Word: guimard
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...turn of the century, European taste makers found themselves caught up in the snaky tendrils of a self-conscious style called art nouveau. Not only candlesticks and furniture, but whole buildings were designed to flow with floral grace. From the Paris Métro stations of Hector Guimard to the décor of Maxim's, symmetry was out, organic flow was in, and nothing from the insect or aquatic world was too exotic. La Belle Époque lasted little more than a couple of decades (1880-1905), but in that brief span produced a series of small masterpieces...
Blake & Botany. Before it got its final name, the French called it Moderne, the Spanish Modernismo, the Germans Jugendstil. Architect Hector Guimard, who designed Paris elaborate Metro stations, blandly called it the Guimard Style. To some irreverent critics of the day, it was also the Tapeworm Style. In Art Nouveau's orchidaceous world of tendrilar lines, sweeping forms and bright stained glass, old Japanese woodcuts, the drawings of William Blake and a new fascination with botany all had their influence...