Art nouveau Revival
Forgotten, discredited even, for many decades, Art Nouveau experienced a revival during the 1960s that affected contemporary creative work.
An artistic movement that peaked at the turn of the 20th century, Art Nouveau advocated nature-inspired motifs and the use of flowing, curvilinear forms. Discredited for many decades, it experienced a spectacular come-back following the war as a result of the tributes made by the surrealists in the 1930's and major exhibitions put on in New York and Paris. During the "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition organised by the MoMA in 1940, the organic imagery of the Art Nouveau artists pervaded the world of design. In the 1960s, new materials such as polyester, glass fibre, polyurethane, stretch jersey allowed contemporary designers to construct more fluid and flowing rhythmic forms. Comparing the creative output of the period 1950-1970 with that of the early 20th century highlights the influences discernible in diverse areas and how they were integrated into the spirit of the time.
