Art Nouveau
Collecting Art Nouveau has a long tradition at the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt. The first permanent exhibition already opened in 1965 and Darmstadt was then one of the few places in Germany where examples of Art Nouveau applied arts could be viewed. The collection now encompasses objects from across Europe and the United States. Over 400 examples of glass and ceramics, furniture, textiles as well as small bronze and silversmith works by nearly all the renowned artists from the time around 1900 document this movement’s creative diversity. Numerous extraordinary works from Belgium, England, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Russia, Scandinavia and naturally Germany are featured among the holdings, including works by Emile Gallé and the School of Nancy, by Hector Guimard, Otto Eckmann, Richard Riemerschmid, Louis C. Tiffany, the members of the Darmstadt artist colony and the Wiener Werkstätte. Internationally famous are Henry van de Velde’s furniture, the textile pictures by Aristide Maillol, Paul Ranson and Emile Bernard as well as the unique collection of Art Nouveau jewellery. Featuring over 250 pieces of jewellery by René Lalique, Georges Fouqet, Philippe Wolfers, the Fabergé company, Georg Jensen, Hans Christiansen, Ernst Riegel and many others, it is one of the largest collections of its kind in the world.