LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY The sensuous opulence of
Art Nouveau is also on display in the stained-glass lamps ofLouis
Comfort Tiffany(1848–1933). His lotus table lamp (FIG. 31-37),
constructed of leaded glass (often Favrile,a type of glass Tiffany
patented), mosaic, and bronze, is based on the curvilinear floral forms
of the lotus. Intended for wealthy buyers, this was the most expensive
lamp Tiffany Studios produced in 1906. Because of the careful atten-
tion to detail required to produce lamps of this type, Tiffany’s work-
shop could make only one at a time. This ensured the high-quality ar-
tisanship the Arts and Crafts movement so prized.
ANTONIO GAUDI Art Nouveau achieved its most personal
expression in the work of the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi
(1852–1926). Before becoming an architect, Gaudi had trained as an
ironworker. Like many young artists of his time, he longed to create a
style that was both modern and appropriate to his country. Taking
inspiration from Moorish-Spanish architecture and from the simple
architecture of his native Catalonia, Gaudi developed a personal aes-
thetic. He conceived a building as a whole and molded it almost as
a sculptor might shape a figure from clay. Although work on his de-
signs proceeded slowly under the guidance of his intuition and im-
agination, Gaudi was a master who in-
vented many new structural techniques
that facilitated construction of his vi-
sions. His Barcelona apartment house,
Casa Milá (FIG. 31-38), is a wondrously
free-form mass wrapped around a street
corner. Lacy iron railings enliven the
swelling curves of the cut-stone facade.
Dormer windows peep from the undu-
lating tiled roof, on which fantastically
writhing chimneys poke energetically
into the air above. The rough surfaces
of the stone walls suggest naturally worn
rock. The entrance portals look like
eroded sea caves, but their design also
may reflect the excitement that swept
Spain following the 1879 discovery of
Paleolithic cave paintings (FIG. 1-9) at
Altamira. Gaudi felt that each of his
buildings was symbolically a living
thing. The passionate naturalism of his
Casa Milá is the spiritual kin of early-
20th-century Expressionist painting and
sculpture (see Chapter 35).
31-38Antonio Gaudi,Casa Milá,
Barcelona, Spain, 1907.
The Spanish Art Nouveau architect
Antonio Gaudi conceived this apartment
house as if it were a gigantic sculpture to
be molded from clay. Twisting chimneys
cap the undulating roof and walls.
848 Chapter 31 EUROPE AND AMERICA, 1870 TO 1900Image not available due to copyright restrictions