Can I get some info and opinions on this armoire please?

From the photos it must have been beautiful and spectacular, but a bit too strong in its expression for my taste.
Being southern Dutch, close to the Belgian border, I am more of an Horta girl.

Riemerschmid, Paris Exhibition:


Horta's own house in Brussels:

 

Horta was a maestro of the first order and predates Indiana Jones as the whiplash master, but I think I like Van de Velde more, or some of his phases anyway (OK, so he became "Germanized" over there, fine!--or did he "Belgianized" the Germans?)

 

I like van de Velde too.

I think he "van de Veldenized" the Germans.

 

better go to see it now before the tourist masses without any understanding flood it simply because it was declared World Heritage.

 

Nancy was not Jugendstil but Art Nouveau; one of the hotspots when it started off in France around 1890s and had the advantage that it was in the part of Lorraine that wasn't occupied by the Germans; many artists - although from Germanspeaking families - went over to the French part.
Jugendstil has its name from the magazine Jugend that started in 1896 only.

 

You are correct, of course, but I meant to say is that the armoire has that hint of the rococo, morphing into the whiplash that makes it look more, well, French, if you will. And anyway, if Austrian and not German, as suggested, to be exact it could neither be called Jugendstil nor Art Nouveau. What would it be called, pre-secessionist?

 

the paper is Austrian... but I leave it at that.

 

If the armoire is Austrian, which is not yet an absolute certainty, it could still be called Jugendstil.

Austrians themselves call the style Jugendstil, and regard Secessionism and Wiener Werkstätte as Austrian subtypes of the broader Jugendstil movement.
I remember going on a guided 'Jugendstilspaziergang' (Jugendstil walk) through Vienna in the 1980s, and the term was used widely.
The terms Jugendstil and Secessionism are also used in the neighbouring Bohemian part of Czechia, btw.

Below a quote from an Austrian site, it also explains why a possibly Austrian armoire could have earlier historic style hardware:

"Jugendstil, Kunstrichtung an der Wende zum 20. Jahrhundert, in Österreich eng mit den Begriffen Wiener Secession und Wiener Werkstätte verbunden. Spätphase des Historismus und Übergang zur Moderne."
http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.j/j817307.htm

Translation:
"Jugendstil, art style of the turn of the 20th century, in Austria closely associated with the terms Vienna Secession and Wiener Werkstätte. Late phase of Historic Revival and transition to Modernism."

From a Vienna information site:
https://www.wien.info/de/sightseeing/sehenswuerdigkeiten/jugendstil

 

u guys......you guys are so smart and know all about these styles and the folks involved in creating them for over 100 years ago........I'm impressed..!!!!

If u were to ask me about Horta........well I have limited knowledge...

 

The Horta always looks like a pizza to me

 

I'm almost afraid to ask......... what flavour ? ....

 

No kidding! When things leave America, I'm a lost traveler
I'm sometimes lost in America too

 

Pepperoni

 

Lava!