Art Nouveau Lighting

Following the World Fair in Paris in 1900, Art Nouveau turned into a concerted attempt to create an international style based on decoration and embraced the possibilities of new materials, such as cast iron, having aesthetic possibilities.

The style consisted of:

* graceful, winding, elongated, curvy lines
* vertical lines and height
* the whiplash line
* stylised leaves, flowers, roots, buds and seeds
* the female form - in a pre-Raphaelite pose with long, flowing hair
* exotic woods, marquetry, iridescent glass, silver and semi-precious stones

Designers believed in creating a total work of art in everything - buildings, furniture, textiles, clothes and jewellery all conformed.