Tags
Art Nouveau, Dordrecht, Galle, Guimard, Helsinki, Jugendstil, Mucha, Paris
Inspired by Julie Powell’s success – her blog was turned into the Hollywood movie Julie and Julia featuring Meryl Streep – I have decided to start a blog about my journey into finding out everything there is to know about Art Nouveau.
Looking back at the last 25 – 30 years of my life, this blog is the only logical outcome of many inspiring discoveries, lots of travelling and meeting wonderful people. The seeds have been planted many years ago and now everything is falling into place.
My first encounter (that I am aware of) with Art Nouveau was in Paris, 1989. I fell in love with the famous Métropolitain entrances by Hector Guimard (1867-1942). A year later, my friend Rumiko-san introduced me to Emile Gallé (1846-1904) at the Kitazawa Museum of Art, in Japan. I remember the room was pitch-dark, the ceiling was low and there was no sound. Only one spot light pointed from above at a vase with a polar bear. I could almost see the bear breathe!
Years later I learned about Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), bought a beautiful book about his work and told myself I could go to Barcelona only after I finish reading the whole book… Well, Barcelona is still on my bucket list, but I’m sure I will be able to read the book within the coming year or so!
In the mean time, I did go to Prague and visit the Alfons Mucha Museum. Alfons Mucha (1860-1939) must be one of my favorite Art Nouveau artists as I can never get enough of his beautiful posters. Probably my most favorite poster is the one with Princess Hyacinth (1911), but I can also appreciate his Slav Epic, a series of twenty monumental canvases (the largest measuring over 6 by 8 meters) depicting the history of the Slav people and civilization.
Over 300 master pieces of Mucha can be seen at the website of the Mucha Foundation.
And last year (2011), when I got the chance to visit Helsinki, I must have taken nearly 1.000 photo’s of Art Nouveau architecture. Helsinki is just stuffed with Art Nouveau!
In later posts, I will try to figure out what is what, and who made it, but for now, I just want to show you some examples of the wonderful buildings I found in Helsinki, Finland.
Since I cannot travel all year around, and this blog (as well as any possible reader) deserves more than 5 posts a year, I am planning to investigate my hometown Dordrecht for Art Nouveau objects. Along the way, I hope to learn a lot and maybe I can finish this project with a listing of all Art Nouveau in Dordrecht and a guide explaining the objects in detail… To give you an idea of what beautiful objects can be found in Dordrecht, I have a really nice example for you here:
Anyways, whether my blog is going to have many followers or none, I am 100% sure that I am going to enjoy this! Feel free to correct me, give me advice or ask me questions any time. Join me on this journey into Art Nouveau!
Update 2016
That was 4 years ago… Since then só much has happened! I have studied heaps of books about Art Nouveau, traveled to beautiful places and visited some excellent museums. At the same time, I was busy restoring our very own Art Nouveau family home and searching the whole world for authentic materials to period decorate our home.
And I found beautiful materials! Wallpapers, upholstery fabrics, rugs, tiles, lace panels and lots and lots more… But none of it in my own country. That’s when I decided to start my own business and import these beautiful products. I wanted to help other home owners with their period decorating in Art Nouveau style too. Maison l’Art Nouveau was established on the 1st of January 2016 and has been a success since day one! What a wonderful feeling to have been able to turn my passion for Art Nouveau into a full-time job!
Newspaper article about Maison l’Art Nouveau
Update 2017
French journalist Claude Mandraut, who blogs about Architecture and loves Art Nouveau just as much as I, published an interview with me about my passion for Art Nouveau. If you can read French, you can read the interview by clicking here.
About Art Nouveau 
Dear seishonagon3,
I am very glad and pleased thet I found your site about Art Nouveau. Last Year i’ll used your information about Subotica in Serbia. This month I maken use of your information en enthousiasm over Helsinki.
Thank you for write pieces with your expression of feelings about this art and seek the information that compleet the answers on your quest.
I also life in Dordrecht and enjoy this city very much. The picture in your story is taken in the Adriaan van Blijenburgstraat. The speciality of this street is dat the houses are mirrord, starting in the middle of the street.
Please go on with your good works.
Greatings,
John Schermer
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Dear John,
Thank you for reading my website about Art Nouveau. And thank you for your kind words / Bedankt voor het lezen van mijn website en je lovende woorden.
I myself haven’t had a chance to go to Subotica yet, so I envy you a lot! / Ik ben zelf nog niet eens naar Subotica geweest dus ik ben erg jaloers nu!
Dordrecht is indeed a beautiful city, which not many people know / Dordt is een hele mooie stad wat niet veel mensen weten. I will try to find the time to write more about our beautiful hometown / Ik zal proberen meer tijd vrij te maken om over ons mooie Dordt te schrijven.
Thank you for your compliments and please come back again / Bedankt voor je complimenten en kom gauw nog eens terug.
Olga
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