The Triumph of Nature

The florid, languorous curves, natural motifs, and refined elegance of Art Nouveau have fascinated generations of collectors and museumgoers since this brief but intense movement took place in the years around the turn of the 20th century. 

Known as Jugendstil (youth style) in Germany and Stile Liberty in Italy, Art Nouveau’s radical exuberance overthrew many of the Victorian age’s orthodoxies of art and design, exploding age-old strictures with its fanciful, organic approach. 

At the same time, Art Nouveau embraced new technologies and incorporated non-European—most notably Japanese—stylistic influences. 

With approximately 120 Art Nouveau treasures drawn from the rich holdings of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, this exhibition features prints, paintings, furniture, ceramics, glass, silverware, and jewelry. Many of the pieces were once part of the collection of Walter P. and Jean Chrysler, whose homes were the showrooms for these opulent works of art.

The exhibition is organized thematically into five sections:

- Japonisme
- Siegfried Bing and the Maison de l’Art Nouveau
- École de Nancy
- The Triumph of Nature
- From Nouveau to Deco: The Triumph of Industry

Works by some of the artists best associated with the Art Nouveau movement, such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, and Aubrey Beardsley, will be featured in the exhibition.

Image credit:   Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860–1939), Summer, 1896. Color lithograph, 41 1/2 × 22 in. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Image courtesy of the Chrysler Museum of Art. Photograph by Edward Pollard.