Class Description
Art Nouveau was a fascinating, but short-lived, design movement of the turn of the century that rebelled against historicism to create a modern aesthetic for a modern world.
Although sharing this commonality of modernity, its visual manifestations in various countries differed widely, ranging from the straight lines and austere profiles of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s chairs to the sinuous and sensual curves of the furniture of Louis Majorelle and from the undulating façade of Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Mila to the assembly of rectangular forms of Joseph Maria Olbrich’s Secession Building.
In the United States, it is represented by the architectural ornamentation of Louis Sullivan and the favrile glass designs of Louis Comfort Tiffany.
This class examines the underlying roots of Art Nouveau, its principal characteristics, sources of inspiration for Art Nouveau designers, and examples of Art Nouveau in architecture and the decorative arts in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australia.
Kathleen Murphy Skolnik teaches art and architectural history at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Materials List
Required:
- Instructor-distributed materials
First Reading:
- Please read the introduction to Art Nouveau by Alastair Duncan for the first session.
Cost and Registration
This class is full, but you can still register for the waitlist on Learning Stream.
Five sessions, $245 ($220 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
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