Art Nouveau's birth at the end of the 1900s not only affected the art world but also radically transformed the public's visual awareness, helping to propel product design, graphic design, typography and manufacturing into the 20th century.
The Setagaya Art Museum's "Art Nouveau et Industrie du luxe a Paris" (titled "Art Nouveau in Paris" on the English Web site) brings together over 100 objects from 19th-century France, many of them from the collection of the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.
"Musee d'Orsay is famous in Japan as a museum for Expressionist and post-Expressionist art," says Nozomi Endo, curator for the Setagaya Art Museum, "but decorative art is also important for the museum, especially Art Nouveau."