AMSTERDAM.-The Hermitage Amsterdam will be dedicating its eighth exhibition to the beauties of Art Nouveau. The objects produced within this movement are the highlights of the Western decorative arts collection in the Hermitage in St Petersburg. This collection of Art Nouveau has not previously been on show in the Netherlands. Amongst the major works are the gifts to the last tsars made by the glassmakers Émile Gallé and the Daum brothers; works by René Lalique and Carl Fabergé will also be included.

A new style in architecture and applied arts arose in Europe after 1890, internationally labeled with the French term Art Nouveau. The style is also known under the German name Jugendstil. In Austria, the term Wiener Sezession (‘The Vienna Secession’) is used; in Spain Modernismo, in Italy Stile Liberty. Each of these terms demonstrates that the practitioners of Art Nouveau wished to distance themselves from other, existing styles. The reinstatement of the worth of the craftsman was perhaps its major innovation, resulting in an organic style that became the most influential movement in applied arts at the turn of the century.

Russia was heavily involved in the movement. The people of St Petersburg bought Art Nouveau and had their homes redesigned in the style. The last Tsars Alexander III and Nicolas II and their families were no exception. For example, the last Tsarina Alexandra personally bought vases by Gallé to decorate her bedroom. A Russian variant of Art Nouveau developed under the name Stil Modern.

However, the most beautiful and striking objects in the Hermitage Art Nouveau collection are the French diplomatic gifts to the tsars. At the end of the 19th century, France was searching for allies in its conflict with Germany, and turned to Russia. The French government showered the tsars with valuable gifts in the ultra-modern Art Nouveau style. Many of these came from Lotharingen, not only because the excellent glassmakers Gallé and the Daum brothers happened to work from there, but also because it was this area which formed the bone of contention between the French and the Germans. In addition to the delightful glasswork by Gallé and Daum, the tsars received a majestic-looking table decorated with symbols of Lorraine and a bound book with drawings by French artists. The tsars were also offered Art Nouveau objects by the most renowned French factories. The Sèvres Porcelain Works delivered a number of vases, while the Gobelins workshop sent a series of tapestries.

The Hermitage acquired a large quantity of Art Nouveau after the October Revolution in 1917; objects that had been the property of private collectors and were confiscated by the new Soviet regime. This included Russian Stil Modern objects, which are of particular interest as they were created for the Russian market, and as such are relatively unknown in the West. The collection includes a number of valuable jewelry objects by Fabergé.

A late vase from Gallé’s workshop is of the curiosities of the collection: it was owned by the communist leader Stalin and became part of the Hermitage collection in St Petersburg after his death in 1953.

The exhibition “Art Nouveau during the reign of the last tsars” is concerned in a broad sense with the birth and development of Art Nouveau, with a strong focus on the French gifts to Russia.