Art in the barn.
Historical farms sometimes get a surprisingly beautiful new destiny. Which can certainly be said of "De blauwe Deel" ("The blue barn") at Hoogeind 36, Leerdam, The Netherlands. Where before there were cows, now there is a delightful showroom furnished with exclusive furniture, hand-made ceramics, unique products and utensils of glass, lighting, paintings, jewellery, sculptures, silver, tin, books, wall and window decorations and other extraordinary objects. The collection is rooted in the period of Art Nouveau and Art Deco and runs over into the Fifties.
Art Nouveau
In the above-mentioned entourage, surrounded by cow parsley and other indigenous plants, art from the Art Nouveau period fits marvellously. This new movement came into being around 1880 as a reaction to Historicism. Historical patterns (Roman, Gothic, Baroque) were uncritically imitated and incorporated in the interior, certainly ever since the Industrial Revolution. The Art Nouveau artists rejected this abundantly produced "curly kitsch" and looked for a new and original style, with a preference for the old handicrafts.
Two variations developed.
The representatives of the Curvilinear or Decorative Art Nouveau chose Nature as the most important source of inspiration, with elegant wavy lines of plant and animal patterns and also melancholy female figures as a point of departure.
The designers of the Geometric Art Nouveau focused more on straight lines and mathematical patterns. In Europe, this expression of art is known under a different name in every country; The Spanish Modernismo, the German Jugendstil, the Austrian Sezession, the British Modern Style, the Italian Stile Liberty and the Dutch Nieuwe Kunst. Famous names in the Netherlands are: Jan Toorop, Hendrik Berlage, Chris van der Hoef, Lion Cachet.
The First World War abruptly ended this capricious expression of art.
Art Deco
The name Art Deco is an abbreviation of the in 1925 held international exhibition "L'Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriëls Modernes", where the new design style was shown for the first time to an international audience. Art Deco originated in Paris after the First World War, but is almost universally known in most European countries as well as in the United States of America. The use of monumental geometric shapes, inspired by African folk art and a logical result of the Geometric Art Nouveau, is one of the most important characteristics of Art Deco.
The Dutch version of Art Deco has its own history. In 1910 the Amsterdamse School (School of Amsterdam) started, an expressionistic, decorative, whimsical and colourful design style, which also acquired a great reputation abroad. The Tuschinski Theatre in Amsterdam is a fine example.
The Haagse School (School of The Hague) represented the businesslike, soberly functional, focused design with purely horizontal and vertical lines. A famous designer within this style was Hendrik Wouda.
In 1917 De Stijl (The Style) came into existence. This new depiction was based on the premise to keep designs as simple and abstract as possible, often with the use of primary colours, with Piet Mondriaan as its founder. This was the basis for the Nieuwe Zakelijkheid (Functionalism), which aimed at a bigger audience with the use of modern materials and machines. Especially the Gispen lighting and chairs became a household name.
The Second World War ended the Art Deco period. After the war - during the period of reconstruction - less artisanal, austere "snappy" models came about, based on the Art Deco shapes. A new style was born, named the Fifties.
