Tropon - Eiweiss Nahrung (Tropon, Nourishment from Eggwhite)

Henry van de Velde

1863–1957

Tropon - Eiweiss Nahrung (Tropon, Nourishment from Eggwhite), 1896

Where object was made: Belgium

Material/technique: wove paper; color lithograph

Dimensions:
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 308 x 198 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 370 x 275 mm
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 12 1/8 x 7 13/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 9/16 x 10 13/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 20 x 16 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Letha Churchill Walker Memorial Art Fund

Accession number: 1988.0063

Not on display

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Archive Label:
In an effort to revitalize the arts, especially the decorative arts, art dealers, critics, and artists declared nature the source for artistic rejuvenation. Nature was the artist’s inspiration both in the rococo of the eighteenth century and in the art of Japan. Both were frequently invoked as models for the contemporary artist. Plants and flowers, both described literally and abstracted, were a basis for art nouveau design and embellished everything from table settings to architecture. The manner in which artists stylized nature into art nouveau patterns is evident in Karl Kröner’s Waldflechte, probably a student exercise in design. Nature’s abstract dynamism can be found in the decoration of a coffee service, a table cover, a decorative panel for a department store baluster, and even in Henry van de Velde’s advertisement for the nourishing food, Tropon-Eiweiss Nahrung.