DAYTON, OH.- This fall, the Dayton Art Institute invites visitors to step into a world where art and nature intertwine with The Triumph of Nature: Art Nouveau from the Chrysler Museum of Art, on view October 18, 2025–January 11, 2026.

“This exhibition demonstrates why Art Nouveau is admired today as one of the most elegant and beautiful movements in the history of art,” said DAI Head Curator and Curatorial Affairs Director Jerry N. Smith. “The Triumph of Nature showcases the imaginative, modern artists working in Europe and America who transformed the very concept of everyday objects into opulent and sensuous works of art.”

Featuring more than 120 exquisite works by masters such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Alphonse Mucha, Émile Gallé and Aubrey Beardsley, this major traveling exhibition explores the curving lines, natural forms and refined craftsmanship that defined one of the most beautiful and influential movements from the turn of the twentieth century. The DAI is proud to be the exclusive Ohio venue for this exhibition.

Drawn from the internationally significant collections of the Chrysler Museum of Art, The Triumph of Nature highlights the elegance and innovation of Art Nouveau through furniture, paintings, sculpture, mosaics, books, posters, prints, lamps, glass art and more. Together, these works showcase the movement’s fluid design language in which vines, flowers and the human figure merge into a seamless, lyrical style.

Bridging art, design and craftsmanship, The Triumph of Nature also serves as a window into a pivotal moment in cultural history when artistic innovation flourished at the dawn of a new century, just before the First World War transformed the world.

“Artists were inspired by artwork coming out of Japan in the late nineteenth century, especially Japanese woodblock prints, as well as by nature, particularly the unruly aspects of nature,” said Smith. “Their designs in glasswork, furniture, ceramics and printmaking are rich in ornamentation and detail, featuring sinuous lines and whiplash curves. Our guests will see how Art Nouveau shaped modern design and decorative arts as we know them today.”

A companion publication, also titled The Triumph of Nature: Art Nouveau from the Chrysler Museum of Art, accompanies the exhibition and will be available for purchase in the DAI’s museum store. Published by the Chrysler Museum of Art, International Arts & Artists and D. Giles Limited, the beautifully illustrated volume includes essays by American art historian Gabriel P. Weisberg; Chrysler Museum of Art Chief Curator and Irene Leache Curator of European Art Lloyd DeWitt; and the Barry Curator of Glass, Carolyn Swan Needell, along with photographs of all 124 featured artworks.