Is there anyone out there who has made furniture in the Art Nouveau style ?
I find the soft swirling curves of this style pleasing to the eye, in contrast to the stark modernism of much of the furniture produced today. There is also the challenge of working wood in relief to achieve the three-dimensional feel of this art form.
Always pleased to hear from any woodworking Art Nouveau enthusiasts!
Bgee
Replies
Bgee,
"Is there anyone out there who has made furniture in the Art Nouveau style ?"
I believe there were thousands of woodworkers who made furniture in the Art Nouveau style back around 1890 to about 1905. Things slacked off after that.
Hope that answers your question.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Hi 9619, Unfortunately I am unable to communicate with the dead!! I was rather hoping to contact any Art Nouveau fan who is still with us.Bgee.
Bgee,"I was rather hoping to contact any Art Nouveau fan who is still with us."
Yup, that is what I figured. I was in a quandry. I see a lot of Art Nouveau furniture in the antique stores. I love the paradigm. Yet for some reason, it is not popular in the woodworking magazines right now, and I haven't seen books on building A.N. furniture. I suppose a reason is that much of it was veneered, and I have not yet gotten into veneering. But it is on my list of things to learn.
One of the biggest accomplishments of my woodworking life was to refurbish an Art Nouveau dining room chest. I found it at a Goodwill store, and the guy had had it for months. He couldn't sell it because it was in such bad shape. Much of the veneer was coming up. The finish was terrible. The drawers were so badly work that they didn't work well any more. My wife saw it and said, "You are not taking that think into my house."
I paid about $60 for it, and spent a month gluing the veneer back down. Then I killed the bugs that were living in it. Then I stripped the finish off of it, AND IT WAS GORGEOUS. My wife loved it. Then I took the drawers apart and rebuilt the sides so they were flat on the bottom and I replaced the runners, and did some other internal work, and I put a finish on it. It now sits proudly in my daughter's dining room, and she and her husband love it. Here is a before and after photo.
View Image
I am hoping that you find some folks who do A.N. furniture now. I will continue to monitor this thread. I wish you luck.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Now there you go Mel, being a provocateur again. Part of the issue with Art Nouveau is where does it begin or end. Is Art Deco part of the movement? Is say Green & Greene Arts and Crafts or Art Nouveau? However, like many styles, when done by a talented eye and hand, it is something to enjoy. Dan Carroll
Dan,
The Art Deco period started at 3:45 pm on Dec. 12, 1890 and ended at 1:26am on July 14, 1905. The Art Nouveau period started ten days after the Art Deco period started (more or less) and ended about a week sooner. Sometimes I talk to God, and she told me that. :-)
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Many years ago, I was in Paris with a cousin of mine and a couple of friends of his, all three of them were architects. Wound up spending hours walking around looking for Synagogue designed by Guimard. Found it in the middle of a narrow street wedged in between other buildings. It was August and I have never wanted a cold beer so bad in my life. Ever since, I have been very careful when Art Nouveau comes up -- don't want to get that thirsty ever again. Did learn that if you order a 'grande biere' in Paris you get a liter mug however.Dan Carroll
Mel..
My grandfather had a cabinety like that. He kept his booze in it as I recall. He put a lock on it when he found out that I had talked my little brother into sampling some burbon that was in a small keg in the basement.
Oh my God was he mad at us! I can still see his face and I'd bet that was 1948 or so. Glad we were little and he never hit children!
Your chest is not Art Nouveau...
There is a huge difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco. You will find more Art Deco stuff in antique stores than Art Nouveau furniture. Deco embraced the machine age wheras Art Nouveau is more one of a kind and much scarcer. Art Nouveau is much more sculptural and asynetrical and certainly more complicated to build. There are no books on building Art Nouveau furniture. It's clearly a more advanced type of woodworking not that the high end Art Deco was any less difficult.
Rick,
I checked inside the chest and found you are correct. It is an "Art Deco". It says inside, "Made by Art and Frank Deco".
:-)
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel Thanks for the photos. A very nice piece of restoration. A bit of loving care went into that--just look at that grain! Sorry Mel, but I have to agree with RickL- it's Deco not Nouveau. I think the style of the handles nail it down.Regards,
Bgee U.K.
Bgee,
If you look back at the photo I posted, it was labelled "Art Deco Sideboard", so I really wasn't trying to put anything over on anyone. I am not knowledgeable in the difference between Art Deco and Art Nouveau. Now that you guys tell me there is a difference, I will do some studying on it. That's what's nice about Knots. People help you see differences that are more subtle than you were previously aware of.
Thanks,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel, Nice talking to you!
Judging by the number of posts coming up from woodworkers, there seems to be considerable interest in the Deco / Nouveau styles, but not much benchwork!
Perhaps we could get a little competition going for the making and posting of a small piece of work in either style . It will be interesting to see if there is any response . Bgee U.K.
Bgee,
I get the same feeling. Lots of "interest", but not a lot of current work being done in Art Nouveau, either by the pros or by the hobbyists (such as myself). I am retired so I have a lot of time. I go from making a piece of furniture, to refurbishing an old one to doing some carving, as the spirit moves me. I just bought a book called "Decorative Woodcarving: Accessories for the Home" by Frederick Wilbur. It has a number of Art Nouveau pieces (trays, mirrors, etc). I will certainly make one or more of these in the coming year. That isn't as much as you were looking for, but it may be the most that you find. I also have a book called "Modernistic Chip Carving", by Vic Mankin, which as published in 1942, which has a distinct Art Nouveau flavor. Very interesting.Finally, I have a very interesting book called, "Authentic Art Nouveau Lettering and Design in Full Color" by Josef Lehner and Edward Mader. It includes 43 complete alphabets. THIS BOOK IS A GOLDMINE of Art Nouveau design. Hope that is useful to you.
I will continue to follow this thread. Keep up the good work.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,Thanks for the book titled.I will endeavor to hunt them down.
I am also retired , here in the UK chipping away at a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
You may know of the Glasgow architect, Charles R. Mackintosh who worked in a style all his own, but much influenced by Art Nouveau- buildings complete with decor and furniture. Well worth a look.
Let's see where we go from here.Bernard.
Bernard,
So you are Scottish. So is my wife. She was born a Russell. We have traced her ancestry to a few places in Scotland. Who knows, if the economy ever revives, my wife and I may get to take a trip to Scotland.Meanwhile, we will watch for action in Art Nouveau.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
I've had a great admiration for Scots ever since I learned that copper wire was invented by two Scots fighting over a copper penny.
Don,
Ha! If twa Scoats fought over money both would now be deed. Also, the penny would've been picked up by a passing Geordie-bloke. "Eee, that'll gaan in me alefund".
Lataxe, a Geordie bloke who raids across the border now and then.
I learned that copper wire was invented by two Scots fighting over a copper penny.
I think the story would be more believable if the story was about two Scot blacksmiths with hammers in hand fighting over the penny!
When they finished with the fight they both went to the PUB with their 'wire'. The Barkeep spilled some ALE on the wire and they heard a sound from the wire and sold the idea to Edison in the USA.
Edited 1/9/2009 12:39 pm by WillGeorge
Mel, No, I'm not Scottish, I'm English. But I hope that you get to enjoy your trip to Scotland some day. Never been there myself, but they say it's beautiful.
Re Charles Rennie Mackintosh, you will find a good introduction to his work in a nice little book titled "Charles Rennie Mackintosh" by Fiona and Isla Hackney. published by The Apple Press. ISBN 1-85076-176-0. I also have a rare and massive tome, that has long been out of print , which catalogues all known pieces of his furniture and work, complete with photographs and drawings. Quite a treasure.!Bernard.PS Just ignore the posts by those that can find nothing better to do than use a woodworkers forum to trade tasteless and insulting jokes about the Scots.
Bernard,
I know about Charles Rennie Mackintosh, but I am not an expert (by a long shot). I know some of the Scot-bashers. They are harmless.
Enjoy,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Way to go Bgee!
http://www.customfurniture-doub.com/
Thanks Floss,Beautiful !!!!Bgee
Sure liked that Swan Bed!
http://www.customfurniture-doub.com/siteindex.html?disFr=bedrooms/bedrooms.html
Art Nouveau, 1890-1914
I loved the.. A New Style For A New Age....
http://www.nga.gov/feature/nouveau/exhibit_intro.shtm
Bgee,
I have a customer right now who is an Art Nouveau collector. Here's a few pictures of details of a bench I recently built, along the lines of a settee they already had.
Ray
Ray,
Nice bench, but are you sure it is not Art Deco?
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,
You crazy kid! You say the darndest things! Maybe it is Art Linkletter.
Ray
Hello Ray,
There seems to be quite a few woodworkers out there with an interest in Art Nouveau. Thanks for the photos of your magnificent bench----now that's craftsmanship !
How on earth did you achieve the 3D carving ? Router? Handwork?Bgee UK
Bgee,
Thank you for the kind words.
The background on the aprons of the bench was largely removed with an electric router, cleaned up by scraping. The carving on the edges of the aprons, the flowers, and the legs was handwork.
I must admit that the art nouveau style is a stretch for me. I'm far more comfortable working in the Queen anne or Chippendale style, and there is a very real paradigm shift required to get one's head around (and to get one's hand to draw) those attenuated lines, languid curves and sudden switchbacks of the modern style. I'm told by Lataxe it is good for me to have to push my comfort zone around a little.
Ray
Ray,
If you can do Art Nouveau: flaunt it, and enjoy it! The rest of us are green with envy!Bgee U.K.
Bgee,
I'm pink with admiration.
Lataxe, avoiding green, purple and black emotions
I would love to make some. I have some ideas that I would like to use, but I need a customer willing to commission the work. A furniture designer maker is only as good as his clients / patrons. Where are to good patrons these days?
Art Nouveau Style (Laurence Buffet - Challie) ISBN 0-8478-0331-7 Has a fairly good description of the movement and several excellent pictures of furniture created durning this period.
As you pointed out there is not much available currently probably because of the expense of producing furniture in this style and the unique nature of it's design. Sometime in my future I hope to design and attempt a piece based on this style but for now I am content with researching the movement. Art Nouveau Furnitue in google lead to some interesting sites.
You have hit upon my personal goal for this Spring. I am relatively new to woodworking, but have made one cabinet with dovetail drawers and frame and panel doors. I put a few curves on that piece but wasn't satisfied with the results. I love the Art Nouveau style and have studied it quite extensively in the past couple of years. I have been taking carving lessons for the past few months to prepare myself for reproducing a certain Guimard table. If I can reproduce that table, I feel that I can take that knowledge and create my own pieces.
I'm glad to know there are others out there who admire those languid, sinuous curves. Good luck in you own personal pursuit!
If I can reproduce that table??
Why I would ask? Art is Art in YOUR eye.. Not others..
I agree with you completely. However, reproducing the Guimard table will be a form of self-study and exploration. I can see the beautiful lines and carving details, but I haven't quite wrapped my brain around how to produce that effect. Once I've completed this lesson, I will have a much more knowledge that I can apply to my own furniture, my own art!
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