knew that their work was important. Art Nouveau means I have the freedom to create something new that not a lot of other artists are doing. I get to stand apart, shout my name from the rooftops and make people notice me! It means I get to be a rebel... http://rookemare.deviantart.com/art/Silver-and-Steel-108849732

Thanks for reading. :) See ya soon!

Chaz

Heya!

My name is Chaz Kemp and I consider myself to be a professional Art Nouveau illustrator. This blogging stuff is a very new experience for me & I hope that you will join me as I explore the world of art, life and the struggles of being a free-lance illustrator. I've been a professional illustrator for a little over 10 years now. I worked in the corporate world for much of that and after being laid off for the third time decided that it was past time to do my own thing. I could jump on my soapbox at this point & rant - but we'll just say that I'm much happier now. :) The clients I have now are AWESOME & I get to create & grow as an artist. Yay me!

First off, this blog is not intended to be all formal and junk and the chances of me winning any kind of literary blog awards (if there are such things) will be slim to be sure. I like to write the way that I talk and I hope that you're cool with that. That being said, I hope that over time I'll be able to refine my writing style so that at the very least I'll be understood and perceived to be somewhat competent. lol

Secondly - I'm going to be writing about art. I'll probably focus primarily on Art Nouveau; the movement, the artists and the profound effect that it had on society and the world of advertising. I'll also be using this blog to write about my own illustrations and as a means of self-promotion for my art & my store. I'll also try to feature modern artists that I really admire (& envy) because, let's face it, we can always use more exposure.

Thirdly - I will eventually try to link in with other artists' blogs or quite possibly turn this blog into a community (a conspiracy?) of like-minded artists. Each with their own blogs, opinions, influences and voices. Maybe we'll work it so that each of us does a blog here once a week. I think that would be fun.

Lastly - The reason I call this blog "Artistic Intrigue"... One of the definitions of the word intrigue means: To cause a desire to know more and to cause to be interested or curious. The words crafty, mysterious & clandestine are in there too. So this blog will hopefully cause a desire to know more about my illustrations, myself, my friends and the world of Art Nouveau.

Stay tuned & thank you.

Chaz
My latest illustrations are here: http://rookemare.deviantart.com/gallery/
The link to my shop will be posted soon...

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What Art Nouveau Means to Me

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