Art Nouveau [Paperback]

Keichi Tahara (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 2000

One of the most significant movements in the history of the decorative arts, Art Nouveau was born of a reaction to the rise of industrialism and inspired by the pioneering idealism of such radical geniuses as John Ruskin and William Morris. Architects and designers were seized with the desire to sweep away old traditions and create functional and original forms in an environment that would satisfy the demands of modern life. The distinctive new style rapidly became recognized the world over. Although it flowered only briefly, in the closing years of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, and while a great many of its creations have been destroyed, there still remain a myriad examples of its sinuous shapes and organically inspired beauty, whether in the work of individuals such as Victor Horta, Hector Guimard and Antoni Gaudí or in that of collectives such as the Glasgow School and the Wiener Werkstätte.

Compiled by Keiichi Tahara, one of the finest architectural photographers of his generation, Art Nouveau, is a lavish photographic survey of the most important Art Nouveau buildings, monuments and interiors throughout the length and breadth of Europe.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Keiichi Tahara was born in Kyoto in 1951, and has lived in Paris since 1982. He has received many awards for his photography, most notably the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris in 1995.

Philippe Thièbaut is Chief Curator of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. He has written widely on Art Nouveau.

Bruno Girveau has been a Curator at the Musée d'Orsay since 1996. He specializes in 19th-century architecture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Universe (December 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789305119
• ISBN-13: 978-0789305114
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,218,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book that falls apart upon first reading, August 1, 2001

By 

Alan Wortman "smart_shopper" (Sunnyvale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art Nouveau (Paperback)

If you believe that one picture is worth 1,000 words, then this book is worth 223,000 words. There are 223 beautiful pictures of art nouveau buildings from throughout the world.

The book is subdivided into sections by geography each with a brief text introduction covering key artists and trends. This book has the broadest geographic overview of art nouveau buildings I have ever seen including Russia, Italy, Turkey, Hungary as well as the more well known Western European locales.

The bulk of the book is photos, beautiful color photos. Mostly detail photos. Some of the photos are too close, focusing too much on the detail, and ignoring the context and larger scale themes of many of the buildings. For instance, there were closeups of many details from Gaudi buildings, but few of the complete exteriors that other books include. I think that focusing on the subtle details is the author's intent, but I still want to see what the outside of the building looks like before I see the detail of the stair-rail and chimney. This was one of my key disappointments.

The other disappointment was the quality of the perfect-bound binding. I first saw this book on the shelf of a local bookstore. That copy's cover was almost completely off the book. I bought my copy from Amazon for the generous discount and in the hope of getting a copy whose cover was not abused. Well, I got mine yesterday. I opened it, thumbed through it, and the cover started to separate from the binding. My binding separated from the spine completely before I had thumbed through the first 100 pages in the first hour I had the book. The paper is very high quality, so I don't think the separation is a production problem. I think the separation is a design problem. In order to keep the cost down, the publisher chose a binding technology more appropriate to a smaller book with lighter paper.

The photographer's focus on beautiful details at the expense of context and the binding quality kept me from giving the book the five full stars this unique, insightful photo album otherwise deserve.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yes, so what, February 20, 2003

By 

Mark A. Whitenack "marconiusrex" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Art Nouveau (Paperback)

This is the most beautiful and comprehensive book of images of Art Nouveau architecture I have ever seen. Yes the quality of the binding is substandard...and the book is not large...but, hey...it's $......not $......so what...if you love this style of architecture..get it!

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice photobook, October 25, 2008

By 

Hooivork (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art Nouveau (Paperback)

Divided into 6 main chapters and with 223 photo's - most spanning 2 pages giving a beautiful panoramaview - this handy book is a lust for your eyes.

Focusing more on interior details then the facade and the overall view, it's fascinating to see the differences between the styles of Art Nouveau. It's also quite comprehensive showing buildings like the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam and the Egyptian Embassy in Instanbul. Remarkably it leaves out Riga.

Do remember that this is a photoalbum, not and architectural book. The photo's capture the atmosphere, the way the light plays with the rooms, the objects, the structure of the walls. Unfortunately most of the photo's have a high contrast resulting in a drastic loss of detail - a killer for architectural photo's. I want to see everything bright and clear, not hidden in shades or blinded by light. It's but a minor issue.

A much bigger issue is the quality of the book. While the binding itself is good, the cover comes off in a matter of minutes. I don't know what they used but it wasn't glue. I've never seen anything like this before. I've read other people complaining about this also. A real pity!

This lovely book will make a nice addition to anyones collection, even if it does fall apart. If you don't mind you can add a star.

There is an other publisher of this book Art Nouveau Architecture but it has the same problems with the binding.