Why was art nouveau most popular in 1900?
Art Nouveau flourished in France and Belgium in the years around the turn of the twentieth century. Organic forms inspired by nature, frequently accentuated with asymmetrical curves or elaborate flourishes, characterize its decorative vocabulary. Though purportedly antihistoricist, its elegant forms often evoke the Rococo style of mid-eighteenth-century France. The term Art Nouveau derives from the name of Siegfried Bing’s Parisian shop L’Art Nouveau (“The New Art”), which opened in 1895. Bing sold exceptional works by many of the best-known designers working in this mode. In response to popular demand, however, poor-quality mass-production hastened the demise of this original style in the years after 1900. From the 1880s until the First World War, western Europe and the United States witnessed the development of Art Nouveau (“New Art”). Taking inspiration from the unruly aspects of the natural world, Art Nouveau influenced art and architecture especially in the applied arts, graphic w
