Art & design movements · 1890–1910
Art Nouveau
Nature made into structure: sinuous plant stems become columns, flower petals become letterforms, and the boundary between decoration and architecture disappears.
Live preview base style — press Wear
$2,100
Revenue, up 12% from last month.
| Customer | Plan | Status | MRR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwind | Studio | Active | $1,240 |
| Acme Labs | Team | Trial | $0 |
| Kaldi Coffee | Studio | Active | $860 |
Use this style 16 tokens
- --bg
oklch(95% 0.025 85) - --fg
oklch(22% 0.04 58) - --muted
oklch(50% 0.05 70) - --surface
oklch(97% 0.018 82) - --surface-2
oklch(90% 0.03 80) - --border
oklch(72% 0.06 76) - --accent
oklch(48% 0.1 142) - --accent-fg
oklch(98% 0.01 85) - --focus
oklch(48% 0.1 142)
| Token | Value |
|---|---|
| --font-body | 'Crimson Pro', Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif |
| --font-display | 'Cormorant Garamond', Georgia, serif |
| --font-mono | 'Courier New', monospace |
| --radius | 2px |
| --radius-sm | 2px |
| --shadow | 0 1px 4px oklch(22% 0.04 58 / 0.1) |
| --shadow-lg | 0 8px 28px oklch(22% 0.04 58 / 0.18) |
@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Cormorant+Garamond:ital,wght@0,400;0,600;1,400;1,600&family=Crimson+Pro:ital,wght@0,400;1,400&display=swap');
:root {
--bg: oklch(95% 0.025 85);
--fg: oklch(22% 0.04 58);
--muted: oklch(50% 0.05 70);
--surface: oklch(97% 0.018 82);
--surface-2: oklch(90% 0.03 80);
--border: oklch(72% 0.06 76);
--accent: oklch(48% 0.1 142);
--accent-fg: oklch(98% 0.01 85);
--focus: oklch(48% 0.1 142);
--font-body: 'Crimson Pro', Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;
--font-display: 'Cormorant Garamond', Georgia, serif;
--font-mono: 'Courier New', monospace;
--radius: 2px;
--radius-sm: 2px;
--shadow: 0 1px 4px oklch(22% 0.04 58 / 0.1);
--shadow-lg: 0 8px 28px oklch(22% 0.04 58 / 0.18);
}Where it came from
Origin: Belgium and France, radiating to Vienna, Glasgow and Barcelona
Art Nouveau was a deliberate reaction against historicism — it wanted to build a new ornamental language from natural forms rather than borrow from ancient Greece or the Gothic. Alphonse Mucha's advertising posters for Sarah Bernhardt put it on every street corner in Paris. Antoni Gaudí built it in stone; Victor Horta bent it into iron staircases. By 1910 its ornament was seen as excess, and the stripped-back modernism that followed made it look decadent.
How to spot it
- Long, curving, asymmetric lines derived from plant and animal forms
- Borders and frames that integrate with the image itself
- Muted naturalistic palette: sage, ochre, lavender, warm cream
- Decorative letterforms — swashes, serifs with botanical curves
Trade-offs
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Rich, tactile personality that photographs and prints beautifully | Detail is almost impossible to render faithfully at small sizes |
| Strong frame structure works well for editorial and packaging | Heavily associated with the fin de siècle — a very specific mood |
| Feels handcrafted and premium without being cold | Botanical ornament conflicts with modern grid-based interfaces |
In the wild
- Mucha's Sarah Bernhardt theatre posters
- Gaudí's Casa Batlló facade
- Paris Métro entrance signs by Hector Guimard
Use it when
Perfume, botanicals, heritage brands, or a landing page that needs to feel like a 19th-century broadsheet come to life.