“L’Art nouveau” is ma favorite art movement. I love its shapes and colors. It’s an ornamental style of art that flourished between about 1890 and 1910 throughout Europe and the United States. Art Nouveau is characterized by its use of a long, sinuous, organic line and was employed most often in architecture, interior design, jewelry and glass design, posters, and illustration. In English it is also known as the Modern Style.
MERS-LES-BAINS
Last summer, we stopped in a cute little beach town called Mers-les-bains. It’s a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. I don’t remember why we decided to go there. Maybe it was one of these destinations I read about or saw on TV and pinned on my google map. Anyway, it was a wonderful surprise. The architecture was perfectly sinuous! Everywhere I looked I could see amazing details in the balcony, the tiles, the doors and windows. So, of course, I took some pictures. I hope they will make you want to visit the beautiful village of Mers-les-bains.
AMSTERDAM
We’ve been living in a neighborhood called “Amsterdam Oost” for a little over a year now and I keep noticing a lot of art nouveau details in the buildings’ architecture, mostly on the tiles in the entryways of the buildings. It’s colorful and welcoming. It makes me think of a little front garden, in a city where it’s impossible to have one. It also has the advantage of being easy to clean. Amsterdam Oost, the streets of Wesperzijde and Ruyschstraat were developed at the end of the 19th century, by architects like Dolf van Gendt and Abraham Salm, which explain the use of the Art Nouveau influence in the architecture. Other neighborhoods in Amsterdam, that were developed either before or after that, show very different styles in their architectures.
I hope you enjoyed this little architectural stop.
With love from Amsterdam.
-F-