Jugend, 1900

Continuing the rake through back issues of Jugend magazine, the German fin de siècle periodical of “art and life”, this post covers the year 1900 and will be the final Jugend image trawl. I mentioned in the post for 1899 that the magazine loses its Art Nouveau dynamism as the years pass. 1900 represents the point where all the graphics which make Jugend valued today—and which gave the name to the German manifestation of Art Nouveau: Jugendstil—are being pushed aside by the burgeoning nationalist and militarist fervour which led eventually to the First World War. At this point a couple of the notable Art Nouveau stylists such as Otto Eckman and Julius Diez are still present, and the work of Hugo Höppener, aka “Fidus” is increasingly prominent. In subsequent years the eccentric Fidus is mostly on his own, pursuing his obsession with naked figures, and his work seems even more curious in such staid surrounds. As before, anyone wanting to see more of these graphics is advised to explore the bound volumes at the Heidelberg University archive. The two books for 1900 can be found here and here.

A picture by the Symbolist and Secession artist, Max Klinger.

Nymphs and satyrs by English artist and illustrator Robert Anning Bell.

A nice composition spoiled by the rather dopey lion; Fidus was far better with people than with animals. The winged sphere at the top is an obsessive motif which appears in many of his pictures and designs.

Another Fidus silhouette.

Loie Fuller‘s florid dancing was hugely popular at this time, something to which this drawing alludes.

Fidus does Parsifal and manages to get some superfluous naked women in the picture.

An Eros figure by an excellent illustrator, EM Lilien.

Fidus again, above and below. The lower picture is actually from the 1901 issues but I included it here as it’s a marvellously Symbolist work.

The advert below is also from early 1901 and seemed to be a great way to end this series. A beautiful full-page piece that could only be more Art Nouveau if the eagles were replaced with peacocks. Click for a larger version.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Jugend, 1899
• Robert Anning Bell’s Tempest
• Jugend, 1898
• The Savoy magazine
• Jugend, 1897
• Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration
• Jugend, 1896
• Jugend Magazine revisited
• The Great God Pan
• Jugend Magazine