The works of this period, also called modern style, were created in the time between 1890 and 1910 (“Fin de siecle“), they are characterized among other elements by decorative curves and floral ornaments. The Art nouveau answers the industrialization and its machine-made mass products by recalling the arts and craft tradition that is supposed to bring beauty and joy into people's everyday lives.
The portrait emphasizes the individual features (of a certain person) or the typical features (the depicted person as representative of his class or estate). At the beginning of the portrait painting there was the whole figure, then the restriction to the upper half of the person followed (half-figure) and finally to the face (bust portrait). Profile and front view are the common forms of presentation. Until the 14th century the individual effigy was of less importance – portraits were symbols of an office or an estate represented by the depicted person. The emphasis on the true physiognomic composition of a face, thus the “discovery of the individual” in fine arts is due to Renaissance.