Art Nouveau and Art Deco are two very different styles often confused—probably because they represent two consecutive periods.
Let’s see what they are made of, how to recognize these two styles, and how to use them in interior design.
In the early 1880s, in reaction to excessive industrialization and the reproduction of old styles, Art Nouveau style was born. This artistic movement with organic inspiration lasted only twenty years but, in this short lapse of time, rose to be tremendously popular and developed internationally.
We can say, without a doubt, that this form of Total Art celebrates a certain golden age lost at the dawn of the industrial era. Its bucolic shapes inspired by nature plunge us into a universe made of inventiveness, rhythm, color, and ornamentation.
In 1910, Art Deco design took over and lasted thirty years. Inspired by cubist geometry, it tends toward pure lines and a return to classical rigor through noble materials and omnipresent geometric shapes.
Its climax (1920), coming in the aftermath of the First World War, places Art Deco in the context of the roaring twenties and symbolizes, in some ways, a chic wave full of lightness.
That’s right! These two styles, very close in time, are actually tremendously different—one occupying the entire space with rounded shapes inspired by trees, insects, and animals, the other favoring pure lines and repeated geometric patterns in search of simplicity.
Mosaic, although in decline for some time, appears in both movements with characteristics specific to each.
In the first, arabesques, stained glass, colors, and ornaments are omnipresent, bringing creativity and richness to interiors through mosaic Art Nouveau.
In the second, the repetition of simple motifs—faithful to progressive rationality—prevails for a resolutely modern result, characteristic of Art Deco mosaic.