— dining & entertainment

Antiques

' By Arthur H. Schwerdt

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One artist called it "that strange decorative disease". Outraged Victorians (Victorians were so easy to outrage ) called it "restless", "agitated", "nervous", and "an undisciplined stylistic free-for-all". It is known as Art Nouveau, and furniture and accessories in this style are showing up more and more in Cape May's fashionable Victorian homes, inns and bread-and-breakfasts, looking very instyle, historically correct, and to-the-period. ART NOUVEAU (C1885-C1915) now celebrates its 100th year, and now, as genuine antiques, objects from this period, which have always been highly prized, will be becoming more and more valuable. In the beginning it was called "le style Beige", because so many Belgian artists and architects had begun to experiment with the sweeping lines and gracious curves which would become so characteristic of this style. It was an avant-garde Paris decorator named Samuel Bing who coined the name Art Nouveau. But the theory behind it all came from England among a group of artists known as the Pre-Raphaelites and other anti-Victorian Victorians.

^ THE WRITINGS of William Morris ( the Morris chair) and art Critic John I Ruskin were particularly " influential in spearheading * this movement. ; Morris felt that Victorian ' design had been too derivative, copying from too many other periods. He started an Arts and Crafts Movement encouraging . craftsmerdwo design and build using their own imagination and intuition. Ruskin, in his art criticism, encouraged ar- ' tists to look more closely to | Nature and to respond to ; Victorian stiffness and : stuffiness with a more organic art of swirling lines and skipping, undulating rhythms. AS MORE artists and 1 craftsmen started to ex- ! perience this new freedom, the movement caught on all around the world. The Industrial Revolution had created a prosperous and expanding middle class who were thirsty for an elegance they could call their own, and the demand became greater and greater. Soon, everything from churches (Antonio Gaudi's Holy Family in Barcelona) to subway stations ( Hector Guimard's famous Metro entrance for Place de I'Etoile in Paris) to glassware and jewelry (Rene Lalique) were being made in the new style. SAMUEL BING. who was something of an art huckster, opened several galleries filled with art and accessories. It was then he called it Art Nouveau. and encouraged the new artists to exhibit, first at an exhibition in Dresden in 1897, and then at the famous Paris Exhibition in 1900 Among the exhibitors in Paris was the American. Louis Comfort Tiffany, the son of the noted New York jeweler. He had developed an iridescent kind of glass (Favrile) with whip-lash curves of color which was to become as much a trademark of Tiffany as Tiffany would become a trademark in America and around the world for Art Nouveau. LIKE OTHER movements in design. Art

, Nouveau was to have an impact on other fine arts, c We can read it in the rich } and sensuous sentences of / Oscar Wilde; we can hear » it in the swirling rhythms - of a Viennese Waltz by Johann Straus; and we can listen to it in the heaving and sighing dynamics of | the operas of Richard Straus and Richard Wagner. Sara Bernhardt's bohemian lifestyle and unique approach to acting is also a product of "the Nouveau philosophy, evident in the still famous posters which announced her performances throughout Europe and America. TODAY WE CAN see the influence of Art Nouveau in such buildings as the TWA Terminal at Kennedy Airport in New York, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim ^ Museum on i

i Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. This is one style that will i always be in style, and f manufacturers and artists ■ will continue to create new i works in the Art Nouveau r style as well as copies of i original designs from the ; period. f Whether it's candleI sticks, lamps, jewelry, art " 1 objects, mirrors, or occasional furniture. Cape May's antique shops will ; have some good examples i of genuine Art Nouveau. i They can\do for the i decor of your home what i they have done for the past century — add a touch of elegance, luxury and taste, and the spirit of an age of freedom and intelligence. (Arthur Schwerdt, coowner of The August Farmhouse. on Route 9 in Swainton, invites questions c/o this newspaper.)

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Combination Tours Run in February

CAPE MAY - On the first two weekends in February, the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC) will sponsor Combination Trolley/Physick Estate Tours that offer visitors an overview of Cape May's famous Victorian architecture: Saturdays— 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30 p.m.; Sundays— 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Combination Tours begin at the Emlen Physick Estate. 1048 Washington St.. with a guided trolley tour that covers the East End and West End Historic Districts.

UPON RETURNING to the estate, visitors are guided through the interior of the Physick House, a 16- room mansion designed by renowned architect Frank Furness, and built in 1879 in the Stick Style. Ending the combination tour, visitors are served hot cider and goodies in the Physick House Dining Room. Tickets are on sale at the entrance to the Physick House. No reservations are necessary. (Tickets for the Trolley and Physick Estate tours may also be purchased separately.

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