Art Nouveau – Prints Illustrations and Posters

As techniques of mass production increased rapidly in sophistication towards the end of the nineteenth century, a revolution in the role of the artist and others involved in the production of artifacts and objects, from furniture, glassware and fabrics to magazines, books and posters, became concerned at the generally poor and thoughtless quality of the vast amount of mass-produced material which seemed to be appearing everywhere. In Britain, the Arts and Crafts Movement of William Morris had already, from about 1875, begun to be a strong influence, and then, as resurgence of interest in natural, flowing forms, as against the rectilinear rigidity of most industrial artifacts, began to grow throughout Europe, the style became known as ‘Art Nouveau’.