Al voltant de 1900 | Alrededor de 1900 | Around 1900
A finals del segle XIX i principis del XX, una nova sensibilitat recorria Europa amb influències diverses i diferents expressions nacionals: Arts and Crafts angleses, Art Nouveau francès, Jugendstil alemany, Secessió vienesa, Escola de Glasgow, Modernisme català. El seu univers decoratiu ens remet a la Natura amb formes que poden ser orgàniques i sinuoses o bé geomètriques i estilitzades. L’Edat Mitjana i el Japó van tenir una gran ascedència en l’estètica d’aquest període. Londres, Glasgow, París, Leipzig, Berlin, Viena, Barcelona van ser escenaris d’una vigorosa renaixença espiritual que va trobar en la il·lustració de llibres un mitjà ideal per a manifestar la seva creativitat.
A finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX, una nueva sensibilidad recorría Europa con influencias diversas y diferentes expresiones nacionales: Arts and Crafts ingleses, Art Nouveau francés, Jugendstil alemán, Secesión vienesa, Escuela de Glasgow, Modernismo catalán. Su universo decorativo nos remite a la Naturaleza con formas que pueden ser orgánicas y sinuosas o bien geométricas y estilizadas. La Edad Media y Japón tuvieron una gran ascendencia en la estética de este periodo. Londres, Glasgow, París, Leipzig, Berlín, Viena, Barcelona fueron escenarios de un vigoroso renacimiento espiritual que encontró en la ilustración de libros un medio ideal para manifestar su creatividad.
“By the late nineties "Art Nouveau" had achieved a remarkable international success as the style of fashion and the avant garde. In the various countries it went by different names and was, in fact, ambivalently considered a national style or else an import from a foreign country, depending on a positive or negative attitude toward the mode. Only fairly recently has it been generally recognized as an international movement. At first, nobody seemed to know where it originated. The English, not realizing the major contributions they themselves had made— especially in graphic design —and never really participating in the full-blown movement, called it Art Nouveau. In France, the country of the Symbolist movement, it was referred to occasionally as "Modern Style," and went under a great many names at first (...) Eventually the name Art Nouveau was adopted. In Germany it was at first variously called "Belgische" and "Veldesche" after the Belgian Henry van de Velde, who, upon coming to Germany in 1897, had assumed leadership of the movement there (...) It was, however, the term "Jugendstil," from the highly popular Munich magazine Jugend, which entered the vocabulary. The Austrians referred to it as "Secessionsstil" because of the Vienna Secession which, under the leadership of Klimt, Hoffmann, and Olbrich, was holding highly cosmopolitan exhibitions in Vienna. The Scots, who undoubtedly had a considerable influence on the Viennese, named their corollary "The Glasgow School." In Spain it was called "Modernismo," in Italy it went by the title of "Stile floreale" but, generally, as "Stile Liberty" after Liberty's London store and the printed, often Oriental, textiles it offered for sale.”
Peter Selz, Mildred Constantine, eds. Art Nouveau: Art and Design at the Turn of the Century. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1960 (p. 10-11)
