Jugendstil
The Tiffany ‘Jugendstil’ collection is a rich collection of lighting with shapes and colours that find their origins in the Jugendstil or Art Nouveau style. This new movement originated around 1880. Art Nouveau artists were looking for a new, original style with a preference for traditional craftsmanship and with nature as its biggest source of inspiration. Elegantly stylised plants (cow parsley) and flowers (lilies, irises, poppies, rosebuds), birds (swans, peacocks), dragonflies and other animals are some popular designs by Art Nouveau artists. Due to the curvy, elegant lines the style was also called the whiplash style. Some well-known Art Nouveau artists were Victor Horta (1861-1947), Henry van de Velde (1863-1957) and Emile Gallé (1846-1904).
Besides the more famous curvilinear or decorative Art Nouveau style, there was also an influential geometrical Jugendstil movement. These artists focussed more on sleek lines and mathematical motifs. The most famous movement is the Wiener Secession or Wiener Werkstätte, which included artists like Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956) and Otto Wagner (1841-1918). In Great Britain, Jugendstil was represented by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who used the name Glasgow Style to bring his form of Art Nouveau (or ‘New Art’) to people’s attention. The Jugendstil Tiffany lamps by Art Deco Trade stand out because of their well thought-out designs with the most elegant, natural shapes and sublime colours. Graceful, innovative and close to the artisan traditions of the Art Nouveau movement.
