This book looks at decorative tiles manufactured in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Bohemia/Moravia/Czechoslovakia in the years between 1895 and 1935. These ceramic tiles, used primarily on walls, floors, and stoves, but also furniture, trays and more, were an affordable decor element that made art accessible to many. They would also turn out to be some of the best examples of the Jugendstil and Secession movements in design: Both were variations of international art nouveau and rejected the conservative aesthetics of mainstream art. In Part I of the book, the author places these movements within the context of art history, then explores the history of the tiles. In Part II, a broad look is taken at arts and crafts and art nouveau tiles, including influences from other Western and Central European nations. With almost 600 color photos of tiles, this book will appeal to art historians, decorative arts aficionados, and anyone who appreciates beautiful, inspirational design.
AUTHOR: Educated in England, Scotland, and Germany, Ken Forster earned a MA degree in philology and modern languages from New College, Oxford, having also attended the Universities of Vienna and Aix-en-Provence. After being granted a diploma in fabric design from the Derby College of Technology, he worked in Singapore, Malacca, and Kuala Lumpur as a merchant trader and in London producing and recording rock-music programs for the BBC Radio Transcription Service. After immigrating to the United States, he opened his first gallery of American and European decorative arts in Dallas and, later, others in Alexandria and Baltimore, with an emphasis on nineteenth and twentieth century design. From the late 1970s on, he also exhibited at major antiques shows and conventions throughout the U.S. He is the author of the critically acclaimed UND Pottery-a History and Comparative Study of the Art Pottery made at the University of North Dakota, Alternative American Ceramics, 1870-1955, and Biographies in American Ceramic Art, 1870-1970. He has lectured for the Smithsonian Institution on various aspects of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. Ken resides in the Washington, D.C., area. 608 colour images