The Triumph of Nature Claimed

The Triumph of Nature brings together approximately 120 of the finest Art Nouveau treasures from the rich holdings of the Chrysler Museum of Art, drawing primarily from the collection of Walter P. and Jean Chrysler. Designing for a range of clients and settings including domestic interiors, innovative artists such as de Feure, Majorelle, and Gallé fashioned their eclectic works to play off each other in harmonious visual arrangements, conceiving of Art Nouveau as an enveloping style. To fully illustrate this concept, this comprehensive exhibition gathers a profusion of Art Nouveau works and accessories— furniture, paintings, sculpture, mosaics, books, posters, prints, lamps, glass from one of the country’s finest and largest collections, and other stunning objets d’art— all of them originally designed and coordinated to complement each other in elaborate ensembles. The Triumph of Nature celebrates the florid, languorous curves, natural motifs, and refined elegance of Art Nouveau furniture, glass, and other works that have entranced generations of collectors and museumgoers since the apex of this brief but intense movement around the turn of the twentieth century.