News Release: September 19, 2000

National Gallery of Art Opens Art Nouveau Exhibition Shop, 25 September 25–January 28, 2001

On 25 September, the National Gallery of Art will open an Art Nouveau exhibition shop in the East Building on the concourse level. The shop will offer a large selection of books, reproductions, gifts, and accessories inspired by works in the exhibition Art Nouveau, 1890-1914, on view 8 October 2000-28 January 2001. Art Nouveau-style items include jewelry adapted from architectural designs, Liberty of London silk scarves, sterling and pewter vases and frames, glass reproductions, miniature furniture reproductions, compact discs of music from the period, stationery, and desk accessories. The exhibition catalogue and over fifty books on Art Nouveau will also be available. Some items can be purchased by mail order by calling 1-800-697-9350.

Gifts and Accessories
The selection of Art Nouveau-inspired gifts includes silver and pewter vases and picture frames based on original Art Nouveau designs with prices ranging from $18 to $350, and exquisite ceramic boxes featuring designs by Walter Crane, William Morris, and William De Morgan priced at $18. Tea-lovers will enjoy a traditional tea box gift set based on Charles Rennie Mackintosh's designs for the Willow Tearooms in Glasgow, which opened in 1903. The bone china mugs feature tearoom clocks set at "tea time." Each container of authentically blended tea holds a reproduction of a menu from the tearoom.

Collectors of Vitra Design Museum's miniatures will be able to add reproductions of classic chairs to their collection: Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House 1 Chair (1903), $215 and Argyle Chair (1898-1899), $235, as well as chairs by Frank Lloyd Wright and Josef Hoffman. Each miniature (measuring approximately 9 x 3 in.) corresponds to the construction, material, and color of the original.

The selection of Art Nouveau accessories in silver includes jewelry inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Louis Sullivan, and Archibald Knox and silver watches with faces designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Prices for these accessories range from $20 to $98. Silk, chiffon, and velvet scarves featuring designs inspired by Louis Sullivan, William Morris, and Frank Lloyd Wright range in price from $48 to $70. For the office, silver desk clocks inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh are priced between $35 and $40.

Original jewelry creations by Lluis Masriera, handcrafted in 18 kt. gold with pearls and precious stones, will also be offered in the shop. The intricate pieces were conceived by Masriera in Barcelona during the Art Nouveau period and are produced today using his original designs and molds. Pins, pendants, brooches, earrings, and rings are priced from $550.

The Art Nouveau shop will also sell finely detailed holiday ornaments inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright designs, with prices ranging from $25 to $30.

Exhibition Posters
Two full color exhibition posters will be available: Cup and cover, Kate Harris for Hutton & Sons (25 1/8 x 31in.) and Dragonfly woman corsage ornament, René Lalique (25 1/8 x 29 1/8 in.) Both posters are $18 unframed. Reproductions of original Art Nouveau posters will also be available.

Exhibition Catalogue
This lavishly illustrated 496-page catalogue was edited by Paul Greenhalgh, head of research at the Victoria and Albert Museum and curator of the exhibition. It includes contributions from twenty-two leading scholars in the field, from Europe and America. The catalogue will be available in the Gallery Shops and by mail order only for $35 (softcover) and $75 (hardcover).

Exhibition Video
Art Nouveau, a thirty-minute documentary based on the exhibition Art Nouveau, 1890-1914, was produced by the National Gallery of Art. The video explores the ideas and visions that defined Art Nouveau; it also includes rare archival footage from the period. It is available in VHS format for $19.95.

Exhibition Background
Art Nouveau, 1890-1914, the largest exhibition on the subject ever organized, includes more than 350 masterpieces in painting, sculpture, graphics, glass, ceramics, textiles, furniture, jewelry, and architecture by 150 artists and designers, such as Carlo Bugatti, Emile Gallé, Hector Guimard, Gustav Klimt, René Lalique, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Louis Majorelle, William Morris, Alphonse Mucha, Louis Sullivan, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Frank Lloyd Wright. A Glasgow luncheon room designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a Paris Métropolitain entrance by Hector Guimard, and a double parlor from a villa outside Turin by Agostino Lauro are among the unique features of the Washington venue.

Exhibition Support
The exhibition is made possible by DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund.

Additional support is provided by the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod, Eleanor and Donald Taffner, and the Fund for the International Exchange of Art.

The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

A Selection of Merchandise from the Art Nouveau Shop

Girl with a flute large sterling frame -- $23

Small iris sterling frame -- $90

Variety of Art Nouveau frames -- $18 to $50

Large Art Nouveau pewter vase -- $350

Small Art Nouveau pewter vase -- $190

Pewter boxes with Archibald Knox, -- $40

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, andFrank Lloyd Wright designs Charles Rennie Mackintosh napkin rings -- $38

Louis Sullivan cuff links -- $72

Brooches with Archibald Knox, Charles -- $58 to $85

Rennie Mackintosh, and Louis Sullivan designs
Various Art Nouveau earrings, -- $15 to $90
post and dangle 18 kt. gold Art Nouveau -- from $550

Watches with Charles Rennie Mackintosh design -- $75 to $85

Charles Rennie Mackintosh desk clocks, various designs -- $35 to $45

William Morris Tree of Life tapestry -- $495

Louis Sullivan black velvet scarf -- $48

Frank Lloyd Wright scarf -- $65

Louis Sullivan chiffon scarf -- $68

William Morris floral scarf -- $70

Fine bone china boxes with a variety of designs by William De Morgan, Walter Crane, and William Morris -- $18

Four holiday ornaments inspires by Frank Lloyd Wright -- $25 to $30

Large tea gift set (two china mugs and Willow Room blend loose tea) Charles Rennie Mackintosh -- $40

Small tea gift set (one china mug and Willow Room blend loose tea) Charles Rennie Mackintosh -- $28

Mackintosh: A Modern Man Video documentary -- $29.95

Music of the period, CDs -- $9.95 to $19.95

Stationery products (address books, journals, memo pads, note cards, gift wrap) -- from $7.00

Bookmarks with designs by Tiffany, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh -- $6.95

The exhibition catalogue -- $35 (softcover)

Art Nouveau,1890-1914 -- $75 (hardcover)

(Prices are subject to change)

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov. The Gallery is now on Facebook—become a fan at www.facebook.com/NationalGalleryofArt.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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