Biedermeier 1815-1835: Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, Fashion

This is a study which provides a definition of the Biedermeier style which goes beyond the decorative arts to include architecture, sculpture and painting. In the wake of the Napoleonic Wars, a confident middle class created its own style that reflected a time of political conservatism and retrenchment. Architects built public museums as monuments to the past, and sculptors created statues of members of society belonging neither to the aristocracy nor the military. Painting was characterized by a sober objectivity, while the decorative arts displayed an aversion to innovation, an avoidance of extremes, and a fascination with detail. This volume examines the output of Biedermeier artists and craftsmen devoting separate chapters to each area of the arts. It charts the entire span of this, the last unified and consciously created style before the heyday of Art Nouveau. George Biedermeier is the author of "Biedermeier Furniture" and "Geschichte des Deutschen Moebels".