Mucha, Alphonse [Alfons]
(b Ivancice, Moravia, 24 July 1860; d Prague, 14 July 1939).

Czech graphic artist and painter, active in France. In 1877 he attempted unsuccessfully to enter the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, and afterwards set about travelling and working. He went first to Vienna, where he worked for a company that produced stage sets, and where he discovered the work of Hans Makart. After being made redundant he left in 1882 for Mikulov, where he earned a living painting portraits of important local figures. He met Count Khuen-Belassi, who invited him to paint murals at his home (1882--4; some panels in Brno, Mus. City), later sending him to the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Munich (1885--7) and to Paris in autumn 1888. Mucha enrolled at the Academie Julian and worked in the studios of Jules Lefebvre and Jean-Paul Laurens. When his grant was cut off at the end of 1889, he stayed in Paris and briefly attended the Academie Colarossi; to finance himself he produced a variety of illustrations, collaborating on La Vie populaire and the children's review Le Petit Francais illustre.

Mucha exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Francais in 1894 and won a medal of honour. In the same year he began teaching at the Academie Colarossi, and he designed the poster Gismonda (colour lithograph 2.13*.75 m, 1894; see Bridges, pl. A1) for a production at the Theatre de la Renaissance, Paris. He had already designed three posters, for soap, toothpaste and stationery; but the Gismonda poster, intended for Sarah Bernhardt who was playing the title role and was also theatre manager, ratified him, taking him out of the more anonymous world of illustrators and into that of the great poster designers. His desire to create a life-size image of the actress led him to choose a large, elongated format; he took his inspiration from Byzantine mosaics to make Bernhardt into a magnificent, proud figure, which aroused surprise when it appeared on the walls of Paris in January 1895. This poster contrasted radically with the work of Jules Cheret or Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen. Seduced by this new image of herself, Bernhardt signed a six-year contract with Mucha; he made six other large theatre posters for her (e.g. Amants, 1895; see fig.), as well as undertaking designs for sets, costumes and jewellery. Having established himself, he received many commissions. While working for Bernhardt, he made posters for commercial firms including those for Job (1898; see Bridges, pl. A36) and Moet et Chandon (1899; see Bridges, pl. A39); he also designed a large number of stamps, vignettes, calendars, illustrations and 'decorative panels', a lithographic type developed for Mucha (e.g. Morning Awakening, colour lithograph, 1899; see Bridges, p. 28). Mucha shared with his peers the desire to make art popular and acceptable. In this spirit he co-founded, with Eugene-Samuel Grasset, Rene Lalique, Galle and Horta, the Societe Internationale de l'Art Populaire, and with James McNeill Whistler he founded the Academie Carmen in 1898 (closed 1901).

The influence of Hans Makart, Eugene-Samuel Grasset and the Pre-Raphaelites contributed to Mucha's style, which was characterized by a sense of ornamentation, a balancing of realist and stylized elements and a certain horror vacui. His taste for Byzantine art can be seen in the mosaic backgrounds and in the portrayal of gorgeous garments laden with gold and precious gems. All these elements, used to enhance a femininity that was more mystical than avant-garde, created a style that was perceived as typically Art Nouveau, despite Mucha's assertion that 'art is eternal, it cannot be new', and his rejection of any direct links with the movement. Fifty-eight posters by Mucha were printed in Paris, usually by the firm Champenois. In all his commissions he gave free rein to his taste for female figures in theatrical poses, flamboyant curving lines, floral motifs and delicate interwoven designs. He had two exhibitions in 1897, including Alphonse Mucha et son oeuvre (Paris, Salon des Cent), organized by La Plume.

The period 1895 to 1900 was Mucha's most prolific. His posters were of primary importance, but he continued to illustrate numerous books and published several series of decorative panels. In addition, he made designs for wallpaper and furniture. He was actively involved with the Exposition Universelle in 1900; he designed jewellery and a shop (1900--01; destr.) for Georges Fouquet (1862--1957) and undertook the decoration of the pavilion for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a task that aroused his patriotic spirit. In 1910 he returned to Bohemia. He started working on the Slav Epic (1913; Moravsky Krumlov Castle), a series of 20 paintings, which he gave to the town of Prague in 1928. He saw himself as inheriting the decorative traditions of his native country, and he was convinced of the need to use his art to express his devoted attachment to ideals and traditions. He continued painting until his death.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
J. Mucha: Alphonse Mucha: The Master of Art Nouveau (Prague, 1966)
J. Mucha, M. Henderson and A. Scharf: Alphonse Mucha (London and New York, 1974)
J. Mucha: Mucha (Paris, 1977)
A. Bridges, ed.: Alphonse Mucha: The Complete Graphic Works (London and New York, 1980)
Mucha, 1860--1939: Peintures, illustrations, affiches, arts decoratifs (exh. cat. by J. Kotalik and J. Brabcova, Paris, Grand Pal.; Darmstadt, Ausstellhallen Matildenhohe; Prague, Jizdarna Prazskeho Hradu; 1980)
J. Rennert and A. Weill: Alphonse Mucha: The Complete Posters and Panels (Boston and Paris, 1984)

MICHELE LAVALLEE

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