Modernisme, also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan culture, one of the most predominant cultures within Spain. Nowadays, it is considered a movement based on the cultural revindication of a Catalan identity. Its main form of expression was Modernista architecture, but it also encompassed many other arts, such as painting and sculpture, and especially the design and the decorative arts, which were particularly important, especially in their role as support to architecture. Modernisme was also a literary movement.
Duana de Barcelona (Customs House), by Enric Sagnier
The Castle of the Three Dragons in Barcelona
Casa Batlló by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona
The Sagrada Família, an icon of Modernisme, by Antoni Gaudí
Art Nouveau is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers. Other characteristics of Art Nouveau were a sense of dynamism and movement, often given by asymmetry or whiplash lines, and the use of modern materials, particularly iron, glass, ceramics and later concrete, to create unusual forms and larger open spaces. It was popular between 1890 and 1910 during the Belle Époque period, and was a reaction against the academicism, eclecticism and historicism of 19th century architecture and decorative art.
Image: Abbesses
Image: Otto Eckmann Jugend Nr. 14, 1896
Image: Louis comfort tiffany, lampada da tavolo pomb lily, 1900 10 ca
Image: Louis Majorelle Wall Cabinet Walters 6587