Modernist Wallpapers

We invite you to take a tour on Google Arts & Culture to explore Modernist Wallpapers.

Wallpaper was one of the leading features of interior decoration during Modernism. In the late 19th century, improved manufacturing processes reduced costs and boosted its popularity, reaching a much broader audience. In Catalonia, the success of this style meant that local productions, especially those made in Barcelona, coexisted with models from across Europe.

This selection brings together examples from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including friezes and wallpapers with an Art Nouveau aesthetic, floral and Orientalist motifs, scenes of everyday life, and landscapes. You will also find pieces made with distinctive techniques, such as embossed cardboard in relief, as well as designs intended to be cut out and pasted as wall ornamentation. An invitation to take a closer look at how design dressed walls and transformed domestic spaces.