Apps

Searching for Apps can get me really excited. When I find a good one, it almost makes me feel like I have received a beautiful box, wrapped with a silk ribbon.

I can’t wait to open the box, and admire everything inside…

Do you recognize that feeling?

Then, here’s my present to you.

A collection of Art Nouveau related Apps that I gathered, free of charge! And endless listening to stories about Art Nouveau…

I have ordered my listing in 4 categories: Museums, Tourism, iBooks & Podcasts.

MUSEUM APPS

Wiesbaden Museum – There is on tour called Art Nouveau in Nature which explains the importance of the German scientist Ernst Haeckel. Haeckel created a ‘bridge’ between science and Art. There are also a few tours sharing the Art Nouveau highlights of the museum. The app is available in German, English and French.

Museum of the Ecole de Nancy – The first Art Nouveau App I discovered on the IZI.Travel platform is an audio guide through the Museum of the Ecole de Nancy. Included is a tour along part of the collection of the Museum as well as a tour along the collection of Eugène Corbin. Great App in English, German and French.

Museum of the Ecole de Nancy – I guess this is a newer app about the same museum. Wander through the collections of the museum and discover the works of Emile Gallé, Louis Majorelle, Victor Prouvé, and Eugène Vallin. And don’t forget to admire the aquarium pavilion in the garden! In French, English and German.

Ivan Lendl: Alphons Mucha – This app is supporting the exhibition “Ivan Lendl: Alphonse Mucha” in Prague. The app is very complete and in English. It includes many beautiful artworks by Mucha, but not the complete Lendl collection. If you wish to download the complete catalogue, it will cost you €0.99.

Art Nouveau Museum Aveiro – This app includes videos and sound tracks in which Art Nouveau is explained, with Art Nouveau in Aveiro in particular. The app also introduces a trail with 28 Art Nouveau stops around the museum. Portugese, English, French and Spanish.

Villa Majorelle – This app provides a tour through the beautiful Villa Majorelle in Nancy. It was developed for adults ánd for teenagers (11-14 years old) in English, French and German. You can read a lot of information that is accompanied by pictures from all the room of the villa. Often you can also listen to the text.

TRAVEL APPS

Tales & Tours – Tales & Tours is a free App. Once you have installed the App on your device, you can download tour guides, routes and offline maps to explore your next destination. Some may cost money, but many don’t. The city of Brussels has created two tour guides that are interesting for us: Art Nouveau – Art Deco City Centre and Art Nouveau – Art Deco Ixelle (Saint Gilles). Both guides are available in English, French, Dutch and German. And they are free of charge!

Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt – travel through time on the Mathildenhöhe. Historical views are superimposed over current images and illustrate how the Mathildenhöhe developed during the time of the artists’ colony and afterwards. With the app you can not only navigate to the individual locations but also superimpose your current perspective with historical images using AR (augmented reality).

PocketGuide – PocketGuide turns your mobile device into your personal tour guide. Once you installed the App on your phone, you can select any city-tour and either follow that tour on-line, or download it and follow it off-line. Most interesting city in regards to Art Nouveau is Subotica, Art Nouveau capital of Serbia! The App is free, and so are the on-line city-tours. But if you want to avoid roaming costs abroad, it is advised to buy the off-line city-tours, or gather points and download them for free.

Pond Quarter and Art Nouveau in Brussels (Lite Version) – As you walk, you’ll get to see the two architects Ernest Blerot and Ernest Delune compete for glory in over a dozen of their buildings. This Lite version does not include a map or walking directions. You can download the full version for €1,99.

Barcelona Modernisme – This app helps you explore Barcelona’s Modernisme and specially Gaudí’s work like never before and lets you discover a mix of well-known landmarks and hidden gems at your own pace. In Spanish and English. Very beautiful app, but you have to upgrade for €1,99 in order to see everything.

Glasgow & Mackintosh – 2018 was the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of the world’s most remarkable and influential architects, Glasgow-born Charles Rennie Mackintosh. To honour and celebrate the man and his work the City of Glasgow has installed an innovative network of Bluetooth beacons at all Mackintosh venues. Walking around the city, each beacon communicates with the Go Glasgow app to reveal the story of each building as you arrive or pass by.

iBOOKS

Museu del Modernisme Català – To celebrate its 3rd anniversary, the Museu del Modernisme Català presents 30 works by the most significant artists of their cultural legacy. Highlights include the railings of the Casa Mateu – known as La Miranda – designed by Antoni Gaudí and Francesc Berenguer in Llinars del Vallès (Barcelona), two charcoal and pastel drawings by Ramon Casas, furniture from the Casa Trinxet by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, and spectacular examples of cabinetmaking by Joan Busquets and Gaspar Homar. This iBook is available in English, French, Catalan and Spanish.

PODCASTS

For those who are new to the phenomenon Podcast: a podcast is a digital audio program that you can download or stream from the internet. It works very much like a radio show, but with one major difference – you can listen anytime you want. Here are a few podcasts that I have enjoyed listening to:

• If Jewels Could Talk (Carol Woolton) The genius of René Lalique and Art Nouveau (English)
• Kunsthoop Jan de Bruijn over een Art Nouveau vaas (Dutch)
• Radar Stap binnen in de prachtige Art Nouveau huizen van Brussel (Flemish/Dutch)
• ArtSmart – Art Nouveau (English)
• What is Art Nouveau? (English)
• The Art Nouveau movement and its impact on Art Jewelry (English)
• Jugendstil – Frauen als Kunst und Künstlerinnen um 1900 (German)
• La Vie d’Horta (Flemish/Dutch)
• Jugendstil (Dutch)
• Die Zeit Gustav Klimt, große Kunst oder großer Kitsch? (German)
• Art Nouveau & Alphonse Mucha with Nico Paws (English)
• History Chicks Sarah Bernhardt (English)

* you can listen to these podcasts – and many many more – on your own device, via your favorite podcast app. Just download a podcast app for your app store and type in a search word such as Art Nouveau, Jugendstil or for instance the name of your favorite architect. Hours and hours of listening at hand for when you are cleaning, cycling, gardening or just vegged out on the couch. Enjoy!

Feel free to share your discoveries here too!