Art Nouveau Jewelry

Book excerpt: Jewelry was one of the purest and most successful expressions of the Art Nouveau movement. Fresh designs and motifs created intense excitement as organic forms surged with new life, and the female form struggled towards freedom, suggesting a long-hidden eroticism. The artists and goldsmiths who created this jewelry were trained in the nineteenth-century disciplines; their technical mastery allowed them to experiment with new materials and enameling processes to indulge their fantasies. This combination - an atmosphere of ideas for a new art and the unrivaled technical skill of the makers - produced some of the most evocative jewelry of modern times. The book deals with major makers in France, and follows the parallel modern movement that spread through Europe and the United States, acquiring different decorative characteristics, from Great Britain, Germany and Austria, to Belgium, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Comprehensive biographies of over 300 designers are included, as well as a Guide to Identification, with over 200 makers' marks and signatures.