Femininity

The turn of the century breathes femininity, it is completely saturated with it. Especially in Art Nouveau circles, it means the kingdom of femina treated both subjectively and with the highest respect for her, and instrumentally, in duplicating a shallow, schematic image.

In the lavish residential interiors of the bourgeoisie hang serious or more intimate salon portraits of ladies in their full glory.

The bohemian artists simultaneously create meaningful symbolist portraits, and their heroines illustrate the eternal process of transience, fluidity and fragility of human existence.

In the paintings, reality often turns into a fairy tale or a biblical story, and the smell of spring perfumes is replaced by autumn reverie. 

The sophisticated symbolism of female figures, immersed in romantic surroundings, turns into legible allegories.

The compositions of early modernists inspire reflection on the existence invoked by divine will or enigmatic doom, and stretched between youth and old age, freshness and fatigue of the body, peace and restlessness of the spirit.

Also in terms of themes, the famous decadence and the demonic woman are balanced by the vitalist trend, which proclaims the belief in the permanent renewal of nature and humanity.