Fishes and mythological beings, mermaids and monsters, swans, peacocks, waterlilies and surging water. The Art Nouveau at Rörstrand was wild and imaginative. Nature was flowing in the ceramic art. In the summer exhibition The longing for new life – jugend at Rörstrand objects are presented from one of the worlds finest collections of Art Nouveau. Art Nouveau was a longing for a new life of the 20th century. The contemporaries were tired of the industrialisations gluttony in historical tastes. Young artists turned to the nature and let its poetry blossom in workshops and studios. The taste movement got its breakthrough as Art Nouveau at The World Exhibition in Paris year 1900 where Rörstrand won several awards. In Germany and the Nordic and Baltic countries the movement was named Jugend.
The leading artist of Rörstrand was Alf Wallander, but also his colleagues Algot Eriksson, Vicken von Post and Gunnar G:son Wennerberg had their varieties of the new style. The connections with Europe were lively. The artists travelled to Paris, visited factories and exhibitions. The flow of ideas and technology went across borders and in and out of factory gates.
Rörstrand museum´s collection af Art Nouveau ceramics is world famous among collectors and specialists. Now the storage of collections opens up and tidbits are shown in the summer light. The exhibition is part of the EU project Partage Plus and will be shown at Rörstrand Museum in Lidköping 11/5 – 13/10 2013.
