Celebrating Milan’s Art Nouveau treasures of the early 1900s.

Milan has an extensive treasure of buildings, designs, furniture and more to show off during Italy’s Art Nouveau Week, from 8 to 14 July.

Better know to Italians by the English word Liberty (not to be confused with libertà), the style was popular across Europe between 1890 and 1910, inspired by natural forms and structures, particularly the curved lines of plants and flowers as a reaction to the outmoded academic art of the 1800s. It finally ceded its “pole position” in European culture to the Art Deco movement.

For many it is intimately associated by the work of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (pictured: The Kiss).

The most important figure in Italian Art Nouveau furniture design was Milan-born Carlo Bugatti, the son of an architect and decorator, father of Rembrandt Bugatti, Liberty sculptor, and of Ettore Bugatti, famous automobile designer. He studied at Milan’s prestigious Academy of Brera, and later in Paris. His work, included silverware, textiles, ceramics, and musical instruments, was distinguished by its exoticism and eccentricity.

He is arguably best remembered for his innovative furniture designs, shown first in the 1888 Milan Fine Arts Fair. His furniture often featured a keyhole design, and had unusual coverings, including parchment and silk, and inlays of bone and ivory. It also sometimes had surprising organic shapes, copied from snails and cobras.

All across the country, 150 historical residences – including Milan’s Palazzo Castiglioni in Corso Venezia 49, now a conference centre – will be open to the public, 120 guided tours will be available, and each day will see book presentations, screenings, as well as art exhibitions and food tastings.

Also in Milan, an exhibition with designs and original photos from the times, titled Il Villino Liberty, will be open daily, free of charge, Monday to Friday 18.00-20.00 and at the weekend 15.00-19.00 in Via Aosta 17.

Two specialised tours on Art Nouveau with expert guides, one in Milan’s Monumental Ceremony and the other in the Porta Venezia district, are on offer. Visitors should register on the website; last-minute walk-ins will not be accepted.

More conferences, screenings and photo exhibits in Milan and elsewhere are listed on the Italia Liberty website.

The “English” name derives from the London department store Liberty’s, founded in 1875 and still going strong, whose colourful textiles were particularly popular here.