Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939)

About a thousand years ago, and way before the kids, my husband and I (well, we were not even married then) saw a 6,000 pieces puzzle in a toy store. The puzzle featured 4 Mucha’s posters of Sarah Bernhardt theater shows (La Tosca, Gismonda, Lorenzaccio, and La Dame Aux Camelias). We bought it, spread it on the floor, and started to put it together (no kids around..). It took us the longest time. We put it under a rug when went travelling around the world for our honeymoon, and eventually we finished it. We are very proud that we not missing a single piece (one piece fell into a coffee cup – see the dark piece on Gismonda’a right background …:-)), we framed it (its HEAVY) and hanged it on our wall (Its HUGE).

I was very pleased to read about Mucha’s work this week, and decided to research more about the artist – his life and his work and his influence.

Alphonse Maria Mucha was born in a small village in Moravia (current Czech Republic) in 1860. He started to draw a childhood hobby and eventually trained at the notable Munich Academy of Fine Arts (1). He moved to Paris to continue his studies. As a struggling Czech artist in Paris he worked at producing magazine and advertising illustrations. He achieved immediate fame when he accepted a commission to create a poster for one of the greatest actresses at the time Sarah Bernhardt at the Théâtre de la Renaissance (2). He used a new and unconventional style, and created th efirst poster for her – Gismonda

Gismonda 1894

that Bernhardt loved and brought him 6 years contract with her – the public loved him. (3).

He also created designs for her costumes, the stage and other theater decorations and was awarded numerous commissions for posters, illustrations and calendars.

His enormous success was responsible for the description “Le Style Mucha”, which accounted for certain works of Art Nouveau, that carried Mucha’s stylistic features, most of all his special type of women – his =style was a synonym used for Art Nouveau. (4).

Style characteristics female figure, elegant lines and splendid ornaments, delicate and gentle type of dancing women with long and undulating hair (5).

Style influence – Byzantine art, the works of Hans Makart, Eugène-Samuel Grasset and the Pre-Raffaelites.

Life of an artist – as talented as Mucha was- can be very ungrateful. His work was still beautiful and popular, but it just was no longer “new” – huge crime in the eyes of the critics. When the Germans invaded Czechoslovakia, he was still influential enough to be one of the first people they arrested. He returned home after a Gestapo questioning session and died shortly thereafter on July 14, 1939 (5).

Legacy-

The 1960s brought a general interest in Art Nouveau and in Mucha’s distinctive style as can be seen in the psychedelic posters of “Hapshash and the Coloured Coat” (Michael English and Nigel Waymouth) (6):

Michael English and Nigel Waymouth

and in the posters of the Canadian artist Bob Masse (7):

Mucha’s work is a strongly acknowledged influence for Stuckist painter Paul Harvey (8):

The Japanese manga artist Naoko Takeuchi released a series of official posters depicting five of the main characters from her manga series Sailor Moon mimicking Mucha’s style (9):