The long, elegant lines of the art nouveau style have long been appreciated in the world of design but recently, many people are looking to this classic style to inspire exciting art nouveau tattoos.

Originating across Europe near the end of the 20th century, art nouveau was a school of design that worked to blur the traditional lines between fine art and applied art. This new aesthetic was developed across several mediums, with the art nouveau approach being applied to architecture, graphic design, illustration and painting.

Gustav Klimt, Aubrey Beardsley and Alphonse Mucha are some of the biggest names who utilized this graceful approach to design inspiration, and these 51 art nouveau tattoo ideas carry on the tradition of this influential art movement.

1. Animal Inspired Art Nouveau Tattoos

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Animals have been common elements in tattoo design for centuries and the clean lines and informed composition that is typical of art nouveau work is especially well suited for animal inspired tattoo art. The art nouveau tattoos in this collection use a variety of different animals as tattoo subjects: a lynx’s noble profile, a stoic wolf and the impressive visage of the shoebill stork are all perfectly utilized original design here.