2-1 Discussion: Visual Analysis and Comparison

Select one example of French Art Nouveau (https://www.theartstory.org/movement/art-nouveau/artworks/). Describe the formal qualities of your example in as much detail as possible, and then explain how those qualities communicate or convey meaning. Embed the image directly into your post and cite the source. (Provide a link to the website where you found the image.)

In your responses to at least two peers, select a work of art or design object from either Scottish Art Nouveau, Secessionstil (Vienna), or Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau). Compare that work to the one your classmate chose by discussing any stylistic similarities and differences you notice. You must embed an image of the work directly into your post and identify its source.

Reply to peers after answering the assignment above.

Peer 1
(Image attached)

Raoul Franois Larche, an artist inspired by the American dancer and choreographer Loe Fuller, created this sculpture. In his Art Nouveau sculpture, Loe Fuller, The Dancer, he captures the exuberance of her performances. The shape and the motion captured in the piece almost conveys she is a dancer even if you are unaware of the subject. Using contrast and shading he achieves the illusion of motion in the sculpture. The sculpture as a whole is an asymmetrical shapes which was very heavily used during this era. There is also an extensive use of arches and curved forms throughout the sculpture commonly used in other french art nouveau.

Peer 2
(Image attached)

I chose to cover Hope II by Gustav Klimt.

Some of the formal qualities seen in this piece are the repetition and pattern along with a balance of color. The repetition is shown through each individual pattern and there are at least 3 major patterns shown throughout the piece being the one on the dress, in front of the main woman who is the focus of this piece and lastly a splatter-like pattern as the background.

The artist had his own take on a sense of showing beauty in woman and it is focused on creating a new style of art that did not have major rules and restrictions than may have been around or were beginning to be established in the art world at this time.

The formal qualities I have listed communicate a meaning of beauty in women by being bold in selection of bright vivid colors in the woman and her dress mixed with a more dull background, which brings focus to the woman. The pattern also makes it attractive to the eye and brings focus on to the female figure. The addition of what appears to be more women at the bottom of the main woman’s dress shows these smaller women almost bowing their heads in respect of the pure beauty of this main woman.