Week 3: Art Nouveau in the United States

As the spread of Art Nouveau continued across Europe, it also got to the United States as there had been more technological advances in communication and transportation making it possible for the style to be carried to the United States. Unlike in Europe though, especially in places like Belgium and France, Art Nouveau in the United States was not a full-blown movement but rather a reflection of the style.

Entrance to former Carson Prire Scott department store (now Target)
designed by Louis Sullivan, 1899-1904

Louis Henri Sullivan and Louis Comfort Tiffany were the designers who introduced the Art Nouveau style to the United States. Although they had different areas of expertise, they were still huge contributors as they were able to introduce the style in their various areas of craft.

For Louis Henri Sullivan, an architect, and drawer, he had ideas and visions of creating architecture appropriate to the new age as well as defining a style as American if not Midwestern. With this in mind, he developed new systems of organization and even with the influence of Art Nouveau, he kept the concept but used ornamentation based off flowers and plants found in America rather than in Europe.

Pond Lilly Table Lamp (model no. 344)
by Louis Tifanny, New York City, 1900-10

On the other hand, Louis Comfort Tiffany coming from a family of jewelers, merchants, and designers, was an experienced artistic painter of stained glass and decorative arts. After a phase of Aesthetic Movements inspired work, he turned in the Art Nouveau direction. He drew inspiration from a Paris exhibition that impressed him well enough to bring the style over to the United States and create many examples of the Art Nouveau style, some of which were even sold to Samuel Bing.

National Farmers Bank, Owatonna Minnesota
designed by Louis Sullivan and George Elmslie, 1908

As Art Nouveau was free from historical precedents or references, it was suitable to be used globally and together these two designers helped it reach the United States to be applied in various crafts and settings.

Current Applications

Chrysanthemum Five Piece Flatware Set, Tiffany & Co.
costs $830 

Art Nouveau inspired Bathroom

One Step Further...

Cast Iron Balustrade Panel
designed by Luis Sullivan c. 1903

Louis Henri Sullivan, born on September 3rd, 1856 in Boston Massachusettes was known as a father of skyscrapers in Chicago. At age 16 he enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study architecture but eventually dropped after a year leading him to begin an apprenticeship with Frank Furness' architectural office in Philadelphia before he moved with his family to Chicago in 1873, just 2 years after the great Chicago Fire.

The great Chicago Fire caused an increased demand in Architects so Sullivan was able to get a job with William LeBaron Jenny. Just a year later, he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris to study European Art and Architecture. In 1879, he had returned to Chicago and worked with Dankmar Adler, an architect and engineer and became his full partner in 1833 as they proceeded in designing nearly 200 buildings together in the midwest.

Interior of the Auditorium Theater, Chicago, 1889.

Sullivan was known for his beautiful use of ornament and very detailed work, as well as his work towards building vertically in confined spaces leading to skyscrapers in the late 19th century which lead to his famous tenet of "form, follows function". He was also Frank Lloyd Wright's mentor.

Detail on the Wainwright building, St Louis, Missouri, 1890

During the last decades of his life, Sullivan designed small but exquisitely detailed banks in rural communities throughout the Midwest. He also spent a lot of time writing about architecture and philosophy.