Jugendstil Movement
In the late 19th century there was an artistic Renaissance in southern Germany, led by the artists and designers of the Jugendstil movement in the area around Munich. While Jugendstil artists like Arnold Bocklin are often thrown in with the French Art Nouveau artists of the same period, their art was stylistically original and focused on Germanic themes and mythology.
The term “Jugendstil” originated in 1896, when it was published in the trend-setting cultural weekly Jugend, founded by Georg Hirth. The word Jugendstil is a distinctly German word used in the vocabulary of graphic design. Drawing from traditional German printmaking, the style uses precise and hard edges, an element which was rather different from the naturalistic style of the time. Within the field of Jugendstil art there are a variety of different methods, applied by the various individual artists. Methods range from classic to romantic. One feature that sets Jugendstil apart is the typography used. Typically the letter and image combination is unmistakeable. The combination was used for covers of novels, advertisements, or exhibition posters. Designers often used unique display typefaces which worked harmoniously with the image.
Information courtesy of David Rago Auctions Inc. 2003 and thefreedictionary.com 2006.