Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Nouveau Angel”?
Artist Statement
This Nouveau Angel print is inspired by my love of Art Nouveau design and symbolism. Art Nouveau explored a counter-narrative to industrialization in which harmony with nature and a respect for its untamable aspects were spiritually embodied by floral and female forms. Of course, angels symbolize guidance and protection, so the themes of Art Nouveau combined with my belief that women are leaders in the building of a more peaceful and just society led me directly to this combination of style and subject matter. Let your better angels guide you to help peace and justice bloom! -Shepard PRINT DETAILS: Nouveau Angel. 24" H x 18" W. Screen print on 80# cream Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 550. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $65.
Summary
Nouveau Angel (2026) is a 24" H x 18" W screen print by Shepard Fairey on 80# cream Speckletone paper, published by Obey Giant. It is signed and issued as a numbered first edition of 550, with a Verisart Digital Certificate of Authenticity, released at $65. The image is inspired by Art Nouveau design and symbolism, combining floral and female forms with an angel motif. Fairey connects Art Nouveau's harmony-with-nature ideals to his belief that women are leaders in building a more peaceful and just society, framing the angel as a symbol of guidance and protection and a call to let peace and justice bloom.
Why It Matters
Nouveau Angel is significant for the way it fuses Shepard Fairey's recurring interests into a single image: Art Nouveau aesthetics, floral and natural symbolism, female-led visions of justice, and a message of peace. In his own words, Fairey draws on Art Nouveau as a counter-narrative to industrialization, one that embodied harmony with nature and respect for its untamable aspects through floral and female forms. By combining that tradition with the angel as a symbol of guidance and protection, he advances his stated belief that women are leaders in building a more peaceful and just society. The closing call to let peace and justice bloom ties the floral imagery directly to his activist themes. This makes the print more than decorative ornament: it is a deliberate marriage of historical design language and contemporary social conviction. Released in a relatively large numbered edition of 550 at an accessible price, signed and Verisart-authenticated, it is positioned to reach a broad audience. For collectors, it represents a clear example of Fairey using a softer, ornamental visual vocabulary to carry his peace-and-justice and women-as-leaders messaging.
Collector Perspective
Nouveau Angel appeals to collectors who favor Fairey's decorative, floral, and Art Nouveau-influenced work and to those drawn to his peace, justice, and women-as-leaders themes. The 24" x 18" format and ornamental composition make it a versatile display piece that reads as both beautiful and message-driven. With a numbered edition of 550, an artist signature, a Verisart Digital Certificate of Authenticity, and an accessible release price, it offers documented provenance and a lower entry point for newer collectors. It fits collections built around floral and nature symbolism or around Fairey's social-justice messaging, and it pairs well with his other angel and floral works as a thematically coherent grouping.
Historical Context
Nouveau Angel sits within Fairey's continued use of decorative and floral visual languages to deliver social messaging. By explicitly invoking Art Nouveau, he aligns the work with a historical movement that positioned nature, floral motifs, and female forms as a counter to industrialization, and he repurposes that vocabulary toward his own themes of peace, justice, and women's leadership. The angel motif as guidance and protection extends his long-running symbolic approach. Released in 2026 through Obey Giant in a signed, numbered edition of 550 on Speckletone paper with Verisart authentication, it follows his established screen-print practices. Within his arc, it exemplifies the strand of his output where ornamental beauty and activist conviction are deliberately joined rather than treated as separate modes.
FAQ
What inspired Nouveau Angel?
Fairey states it is inspired by his love of Art Nouveau design and symbolism, which explored harmony with nature through floral and female forms. He combined that with the angel as a symbol of guidance and protection and his belief that women are leaders in building a more peaceful, just society.
What are the print's specifications?
Nouveau Angel measures 24 inches high by 18 inches wide and is a screen print on 80# cream Speckletone paper. It was published by Obey Giant in 2026 at a release price of $65.
Is it signed, and how large is the edition?
Yes. The print is signed by Shepard Fairey and issued as a numbered first edition of 550. It comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart.
What is the message of the print?
Fairey frames it around peace and justice, closing his note with a call to let your better angels guide you so that peace and justice can bloom, tying the floral and angel imagery to his social themes and his view of women as leaders.
Related Works
About the Artist
Shepard Fairey (b. 1970, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American street artist, graphic designer, and activist, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His 1989 “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker grew into the global OBEY GIANT campaign — an ongoing experiment in propaganda, obedience, and visual culture. He reached worldwide recognition with the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama, now held by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Across screen prints, stencils, murals, and collage, Fairey channels propaganda aesthetics toward themes of peace, justice, environmentalism, and civil rights. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and LACMA.