Art nouveau in fin-de-siecle France

the long version

Examines the political, social, economic, intellectual, and artistic factors that influenced the development of art nouveau. Library Journal review: This is a dense and closely argued study of the intellectual background of "art nouveau," a term that underwent a total change in meaning between the Paris expositions of 1889 and 1900. Silverman traces the roots of the new style by examining rococo revivalism and the renewed interest in the 18th century, also considering the complex world of hu-man psychology first explored by Freud's teacher Charcot in explicating the shift from a new art of heroic iron and glass in 1889 to an art focused on the domestic and intellectual in less than a decade. All this is cogently connected to the political realities of the Third Republic. An excellent work, especially for scholars. - Jack Perry Brown, Art Institute of Chicago Library.