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 1980s, in reaction to the excessive industrialization and reproduction of old styles, Art Nouveau 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 took over and lasted thirty years. Inspired by cubist geometry, it tends towards pure lines and a return to classical rigor through noble materials and omnipresent geometric shapes.

Its climax (1920) being in the aftermath of the First World War, Art Deco fits into 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 leaning toward pure lines and repeated geometric patterns in search of a return to simpler things.

Mosaic had been in decline for some time, but one finds it in these two movements, with characteristics proper to each one of them.

For the first, arabesques, stained glass, colors and ornaments are omnipresent and bring creativity and richness to the interiors of the time.

For the second, it is the repetition of simple motives, faithful to the progressive rationality, which prevails for a resolutely modern result.