User Comments

1. 

   27 days ago

   ThriftShopRomantic

   I love art nouveau design. I love art deco, too, but the organic, intricate designs of art nouveau are definite favorites of mine. I actually have tile plaques and mirrors in a few of the rooms of my home that are Alphonse Mucha repros. My home is from 1899, so it works pretty well.

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2. 

   27 days ago

   Hels

   When I first started blogging, I assumed I would be looking at all forms of art and architecture in the history of humanity. If not that far back, at least since the mid 17th century.
   
   It turns out that I have concentrated in the blog on the
   1. Belle Epoque,
   2. Art Nouveau,
   3. Charles Rennie Mackintosh,
   4. Arts and Crafts,
   5. Vienna Secession,
   6. Bauhaus and
   7. Art Deco.
   
   Since the blog was never planned this way, I have to assume
   that I really, deep down, prefer those seven styles; or other people (readers) prefer those styles; or the more recent the style, the more available the research material. And all writers go with what is easiest.
   
   So the answer, Norski, is that I am most passionate about Bauhaus and Deco. But if you gave me a Mucha, Galle, Mackintosh, Klimt or Lalique object, I'd be very well pleased.
   
   p.s ThriftShopRomantic, I wrote a post on Mucha just because my husband is Czech. After checking every Mucha poster ever printed, I actually found I loved Mucha Isn't blogging great!

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   1. 

      27 days ago

      ThriftShopRomantic

      It is when you're willing to use it for learning and experiencing new things, as you did!
      
      I like Mackintosh, too, though it's somewhat more geometric. Still, can't beat those Mackintosh roses!
3. 

   27 days ago

   aningeniousname

   I like all the styles Hel mentioned above but the trouble with all these things is what happens when lesser talents employ the same style.
   As an example Bauhaus was a very elegant style that still looks modern today but Bauhaus inspired buildings like this all over Britain.
   www.blueskies.aviators.net/trnet4.jpg
   
   It's a short hop from the simple elegance of Bauhaus to the stark brutalism of concrete.

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   1. 

      26 days ago

      Hels

      aningeniousname
      
      I think ALL mainstream art styles were milled for everything that artists could get out of them, even if those styles were eventually extended to their own breaking point.
      
      Consider the slide from High Renaissance to Mannerist art. Or the refined and robust Baroque architecture of the 17th century that was titivated into Rococo, to suit new 18th-century tastes.
      
      In the 20th century, as you noted, exciting Bauhaus was corrupted into ugly Brutalism. I would also argue that Expressionism, which allowed the representation of reality to be altered to communicate an artist’s inner vision, was powerful. Yet this art form eventually disintegrated into Abstract Expressionism, a style that had very little emotional impact.
      
      Eventually, once the old style has been broken beyond repair, a newer fresher style will appear.