Art Nouveau in Madrid (Spanish: Modernismo madrileño) is the historiographic term given to the artistic style Art Nouveau as it developed in and around Madrid, the capital of Spain, around 1900, permeating architecture, design, the decorative arts, graphic arts, and broader culture. There is also a "Modernismo madrileño" in the field of literature, likewise situated in the capital and considered to be the nucleus of the origins of the modern movement of Spanish literature.
Forming part of a general current that arose throughout Europe–and simultaneously known as Art Nouveau (Francophone countries), Jugendstil (German-speaking countries and Scandinavia), Modernisme (Catalunya), Stile Liberty or Stile floreale (Italy), Sezession (Austria), Szecesszió (Hungary), Nieuwe Kunst (the Netherlands), among many other terms–Modernismo in Madrid evolved in distinct stages of intensity depending on the branch of the arts in question. While in architecture it was used largely superficially in an ornamental and occasionally structural capacity,Óscar Da Rocha and Ricardo Muñoz (2007). Madrid modernista: guía de arquitectura. Tébar. ISBN 978-8473602549. pp. 13–16. in literature and the decorative arts, including stained glass and ceramics, it developed according to those disciplines’ own creative focus, each with a different personality.
Architecture Main characteristics Madrid's Art Nouveau architecture is often described as eclectic, not only because it conforms to the eclectic currents that dominate the city's urban planning at that time, but also because of the confluence of French, Belgian, Italian, Viennese and Catalan models. Such models reach in Madrid a primarily ornamental materialization, limited to facades and interiors, and hardly have a translation in structural terms, in such a way that, in most cases, the buildings are projected based on traditional patterns, but with modernist finishes.
Despite this, constructions of great architectural significance were erected, such as the Palacio de Longoria, which Pedro Navascués describes as a major landmark for the entire development of European Art Nouveau; the Casa de Enrique Pérez Villaamil, which follows the lines of the Belgian architect Victor Horta; The Eastern Necropolis, one of the most outstanding contributions to the history of Spanish Art Nouveau and one of the best cemeteries of its time;Óscar Da Rocha and Ricardo Muñoz (2007). Madrid modernista: guía de arquitectura. Tébar. ISBN 978-8473602549. p. 48.Ángel Leal Serrano, (2015). "Una aproximación a la figura del arquitecto asturiano Francisco García Nava (1868–1937)." Liño 21. Revista Anual de Historia del Arte, pp. 59–70. or, in the field of sculpture, the Guirao Pantheon, a masterpiece of funerary art.Carlos Saguar Quer (1986). "El panteón Guirao, de Agustín Querol, en la Sacramental de san Isidro." Anales del Instituto de Estudios Madrileños 13, pp. 79–86.Óscar Da Rocha and Ricardo Muñoz (2007). Madrid modernista: guía de arquitectura. Tébar. ISBN 978-8473602549. pp. 84–85.
Art Nouveau in Madrid is also characterized by less decorative profusion than in other locations, a feature that certain authors link to the architectural sobriety of the city, inherited from the Habsburg dynasty,Octavio Fraile (23 de septiembre de 2011). "Los estilos arquitectónicos que pasaron de puntillas por Madrid." 20 minutos. Accessed 13 May 2014. "Madrid Art Nouveau stands out for its sobriety, which 'adjusts to the general appearance of the city. ...The capital has always had a very serious style, inherited from the Habsburgs, and clean, due to the push that Carlos III gave it. That is the most characteristic thing about Madrid,' explains Ricardo Aroca." without forgetting the classicist influence of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando or the solid roots of architectural eclecticism.
Although there were numerous Art Nouveau buildings constructed in Madrid, many of them have since disappeared and its historiography has been overshadowed by the strength and importance of Catalan Art Nouveau (Modernisme). Currently, some two hundred buildings of this style remain in the capital,Jesús Esetena (10 June 2013). "La Casa de Pérez Villaamil." Pasión por Madrid. Accessed 17 March 2017. including palaces, community houses, neighborhoods (garden cities), industrial and commercial buildings, bridges, hydraulic infrastructures, religious temples and funerary sites.
Evolution According to Óscar da Rocha Aranda and Ricardo Muñoz Fajardo, Madrid's Art Nouveau architecture develops through three well-differentiated stages, which cover the last years of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth. The first of them, which can be dated from 1896 to 1904, signifies the timid introduction and subsequent clarification of the style, within an architectural environment in which eclecticism prevails. The peak period lasted from 1905 and 1914, after which a declining stage extended between 1915 and 1923.
First stage (1896–1904) The first manifestations of Art Nouveau in the capital arose in 1883 within the pictorial arts, with the isolated precedent of the paintings in the Assembly Hall of the Ateneo de Madrid (Madrid Athenaeum).Victoria Mélida Ardura (21 March 2012). "Arturo Mélida y Alinari. El arquitecto integrador de las artes del siglo XIX." Accessed 23 April 2017. But it was not until the end of the nineteenth century when the movement came to its full form, when the headquarters of the magazine Blanco y Negro was erected in 1896, one of the first buildings in the city to incorporate Art Nouveau ornamentation, and which, according to Da Rocha and Muñoz, marks the beginning of Madrid's Art Nouveau, although still confined to the field of decorative arts. It was followed in 1899 by the building located at number 22 Calle del Barquillo, whose hall is also decorated with Art Nouveau motifs.
In the following years, Art Nouveau currents penetrated architecture in an increasingly forceful way, with projects inspired both by secessionism and by French and Belgian models (rarely by Catalan Modernisme), which entered the capital as a result of the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. In the opinion of Pedro Navascués, this event was decisive for the development of Madrid's modernist architecture, not only because it exerted a direct influence, but also because Madrid was designated as the venue for the VI International Congress de Arquitectos, which took place in 1904, with Art Nouveau as the main theme.Pedro Navascués (1976). "Opciones modernistas en la arquitectura madrileña." Pro-Arte. pp. 28–29.
One of the major practitioners of Art Nouveau in Madrid was the architect Antonio Farrés Aymerich,Da Rocha, Óscar (2009). El modernismo en la arquitectura madrileña: génesis y desarrollo de una opción ecléctica. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. ISBN 978-84-00-08889-7. who employed the style starting in 1901, albeit superficially, with three residential buildings located on Calle Valenzuela (the so-called Casa de Tomás Salvany), Calle Alcalá (at its intersection with Calle de Pedro Muñoz Seca) and the confluence of the Calle Sagasta and Calle Francisco de Rojas. Also in 1901, another pioneering building was designed by an unknown architect at 3, Avenida de la Albufera, which stands out for the exuberant stone decorations of its balustrade and central viewpoint.
In 1902, three important Art Nouveau buildings were erected, which, unlike the previous ones, incorporate the style more boldly, in a compositional, spatial and structural sense; that is, not merely decorative: the Pantheon of José de la Chamber, by Benito González del Valle; the House of the Marquise of Villamejor, by Manuel Medrano Huetos;Pedro Navascués (1976). "Opciones modernistas en la arquitectura madrileña." Pro-Arte. pp. 31–33. and the Palacio de Longoria, by José Grases Riera.López Ulloa, Fabián (7–9 June 2007). "José Grases Riera, en la innovación constructiva de Madrid del último tercio del siglo XIX y primeros años del XX." Actas del Quinto Congreso Nacional de Historia de la Construcción (pp. 613–621). Accessed 26 April 2017. To these we should add the demolished hotel-studio that Félix de la Torre y Eguía, built between 1902 and 1905 on the Calle Velázquez, where traditional influences are combined with Art Nouveau features.Da Rocha, Óscar (2009). El modernismo en la arquitectura madrileña: génesis y desarrollo de una opción ecléctica. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. ISBN 978-84-00-08889-7.Sanchidrián Gallego, Jesús María (14 May 2016). "Félix de la Torre, arquitecto republicano retratado por Sorolla en el Museo Superunda-Caprotti de Ávila." Ávilared. Accessed 26 April 2017.
Da Rocha and Muñoz argue that this stage came to an end in 1904. The simultaneous inauguration of the Palacio de Longoria, undoubtedly the most important creation of this period,Pedro Navascués (1976). "Opciones modernistas en la arquitectura madrileña." Pro-Arte. pp. 29–31. and the aforementioned International Congress of Architects, one of three events in 1904 that, as discussed below, are also key to the propagation of the movement.
BuildingArchitectBuiltDescriptionImagePanteón de José de la Cámara (Madrid)Benito González del Valle(arquitecto)1902Madrid funerary architecture assimilated Art Nouveau principles very early on. In the tombs of Paula Bravo (1901), the Esteban de la Peña family (1901) and José Mario Echarri (1902), all of them located in the Sacramental of San Justo, there is an embryonic Art Nouveau aesthetic, which is fully visible in the tomb of José de la Cámara (1902), also belonging to the aforementioned cemetery. The expressive force of this last work lies in its forceful volumetry, achieved by means of a simple structure that is covered with two waters and in the treatment it carries out of the stone materials. In addition to the secessionist inspiration, there is a French influence in the use of arches and the design of the grillwork.Da Rocha (2009)Casa de la marquesa de Villamejor (Madrid)Manuel Medrano Huetos(architect)1902–1904Located on Calle del Maestro Victoria, this old residential building, promoted by the Marquise of Villamejor, has almost no modernist features, due to the radical reforms carried out for its conversion into a hotel, which have led to the practice disappearance of one of the key works of Madrid's early modernism. The original plans show a symmetrical composition, with an axial axis that articulates the entire complex and from which different binding elements emerge that surround the facade.Navascués Palacio (1976), pp. 31–32 Only a few bars and the main doorway, carved with plant forms, remain from the original project.Palacio de Longoria (Madrid)José Grases Riera(arquitecto)1902–1904Located on Calle de Fernando VI, this palace was built at the initiative of José González Longoria, with a purpose not only residential (upper floor), but also commercial, as the headquarters of his banking business (lower floor). It is one of the great works of European modernism, a label that Pedro Navascués justifies in Graseas' ability to adapt modernist language to urban palatial architecture; in his expressive freedom when designing the elevations and profiles of the facades; in the intimate treatment that the rear façades receive, conceived as a transition towards the garden, with its curious columns-palm tree; and in the use of iron for both decorative and structural purposes.Navascués Palacio (1976), pp. 29–31 The interior imperial staircase deserves a special mention, influenced by French models, which presents an effective bifid development from a mixture of marble, bronze, iron and glass.Casa de Ruiz de Velasco (Madrid)José López Sallaberry (architect)