Paris

Art dealer Siegfried Bing launched the Art Nouveau architectural movement when he created a gallery named Maison de l'Art Nouveau, making Paris one of the first towns in Europe to adopt it. The trend became a representation of liberation from the stuffy, excessively regimented styles that were popular in the late 19th century. The Art Nouveau movement in Paris was distinguished by the use of unconventional materials like iron and glass, asymmetrical patterns, decorative motifs derived from nature or symbolic representations like urns, flowers, shells, or fruit, and organic forms that were more reminiscent of living things than artificial ones.

The Art Nouveau movement produced many well-known landmarks in France. Every visitor to Paris has seen the metro entrances, which are notable examples of Art Nouveau architecture created by Hector Guimard using wrought iron in a characteristic Art Nouveau style. A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Hector Guimard (1867-1942) was a Lyon-born architect who won the 1898 competition for the best facade in Paris with Castel Beranger.

Many renowned structures in and around Paris have elements of the Art Nouveau style. Within the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, wrought iron is used in a similar manner. Fine examples of Art Nouveau can be seen in a number of department stores and businesses. An magnificent cupola in the Art Nouveau style can be found on the renowned department store Galeries Lafayette, which was designed by Georges Chedanne and Ferdinand Chanu. La Samaritaine, another building by Franz Jourdaine, is another example. The Musée d'Orsay, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and Musée Carnavalet all have Art Nouveau furniture, paintings, jewelry, and glassware on display.

Location: France