Description
The Triumph of Nature returns us vividly to an entrancing time in European decorative arts, from its beginnings in the Arts and Crafts movement and Japonisme, through to its evolution into Art Deco style.
An exuberant, radical style, Art Nouveau blithely trampled many of the Victorian Age’s orthodoxies of art and design. Exploding age-old strictures with its fanciful approach to furniture, graphic arts, jewellery, architecture and more, Art Nouveau also embraced new technologies and incorporated foreign stylistic flourishes. It was also unabashedly luxurious and sensual. The Triumph of Nature brings together approximately 120 of the finest Art Nouveau treasures from the uncommonly rich holdings of the Chrysler Museum of Art, drawing primarily from the gifts of Walter P. and Jean Chrysler, whose homes were once the havens for these opulent treasures.
Designing for a range of clients and settings including domestic interiors, innovative artists such as de Feure, Majorelle and Gallé fashioned their eclectic works to play off each other in harmonious visual arrangements, conceiving of Art Nouveau as an enveloping style. This stunningly illustrated comprehensive volume gathers a profusion of Art Nouveau works and accessories—furniture, paintings, sculpture, mosaics, books, posters, prints, lamps, glass and other stunning objets d’art—all of them originally designed and coordinated to complement each other in elaborate ensembles.
A major touring exhibition includes the following venues: April 13 – July 14, 2024, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, VA; September 27, 2024 – January 11, 2025, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, AR; February 12 – May 11, 2025, Palmer Museum at Penn State University, State College, PA; June 13 – September 20, 2025, Long Island Museum, Stony Brook, NY; October 18, 2025 – January 11, 2026, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH; February 14 – April 26, 2026, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL; June 13 – October 4, 2026, Paine Arts Center and Gardens, Oshkosh, WI; October 30, 2026 – January 22, 2027, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK
Author biographies
Lloyd DeWitt is Chief Curator and Irene Leache Curator of European Art at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia
Carolyn Swan Needell is the Carolyn and Richard Barry Curator of Glass at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia
Gabriel P. Weisberg is a collector and leading scholar on Art Nouveau
Table of Contents
- Foreword by Erik. H. Neil, Director, Chrysler Museum of Art
- Acknowledgments by David M. Furchgott, Founder and President, International Arts & Artists
- Art Nouveau in the Chrysler Collection by Lloyd DeWitt
- Design Reform in the Age of Art Nouveau by Gabriel P. Weisberg
- Le Nouveau Verre: Innovation and Imagination in Art Nouveau Glass by Carolyn Swan Needell
- Catalogue: Japonisme and Tiffany; Bing and the Maison de l’Art Nouveau; École de Nancy; Triumph of Nature; From Nouveau to Deco: The Triumph of Industry
- Checklist of the Exhibition
- Exhibition Tour Schedule
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
- Image Credits
