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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Art Nouveau
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(French for 'new art')
The name for the style which was fashionable from 1890 to 1910, based on a sinuous line making much of the growth of vegetation and the flow of long female hair. The name was that of a shop in Paris, specializing in this fashion in the 1890s; the style was also associated with *Liberty's in London (it became known in Italy as stile Liberty). It was influenced by various earlier developments in Britain, including the William *Morris factory, the *Arts and Crafts movement, the art of *Burne-Jones and, more obliquely, the rediscovery of William *Blake with his emphasis on flowing line. Once the style was established, the leading British practitioners moved rapidly to a more severe version which prefigured much in 20C design. Examples are the illustrations of *Beardsley and the furniture of Charles Rennie *Mackintosh.
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