In this article we will review the biography and work of Alphonse Mucha, the multifaceted Czech artist who conquered the society of his time with his own style and who is still a great influence for many artists today
Childhood and beginnings
Mucha grew up in the shadow of two powerful cultural forces: the Catholic Church and the Slavs’ desire for independence from the Austrian Empire. His earliest memory, enthused by light and color, is of Christmas tree lights
A baroque fresco in his local church sparked his interest in art, and he moved to Vienna, where he apprenticed as a scene painter. Surrounded by the art explosion in the Austrian capital, he became acquainted with and greatly admired the work of Hans Makart, among others.
To earn a living, he undertook portrait commissions. This led him to an important mentor, Count Khuen-Belasi, who hired him to paint murals at Emmahof Castle. Mucha’s poverty and popularity became apparent while working at the castle
His poverty was such that his only pair of pants was so dilapidated that a group of society girls bought him a new pair. Count Khuen-Belasi paid for Mucha’s training in fine arts in Munich, where he continued to work as an illustrator, notably for the magazine Krokodil, where he developed his characteristic calligraphic style.
In 1887 he was in Paris, studying at the Académie Julian and the Académie Colarossi. Here, artists such as Vuillard and Bonnard were beginning to stand out. With these artists came new ideas about what art could do.
Art came to be seen as an activity that could reveal great mysteries, and as something to be incorporated into everyday life and objects. These ideas began to develop into what would become the Art Nouveau conception of art in everyday life.
His first stage
Mucha eked out a meager living illustrating magazines and advertisements. He shared a studio on Rue Grande Chaumiere with Paul Gauguin. Mucha prepared the studio so that when the door opened, beautiful music would play.
An interviewer in 1900 called the studio “simply marvelous.” It was filled with exotic objects and bohemian writers, artists and musicians who came to work and play. An infamous photograph of Gauguin playing the harmonium with his pants off captures the playful, free-spirited atmosphere of his studio. It was here that Mucha first explored his interest in the occult with August Strindberg, and conducted hypnotic and psychic experiments with Albert de Rochas and the astronomer Camille Flammarion.
Mucha rose to fame in 1894 with his theater poster for Gismonda. The lead actress, Sarah Bernhardt, was world famous, and by teaming up with her, Mucha quickly became famous as well. Bernhardt hired him and Mucha created many promotional posters for her, as well as costumes and sets.
In the midst of Belle Époque posters, Mucha’s style was a hit. Collectors stole his posters from billboards, dubbing his style “Le Style Mucha.” But he thought art should do more than be visually pleasing; it should communicate a spiritual message and uplift its viewers.
Mass-produced art appealed to him, as it could reach and inspire more people. In posters for perfumes, beer, cookies, bicycles and cigarettes Job (1896) blurred the barrier between fine art and commercial art, between commerce and philosophy.
Drawing on the influences of the Pre-Raphaelites, Hans Makart and Japanese woodcuts, Mucha developed his unique style. His style was organic and ornate, elegant and dynamic, with curved and swooping lines and Byzantine borders, lettering and frames.
His iconic “Mucha woman” had curves, flowing hair, pastel robes, and often a halo of light or flowers, reminiscent of the halos of the religious icons he saw during his childhood. Mucha’s women are full of life; in stark contrast to Symbolist femmes fatales (such as Edvard Munch’s Madonna), Mucha’s women are not a dangerous temptation to be resisted.
His innovative decorative panels, The Seasons (1896), further propelled art into homes. Inspired by friends such as Auguste Rodin, Mucha experimented with sculpture and partnered with goldsmith Fouquet to produce fantastic jewelry in gold, ivory and precious stones. He even created a radiant “Mucha world” in Fouquet’s Rue Royale boutique, where his statues, stained glass, fountains, mosaics, sculptures and lighting turned shopping into a theatrical experience.
After his exhibitions in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Munich, Brussels and London, he was acclaimed as the best decorative artist in the world. To spread his ideas he published two stencil books Documents Decoratifs (1902) and Figures Decoratifs (1905). These books were filled with designs for jewelry, wallpaper, stained glass, furniture and figures, and together they became the bible of Art Nouveau. Despite his association with Art Nouveau, Mucha rejected the label, insisting that the art was timeless.
At the turn of the century, Mucha explored his spiritual beliefs in his picture book Le Pater (1899), which was a reinterpretation of the Lord’s Prayer decorated with Byzantine, Catholic, and Masonic symbols. The book reflected Mucha’s belief that art had a moral and political purpose. It was meaningless if, as he said, “my homeland was left quenching its thirst with ditch water.” He felt crushed by fame, which he described as “stealing my time and forcing me to do things so alien to what I dream of.” His artistic dream was to create a cycle of epic painting that would serve as a beautiful illustration of Slavic history and inspire the Slavic quest for freedom.
Period of artistic maturity
To finance his monumental pictorial epic, Mucha made multiple trips to the United States to find a patron. Producing society portraits in 1909, Mucha finally found his man, philanthropist Charles Crane, who would finance him for the next twenty years
Mucha returned to Prague in 1910 and devoted himself to his Slavic Epic, while executing projects such as the ceiling of the Lord Mayor’s Hall, which bore the inscription, “Though humiliated and tortured you will live again, my country.”
In 1918 Mucha’s dream came true when Czechoslovakia was recognized as an independent nation. Delighted, he set about designing the postage stamps, banknotes and coat of arms of the new nation. In a studio in Zbiroh Castle he toiled over his gigantic canvases, some of which measured 6×8 meters, and were rigged like ship’s sails for raising and lowering.
His work required research, and he made regular field trips through the Balkans and to consult historians to ensure that all battles and costumes were accurately depicted. His works began to bring the Pan-Slavic vision to international attention. In 1919, the first phase of his epic work toured the United States, attracting 50,000 visitors per week.
His last phase
In 1926, Mucha completed his last canvas, number 20, The Apotheosis of the Slavs, which shows the new republic protected by Christ, under a rainbow of peace
In 1928, during the nation’s tenth anniversary celebrations, he donated the Slav Epic to the city of Prague and proceeded to make an impressive stained glass window in St. Vitus Cathedral (1931).
As the decade progressed, his hope for security was threatened by the Nazis, but, as he continued to believe in the power of art, he began a triptych entitled The Three Ages (1936-38) to defend reason, wisdom and love as paths to peace.
The Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939 put an end to Mucha’s hopes, his work and, ultimately, his life. Labeled a “reactionary,” he was interrogated by the Gestapo and, already weakened by a lung infection, died in 1939.
The legacy of Alphonse Mucha
At the time of his death, Mucha’s style was considered old-fashioned. However, his son, the writer Jiri Mucha, devoted much of his life to writing about him and drawing attention to his art
Interest in Mucha’s distinctive style experienced a strong revival in the 1960s (with a general interest in Art Nouveau) and is particularly evident in the psychedelic posters of Hapshash and The Coloured Coat, the collective name of two British artists, Michael English and Nigel Waymouth, who designed posters for groups such as Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.
In his own country, the new authorities were not interested in Mucha. His Slav Epic was rolled up and stored for twenty-five years before being exhibited in Moravsky Krumlov and only recently has a Mucha museum appeared in Prague, run by his grandson, John Mucha.
He has continued to experience periodic revivals of interest to illustrators and artists. He is a strong recognized influence for stuckist painter Paul Harvey, whose subjects have included Madonna and whose work was used to promote The Stuckists Punk Victorian exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial
Japanese manga artist Naoko Takeuchi released a series of official posters featuring five of the main characters from her Sailor Moon manga series imitating Mucha’s style. Another manga artist, Masakazu Katsura, born in 1962, has also imitated Mucha’s style on several occasions
Comic book artist and current Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada also borrowed heavily from Mucha’s techniques for a number of covers, posters and prints
Grindcore and sludge metal band Soilent Green used a Mucha painting for the cover of their album Sewn Mouth Secrets.
One of Mucha’s paintings, Quo Vadis or alternatively Petronius and Eunice, was the subject of litigation in 1986. The judgment rendered by Richard Posner biographically describes parts of Mucha’s life and work.
Among many other achievements, Mucha was also the founder of Czech Freemasonry.
The most famous works of art by Alphonse Mucha
Below we will describe some of the most important and well-known works of the Czech artist Alphonse Maria Mucha.
Job cigarette box
This striking poster was created as an advertisement for the Job cigarette company. A beautiful woman with a lit cigarette dominates Mucha’s poster, the rising smoke intertwined with her Pre-Raphaelite hair and the Job logo
The zigzag gold border of the poster, inspired by Byzantine mosaics, combines with the swirling smoke and rich purple background to create a luxurious and sensual mood. The curved lines of the woman’s hair and the rising smoke stand out against the rhythmic lines of the zigzag frame
The mere fact that this woman is smoking – and even more so that she is somewhat eroticized – was scandalous, as no respectable woman of the time smoked in public. Moreover, her sensual tangle of cascading hair was daring, as respectable women of the time wore their hair up.
This significant break with tradition suggests that the smoker may be indolent and wild. She is lost in pleasure, possibly nude, with closed eyes and a half-smile suggesting ecstasy. Mucha depicts his smoking woman in the manner of an ecstatic saint to advertise an everyday product, thus revealing his great skill at blending art and commerce. He elevates the ordinary to a realm of mysterious beauty.
Alphonse Mucha The Seasons
The first of Mucha’s much-copied pânneaux décoratifs (decorative panels), The Seasons (1896), depicts the harmonious cycles of nature.
Four seasonal beauties, each with a different natural backdrop, convey the mood of each season. Innocent spring lies among white flowers and lovely birds; summer rests among red poppies; prosperous autumn rests with chrysanthemums, gathering fruit; and winter, in a snowy landscape, nestles under a blanket with a small bird.
The decorative style of the images illustrates Mucha’s artistic influences and interests. This style reflects his debt to Japanese woodcuts, as well as Hans Makart’s The Five Senses (1879), while his association of the women with a subtle undertone of death and rebirth speaks to his interest in symbolism. The choice of medium reflects his interest in making art accessible to all, as the panels were created as affordable art for households.
Mucha’s desire for mass-produced art to reach as many people as possible was quickly fulfilled; his pânneaux were so popular that he soon created other similar works: The Flowers (1898), The Arts (1898), The Moments of the Day (1899), The Precious Stones (1900), and The Moon and the Stars (1902).
Art brought to jewelry. The snake bracelet
Mucha’s interest in pushing the boundaries of art and design led him to beautiful collaborations with Parisian goldsmith Georges Fouquet. The most iconic is this shimmering snake bracelet, created for his mentor, actress Sarah Bernhardt. (Mucha rose to fame when he illustrated Bernhardt’s Gismonda theater poster in 1894.)
Thick gold spirals curl around the wrist, the tail slides down the arm, while the winged head and mosaic of opals, rubies and diamonds perch on the hand. The fine gold links and hinges allow for movement and connect to a snake-headed ring.
This bracelet not only exemplifies Mucha’s connection to the world of theater, but also reveals his interest in uniting the traditions of East and West. The bracelet is also impressively utilitarian: Mucha’s son Jiri said that the bracelet was designed to accommodate Bernhardt’s arthritic wrist. Mucha and Fouquet worked together for three years, resulting in a treasure trove of elaborate jewelry for Fouquet’s exhibition at the 1900 Exposition Universelle.
Le Pater
Created at the turn of the century, this illustrated book marks the moment when Mucha’s own spiritual philosophy enters his work
In his book, Mucha created an image for each line of the Lord’s Prayer, with its own symbolic interpretations. This included mysterious motifs ranging from an eight-pointed star to stars, crescent moons, circles and many other esoteric images drawn from Kabbalah and Masonic philosophy, among other sources. It was a universal call from the human to the divine, a prayer to reach a higher spiritual plane.
Mucha’s imagery blended his own Catholic traditions with his interest in the occult, such as spiritualism (he conducted séances and psychic experiments), and Masonic beliefs (he was a practicing Freemason). He considered the book his masterpiece, and said he had put his soul into it
Century magazine called him a “new mystic” and noted that in Le Pater, Mucha’s God “is no longer the benign or wrathful Father, but a mysterious Being whose shadow fills the earth. Nature is personified as a luminous, adolescent giant, and Love descends from heaven in the guise of a woman.”
Slavia
Commissioned by millionaire and philanthropist Charles Crane on the occasion of his daughter Josephine’s wedding, this painting is a portrait of Josephine as the Slavic goddess, Slavia. The work says more about Mucha’s use of the image of Slavia as a symbol of her homeland than it does about Josephine herself
Mucha painted Slavia/Josephina as his ultimate “Mucha woman,” with her hair, body, and clothing creating graceful forms against a richly ornamented background. Presumably Charles Crane was pleased with this painting, as he would later finance Mucha’s most ambitious project, the Slav Epic (1911-26).
The goddess Slavia was a recurring icon in Mucha’s commercial and artistic work, as well as in the posters and logos of the Slavia Bank. Slavia, symbol of the unified Slavic nation, was a well-known allegory in Slavic culture, appearing in both epic songs and legends.
Mucha took up the theme ten years later, when he was commissioned to design banknotes for the newly founded Czechoslovakia. He used the image of Slavia on the 100 kronor bill. Mucha also planned to use Slavia’s image in his stained glass window in St. Vitus Cathedral, but was eventually persuaded to replace it with the Christian St. Wenceslas.
The Slavs in their original homeland and The Slavic Epic
This is the first of twenty massive canvases (some 6×8 meters) that constituted Mucha’s lifelong project: The Slav Epic (1911 – 1926), in which he sought to create a national iconography for the much persecuted Slavic people, while uniting them with spiritual virtue. In the painting, innocent medieval peasants are threatened by the Huns invading from the East and by Germanic tribes from the West
Mucha’s colors are imbued with a symbolic meaning that enhances the power and beauty of the painting. The dominant blue represents a spiritual realm, and the contrasting white of the Slavs suggests purity. Both the spiritual blue and the pure white contrast with the reds and oranges of the flames of a burning village in the background.
The divine figure floating in the upper right is flanked by a young man and woman, symbols of war and peace. The message seems to be one of hope for the Slavs, hope that they can have peace and prosperity even in the shadow of their many struggles and wars.
Mucha worked for two decades to complete the twenty canvases that make up this series. Drawing on his extensive experience in set and theater work, he used photographs of costumed models to compose his images
The first eleven canvases were publicly exhibited in Prague in 1919. Although the canvases were positively received by the general public, critics were unimpressed and wary of the overtly nationalistic subject matter.
The last canvas, The Apotheosis of the Slavs, depicting the joy of Slavic independence, was completed in 1926. Mucha gave his series as a gift to the city of Prague and the series was also exhibited in the United States, to great success.
Stained glass
This stunning stained glass window projects brilliant light into the north nave of Prague’s St. Vitus Cathedral. It creates an incredible burst of light, color and activity, with the gold and red colors of the center fading into the cool blues and greens of the outer scenes
In the center is the child St. Wenceslas (the Czech patron saint) with his grandmother, St. Ludmila. They are praying, and the red tones surrounding them perhaps foreshadow the martyrdom that awaits them. 36 episodes from the lives of 9th century Saints Cyril and Methodius, famous for baptizing Slavs into Christianity, surround the central scene.
Wenceslas personifies the free Czechoslovak nation. Christ looks down from above, while the “Mucha women” represent the youth of the new nation. The secular world intrudes into this religious scene, as the window bears the logo of the new Slavia Bank, which had financed the project.
Mucha’s window is not only an achievement in its exuberance of color and dynamic design, but it is also emotionally and psychologically profound. The deep humanity and emotion of the figures is apparent in their facial expressions and body language.
