Dutch Wooden Art Nouveau Bench - 1890's

A true conversation piece with a unique material quality to it. The bench appears to be in stone from afar but when you touch it you are pleasantly surprised to discover it is warm wood, inviting you to take a seat. The fluent art nouveau lines of a craftsman give this bench an elegant yet historical value. One major objective of art nouveau was to break down the traditional distinction between fine arts and applied arts. It was most widely used in interior design, graphic arts, furniture, glass art, textiles, ceramics, jewelry, and metalwork. The style responded to leading 19-century theoreticians, such as french architect eugène-emmanuel viollet-le-duc and british art critic john ruskin. In britain, it was influenced by william morris and the arts and crafts movement. German architects and designers sought a spiritually uplifting gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art") that would unify the architecture, furnishings, and art in the interior in a common style, to uplift and inspire the residents.