At the turn of the nineteenth century, Art Nouveau was both Europe and America`s boldest and most fashionable style. It could be seen in the sinuous ironwork of the new Paris Metro stations, the curving asymmetry of Lalique`s jewellery and Tiffany`s Japanese-inspired glassware. Art Nouveau brought a new decorative language to furniture, jewellery and graphic arts, as well as architecture, sculpture and painting. Known by a variety of names Jugendstil in Germany, Secession style in Austria, the Modernista movement in Catalonia, it was a truly international new art for a new age. This is the first book to examine Art Nouveau worldwide in the context of the issues of the age, from fin-de-siecle anxieties about the pressures of modern life to nationalism, spiritualism, the emancipation of women and the heroic cult of youth.