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Jugendstil

Art Nouveau -- Jugendstil -- Vienna Secession -- Modernisme -- Stile Liberty
The villa Schutzenberger in Strasbourg, now seat of the European Audiovisual Observatory, was built 1897-1900 by Berninger & Krafft and is considered a superb example of Jugendstil style. House of the architect Peter Behrens on the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt Building in Łódź by Gustaw Landau Gutenteger
   
Kecskemét.    
     
Jugend and Jugendstil



Jugendstil typography, applied to a brewery sign

Jugend: Münchner illustrierte Wochenschrift für Kunst und Leben (English: Youth: the illustrated weekly magazine of art and lifestyle of Munich) was a magazine founded in 1896 by Georg Hirth. At the height of Art Nouveau it was instrumental in promoting the style in Germany. As a result, the magazine's name was adopted as the most common German-language term for the movement: Jugendstil ("Jugend-style"). Although in the early 20th century the word was only applied to two-dimensional examples of the graphic arts, especially the forms of organic typography and graphic design found in and influenced by German-magazines like Jugend, Pan, and Simplicissimus, it is now broadly applied to the broader manifestations of Art Nouveau visual arts in Germany, the Netherlands, the Baltic states and Nordic countries.



German Art Nouveau is commonly known by its German name, Jugendstil. Drawing from traditional German printmaking, the style uses precise and hard edges, an element which was rather different from the naturalistic style of the time. Within the field of Jugendstil art there are a variety of different methods, applied by the various individual artists. Methods range from classic to romantic. One feature that sets Jugendstil apart is the typography used. Typically the letter and image combination is unmistakable. The combination was used for covers of novels, advertisements, or exhibition posters. Designers often used unique display typefaces which worked harmoniously with the image.

Henry Van de Velde, who worked most of his career in Germany, was a Belgian theorist who influenced many others to continue in this style of graphic art including Peter Behrens, Hermann Obrist, and Richard Riemerschmid. August Endell is another notable Art Nouveau designer.

Magazines were important in spreading the visual idiom of Jugendstil, especially the graphical qualities. Besides Jugend, other important ones were the satirical Simplicissimus and Pan.