Poor Art Nouveau
The Art Nouveau period of architecture, typography, illustration and graphic design has always held a certain fascination for me, mainly because just about every designer and architect I know won't touch it with a ten foot poll. Those thick wavy brushstrokes, those curves, those dripping letters...it's enough to make any Corbusier / Bauhaus loving designer cringe and spit.
Perhaps it has something to do with the revival of Art Nouveau type in the 60s and it's ubiquitous use promoting rock concerts. Or, maybe it's just too feminine, too loopy, too pedestrian, too unschooled, too...ick. Whatever it is, I think Nouveau, at least in it's true original form, has received a bad rap.
Check out the nice retrospective of Art Nouveau typography over at Linotype, and you too may wonder who long it will be before someone, somewhere rediscovers Nouveau and re-launches the fanciful style as the "now" look in fashion, interior design, architecture, and advertising. There's something so otherworldly about Nouveau, so unacceptable, so random, that it appears almost modern, futuristic. It's Swiss typography and grid formality held over a roaring fire and dipped in gold. There are no household Nouveau names. Most people assume you're talking about Art Deco. It has no celebrity, no home.
Art Nouveau is not for the faint at heart, and doesn't work when used sparingly. Nouveau must, hell, demands to run wild and free; consuming everything in it's path like wild vines and kudzu. A wonderful example is the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, home to Disney's "The Lion King." Beautifully renovated by Disney, the theater is better than the show. The intricate wall carvings, domed ceiling, and painted wild peacocks nestled in green vines is enough to evoke awe, and definitely a giggle or two. It's fantastically rich, luscious, and ridiculous in it's ornamentation. I sat in the Amsterdam Theatre two years ago, and it was the first time I'd every seen such an enormous example of Nouveau. Since then, I think about the Amsterdam quite often.
But I'm a total hypocrite. I've never used Nouveau type in a project, or even wanted to. They're the typefaces that always sit at the bottom of my hard drive, alone, while the Frutigers, Helveticas, and Garamonds live in the penthouse suite. Perhaps they just weren't meant for this world.
