Art Nouveau: Beyond Paris
While Paris brought Art Nouveau to world attention, the home of Art Nouveau in France is Nancy, a city significantly smaller than Paris but nearly equaling it in artistic influence at the turn of the century. The École de Nancy (School of Nancy) was formed specifically to celebrate and encourage the “New Arts”; today a museum for the work produced by the artists involved in the school/movement is housed in an Art Nouveau home built for Eugène Corbin, one of the school’s original patrons. Art Nouveau lasted nearly a decade longer in Nancy than most other places.
While Nancy does have a large collection of Art Nouveau buildings, the title for most Art Nouveau buildings in a city actually goes to Riga, Latvia. Riga grew by 88% between 1897 & 1913, with the majority of the homes built to accommodate the rising population built in Art Nouveau style. Riga progressed through four different stages of Art Nouveau architecture: Eclectic, Perpendicular, National Romantic, and Neo-Classical.
Eclectic — an adoption of Art Nouveau decorations without changing the structural design of homes still based in Eclecticism.
Perpendicular — a more … perpendicular, or geometric, take on the style, the exterior of houses reflected the interior without use of facades.
National Romantic — the most unique episode of Art Nouveau in Riga, this was inspired by the Latvian National Awakening and a drive to develop an uniquely Latvian culture inspired by folk art and building materials available within Latvia.
Neo-Classical — this mostly applied to a few banks built late in the Art Nouveau era where the Nouveau decorations were combined with Classical structures. (Something similar occurred in Italy as well.)
