Kazakh artists and their paintings of the fly. Alphonse Mucha: a brief biography and works

Alphonse Maria Mucha is a famous Czech artist, the brightest representative of Art Nouveau, whose works are admired to this day. His masterpieces, which gained great popularity even at the time of their creation, are now replicated in hundreds of copies. The picturesque works of Alphonse Mucha adorn the elite buildings of mansions, his style of execution is copied by the largest designers in the world, his sketches are included in their work by stylists and even tattoo artists.

Childhood

The future artist Alfons Mucha was born in the second half of the 19th century - July 24, 1860 in a small cozy town in the south of the Czech Republic. Alfons received both Moravian and Polish roots from his parents. In addition to the future artist, father - Ondrey Mucha, and mother - Amalia, there were five more children in the family. Due to the fact that Alphonse's father worked as a court official, and his mother received some of the funds from wealthy relatives, the family did not starve. There was enough money for decent clothes, education and some secular entertainment.

Even as a child, Alphonse Mucha showed various creative abilities - at an early age he had an acute ear for music, and later - acting data. About 10-11 years old, the future artist was accepted into the youth choir of the chapel of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. His participation in this choir allowed the boy to enter a good gymnasium at that time, where he received both church and secular education.

Youth

As I studied, the passion for music began to subside, while the passion for the visual arts only increased. At the age of 19, after graduating from high school, Mucha is trying to enter the Academy of Arts in Prague. After the attempt was unsuccessful due to entrance exams, Alphonse tries to develop himself in painting on his own. He paints theater posters and invitation cards, studies various artistic genres and forms.

The beginning of a creative career

As a decorator of original and bright posters, Mukha is invited to his workshop by the theater master Brishi-Burghardt. Agreeing to work in his workshop, Alphonse moves from Bruno to Vienna, where he works for exactly one and a half years, until a severe fire destroys the workshop. Dismissed due to the bankruptcy of Brishi-Burghardt, Mucha goes to the small town of Mikulov, where he was invited by Count Kuen-Belassi to paint his castle. The work produced by Alphonse impressed the count, which is why he also offers the aspiring artist to paint the second castle, which was created for his wife Emma Couen-Belassi.

After a joint trip with the count and his wife through Europe, Mucha goes to Munich. There he entered the Academy of Fine Arts. Nevertheless, exactly two years are enough to study painting at the Alphonse Academy - in 1887, the artist again takes work from Kuen-Belassi and for some time lives on the funds received from him. In the same year, Alphonse decides to move to Paris. In this city, he is accepted for training by two prestigious institutions at once - the Julian Academy and the Colarossi Academy. At the same time, Mucha, strongly impressed by the works of Makart, is working on creating his own individual style, laying in it those artistic foundations that will be reflected in his works until the end of his life.

A cloudless life in Paris abruptly turns into numerous problems when Count Couen-Belassi, on whose funds Mucha lived, dies. The artist refuses to study at the academy, begins to earn a living by painting posters, posters and even restaurant menus. Starting to receive regular orders, Alphonse Mucha opens his small workshop.

In 1892, the artist received a large order for the design of a work of historical content. It was the experience gained by Mucha when creating illustrations for this work that later formed the basis of his most famous series of paintings - the Slavic Epic.

Parisian period

The turning point in the fate and style of the works was the order for the design of the premiere poster from the famous theater. Mucha had to create an illustration for the play "Gismonde", where one of the main roles was played by actress Sarah Bernhardt. Fascinated by her incredible femininity and sophistication of the image, Alphonse creates a work that immediately attracts the eyes of all Parisians to the young artist.

The smoothness of lines, the softness of outlines and a certain airiness of Mucha's style make him the main decorator of the Renaissance Theater. Impressed by Alphonse's illustration, Sarah Bernhardt insists on her acquaintance with him. Their romantic relationship, quickly flaring up, just as quickly went out.

ascent

In subsequent years, Alphonse Mucha created a number of famous posters that firmly established him as one of the best illustrators and painters (1896 - "The Lady with the Camellias", "Medea", 1897 - "The Samaritan Woman", "Tosca", etc. .). The fame of the artist is growing. Mucha receives a wide variety of orders - from creating theatrical costumes for a play to interior design. At the same time, Alphonse begins to act as a jewelry designer - he creates both earrings and rings, as well as caskets, candlesticks, brooches and even hairpins. The glory of a talented artist who offers something completely new, "modern" and at the same time aesthetically harmonious, is rapidly dispersing throughout France.

Slightly abstracting from his own successes in the field of illustration, the artist Alphonse Mucha tries to create a whole series of works, united by one whole idea or thought. From under his hand appear such series as "The Seasons", "Trees", "Moon and Stars".

Exhibitions of works by Alphonse Mucha are organized in the largest cities of Europe. In 1895, the artist encountered the Symbolists and joined them for a short time. Mucha's acquaintance with the Lumiere brothers (the creators of the first movie camera and moving image) encourages him to experiment with creating his own works - later, while working on the Slavic Epic series, the artist will use photographs of models photographed by him as the basis for the picture (photo by Alphonse Mucha at work is presented below ). In 1900, Alphonse helped decorate one of the pavilions of the World Exhibition, held in France. During his work, Mucha is closely acquainted with the history of the Slavs, which leaves a certain imprint on his subsequent work.

Moving to America

In 1905, Alphonse Mucha received an invitation from the American Society of Illustrators. The artist moves, becomes a teacher in a large art institution. In 1906, he proposes marriage to Maria Khitinova. During his stay in America, Mucha receives many large orders. Nevertheless, despite the fame and general admiration, every year the artist is more and more drawn to his homeland, where he has not been for a long time. In 1910, Alfons Mucha resigned as a teacher and returned with his wife to the Czech Republic.

Homecoming and the creation of the series "Slavic epic"

Tired of excess fame, modernity with its false materialistic ideals, Mucha leaves the city, where he begins to actively paint in one of the castles. The ideas that he accumulated throughout his life and which were finally formed during his residence in America make it possible for such great works as “Slavs in their historical homeland”, “Our Father”, “Slavonic Liturgy” and others to come into being. Huge canvases, sometimes not fitting into the room due to their size, reflected the history of the persecution of the Slavs, their holidays, the development of their cultural heritage.

Eighteen years later, having completed the twenty main works of his life, Alphonse Mucha presents his paintings to Prague as his first muse and homeland. However, these canvases were not fully appreciated by the audience - for many years, while Mucha worked in his castle, there was a sharp change both in the worldview and in the minds of people. The age of Art Nouveau had come, the gentle, feminine, great and utopian ideas of Art Nouveau were already “obsolete”.

World War II and the death of Alphonse Mucha

The war that began soon forced Mucha to hide his paintings, as he understood that they would be one of the first items on the list of destruction. In 1939, during the Second World War, German soldiers, having captured the Czech Republic, tortured the already middle-aged artist for a long time and painfully about the location of the main paintings of his life. Without betraying the secret, Alphonse Mucha falls ill from the suffering he endured and dies on July 14, 1939.

The paintings, which the Gestapo tried so hard to find out about, managed to be saved almost by a miracle - having rolled them into scrolls, one of its employees hid them in the basement of a dilapidated museum. Thanks to this daring act, which could have cost a man his life, the paintings were saved.

Alphonse Mucha style

The artist is known throughout the world as the greatest representative of Art Nouveau. His works were distinguished by their special sophistication, almost fabulous elegance, where light and shadow, interacting, create an air haze, which makes the space of the picture seem foggy and slightly fuzzy, “out of focus”.

On his canvases, Alphonse Mucha depicts women as the heroines of a poetic ballad - with regular, noble features and alluring smiles, with bright eyes and luxurious hair framing their bodies with continuous patterned curls, they appear to the audience either in the form of the seasons, or in the form of stars, then in the form of princesses and queens.

His more serious works, made at the end of his life and included in a whole series of paintings, were created with the professionalism of a great artist. A variety of feelings appear in the emotions of the characters: anger, rage, despair, pain, fear, happiness, jubilation, gloating, etc. Later paintings give viewers the opportunity to enjoy not only the aesthetics of the image, but also to delve into the deep psychologism captured on canvas.

The most famous paintings of the artist include:

1. series "Seasons";
2. series "Moon and Stars";
3. series "Slavic epic";
4. series "Our Father";
5. "Madonna with Lilies";
6. "Spirit of Spring";
7. "Girl with flowing hair", etc.

The description of the paintings by Alphonse Mucha "The Four Seasons" begins with the heroines captured on canvas. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter are depicted as women leading one or another force of nature.

In the painting “Summer”, the heroine, languishing from the heat, looks at the viewer with a slight sleepy half-smile. Warm and sunny heat emanates from her heated slender body and blush on her cheeks, the atmosphere of which is plausibly conveyed in a mixture of colors and airiness, the “humidity” of summer air. The description of the painting, poster by Alphonse Mucha called "Winter" is exactly the opposite. The heroine of the painting "Winter", on the contrary, is wrapped in clothes. This is the beauty of Alphonse Mucha's "The Seasons" - in the dissimilarity of the paintings. So, slightly pulling her head into her shoulders and bringing her hands red from the cold to her face, the girl thereby conveys the atmosphere of genuine cold and restraint of all natural colors.

Alphonse Mucha, "Slavic epic"

"Slavic epic" - a series of twenty paintings, reflecting the Slavic unity, the idea of ​​ownership. Each of the works has huge dimensions for canvases (approximately 6 * 8 meters). Amazing brilliance, richness, drama and deep psychological overtones made these paintings the property of the Czech Republic.

The most famous paintings from the Slavic Epic series:

1. "Slavs in their original homeland";
2. "Introduction of the Slavonic Liturgy";
3. "Mount Athos";
4. "Apotheosis of the history of the Slavs";
5. "Meeting in Krizki";
6. "The Feast of Svetotit based on Rug".

girls posters

The famous posters and posters of the artist, which depict poetic female images, are still replicated in hundreds of copies. The main thing in the description of paintings by Alphonse Mucha, posters - a girl.

Swelling from the light wind, long hair shining in the sun frames sensual girlish faces, giving them a certain resemblance to the Christian Madonna. Slender bodies, dressed in flying smoky clothes, invariably stand out against a slightly darkened background, as if receding into the distance. Each of the girls has a large number of different decorations - an abundance of small ornate details, multi-colored spots and curls that once made A. Mukha the most famous representative of art nouveau.

Description of the painting, poster by Alphonse Mucha “Girl with Loose Hair” may look like this. It can be called the most uncharacteristic of the artist's style. The lack of colorful details and any interest of the model in the artist and the canvas he created, bowed shoulders, which reflect fatigue and sadness, the presence of an ordinary worldly atmosphere at one time surprised contemporaries. The description of Alphonse Mucha's poster can be continued endlessly... Nevertheless, this canvas managed to prove that Mucha is able to accurately convey psychological experiences, peaks of emotional and sensual unrest. Several other works were also made in a similar style, including a portrait of the artist's daughter Yaroslava.

The work of the Polish artist of the first half of the twentieth century, unfortunately, is little known in our time. Although the originality and originality of his talent found many fans around the world. No one will remain indifferent, admiring the series of paintings “Flowers”, “Seasons”, “Slavic Maidens”, “Months”, in which the artist sings of female beauty, the beauty of nature and acts as an expert on folk traditions and rituals.

Biography of Alphonse Mucha

Alfons was born in Moravia in the small provincial town of Ivančice in 1860. It was the end of the 19th century that left an imprint on all his work, even in the middle of the 20th century he did not lose his poetry and dreaminess, trying in turbulent turbulent times to reflect the soul of the people in his works.

His father, Onjej, a tailor by profession, a poor man, was left a widower with several children and entered into a second marriage (most likely of convenience) with the daughter of a wealthy miller, Amalia, who later became the mother of a famous artist.

Amalia died early, but Onjej was the best of fathers for his large family and all his children, even girls, which was surprising at that time, received a secondary education.

Alfons studied at the Slavic Gymnasium in the small Polish city of Brno until the age of 17, and then his father managed to get the young man into the Academy of Arts in Prague. So Alphonse became a student, but I must say that he is far from the best of students. He godlessly skipped classes, including the law of God, which was considered unacceptable, and received excellent marks only in drawing and singing.

The student was soon expelled from the Academy due to "any lack of talent for art" and becomes a clerk in the Ivanichitsa city court. Two years later, having accidentally stumbled upon an advertisement for a job as a decorator in a Viennese company that produces theatrical props, he gets a job there as a set designer. But in 1881, the company went bankrupt, and Alphonse was again out of work.

Thanks to the troubles of his father, he moves to the southern city of Mikulov, where he does what he has to do: he paints a little theatrical scenery, does miniatures, portraits, posters, and sometimes, for lack of other work, paints.

And here the artist was lucky: he was asked to paint the castle of the Hrushovan Count Kuen, where he painted the ceilings in the then accepted style of the Italian Renaissance. After that, he was sent to the brother of the count in the castle of Gandegg in distant Tyrol. Here he not only painted the rooms, but also painted a portrait of the countess and the whole family. In his free time, which fell out infrequently, the artist managed to get out into nature, where he eagerly painted from nature.

The Viennese professor of painting Kray comes to visit the count, he became interested in the works of the young artist and convinces him to continue his education. The contented count acts as a patron of Alphonse and sends him to the Academy of Art in Munich at his own expense. So, in 1885, the artist continued his professional education. Two years later, he transferred to the Academy of Arts in Paris, and immediately into the third year.

This is the best time in his studies, but it ends soon: the count stopped paying scholarships, and the young man had to rely only on his own strength. In some memoirs, Alphonse Mucha hints at periods of hardship and hardship, but already in 1991 he establishes strong ties with the publisher Armand Collin, and also writes posters for performances with Sarah Bernhardt. The great actress liked the work of the young artist so much that she signed a six-year contract with him for all new works.

Thus, Alphonse enters a period of prosperity and fame: exhibitions of his works are held with great excitement in many major European cities, and changeable Fortune finally knocked on the artist's door.

Slavic Epic

Today it is believed that it is the works of this cycle that are the artist's most valuable investment in the treasury of world art. Much later, in the "Paris period", Alphonse Mucha revived and multiplied his successful finds and gave us new creations.

Love for the Motherland, its nature, its history and its traditions is an integral part of the work of a true artist. Therefore, already being a mature artist, Alphonse Mucha plans to create a series of paintings dedicated to the history of the Slavs. This idea was not born at one moment, he nurtured it for a long time, traveling through the Slavic countries, including Russia. Work on the epic, which brought the artist worldwide fame, lasted 20 years, and twenty huge canvases were painted, depicting the climax of history.

All the works of the artist are extremely optimistic - they carry a huge charge of faith in their country and its people. He brought the entire collection of paintings as a gift to his beloved city of Prague. In 1963, after the death of the artist, the public got access to the entire collection of paintings and to this day admire the amazing gift of the true patriot Alphonse Mucha.

Love in the life of an artist

It is in Paris that Mucha meets his love, his muse - a Czech girl Maria Khitilova. In 1906, they marry, although Maria is twenty years younger than Alphonse, but she sincerely loves him and admires his work.

For Alphonse, this young girl became, as he himself said, the second love after the Motherland. Together with her, he moves to live in America, with which he signed lucrative contracts for a series of works. The artist's children are born here, but his dreams of a distant homeland never leave him, and in 1910 the Alfons family returned to Moravia.

The last period of creativity

In 1928, after finishing work on the Slavic Epic, Mucha worked on the creation of official banknotes of independent Czechoslovakia and a collection of stamps. Throughout his life, the artist did not get tired of learning new things, looking for himself and striving for self-expression, all his undertakings were “doomed to success”, thanks to his original talent and tireless work.

With the coming to power of the Nazis and the promotion of racist theories, interest in Mucha's work is falling. He is declared a pan-Slavic, his patriotism runs counter to the propaganda of racism, and paintings that glorify the beauty of his native nature do not fit into the propaganda of violence and cruelty.

The artist was declared an enemy of the Third Reich and imprisoned. Although he was soon released, his health was undermined, and in 1939 Alphonse Mucha died. Before his death, the artist managed to publish his memoirs, and according to his will he was buried in the Czech Republic at the Visegrad cemetery.

unfairly forgotten

The only museum of Alfons Mucha is open in Prague. On the initiative of his children and grandchildren, it was opened in 1998. It is here that you can see the poster for the play Gismonda, which changed the life of the master. The museum contains exhibits that accompany the life of the artist and highlight his work.

Many items exhibited here were donated to the museum by the artist's family; from them you can learn about his personal life and character, habits and relationships in the family.

Alfons Mucha loved to draw from childhood, but his attempt to enter the Prague Academy of Arts was unsuccessful. Therefore, he began his career as a decorator, poster and invitation artist. He did not refuse to paint walls and ceilings in rich houses.

Once Alphonse Mucha worked on decorating the family castle of Count Couen-Belassi, and he was so impressed with the artist's work that he agreed to pay for his studies at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. There he mastered the technique of lithography, which later became his calling card.

After studying in Munich, he moved to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Colarossi and made a living making posters, posters, restaurant menus, calendars and business cards.

The meeting of the artist with the actress Sarah Bernhardt was fateful. When the actress saw the poster, made in the technique of multicolor lithography, she was delighted and wanted to see the author. On her recommendation, Mukha received the position of chief decorator of the theater and since then designed posters, costumes and scenery for her performances.

In Russia, the name of the famous Czech artist Alphonse Mucha is little known. Meanwhile, it has become literally a symbol of painting of the end of the "golden" - the beginning of the "silver" centuries. His style (in painting, architecture, small decorative forms) was called “Fly's style”. Or - "modern", "art nouveau", "secession". The name comes from France. Yes, and the artist himself in Europe is sometimes considered a Frenchman. But it's not.

Alfons Mucha is an outstanding Czech artist, master of theater and advertising posters. One of the brightest artists of the Art Nouveau style.

Luxurious and sensual "women of the Fly" were replicated and sold in thousands of copies in posters, postcards, playing cards. The offices of secular aesthetes, the halls of the best restaurants, ladies' boudoirs were decorated with silk panels, calendars and prints of the master. In the same style, colorful graphic series "Seasons", "Flowers", "Trees", "Months", "Stars", "Arts", "Precious Stones" were created, which are still replicated in the form of art posters.

In 1898-1899, Alphonse Mucha worked on covers and illustrations for the Parisian magazine Cocorico. On its pages was also printed the cycle “12 Months” made in pencil and gouache - images of female figures, sometimes naked, as well as graceful ladies' heads. The women in his lithographs are attractive and, as one would say now, sexy.

At the turn of the century, Alphonse Mucha became a real master, who was carefully listened to in circles of the artistic community. Sometimes even the Art Nouveau style in France was called the Mucha style. Therefore, the publication in 1901 of the artist's book "Decorative Documentation" seems logical.

This is a visual guide for artists, on the pages of which a variety of ornamental patterns, fonts, drawings of furniture, various utensils, cutlery, jewelry, watches, combs, brooches are reproduced.

The technique of the originals is lithography, gouache, pencil and charcoal drawing. Many of the artist's works were subsequently made in metal and wood, such as gold brooches and a necklace with portraits of Sarah Bernhardt, intended for the actress herself.

In 1906, Alphonse Mucha left for America to earn the money needed to fulfill the dream of his entire creative life: creating paintings for the glory of his homeland and all Slavic peoples.

Despite his creative and financial success in the United States, American life weighed heavily on Mucha with its focus solely on money, he dreamed of returning to the Czech Republic. In 1910 he returned to Prague and concentrated all his efforts on the Slavic Epic. This monumental cycle was donated by him to the Czech people and the city of Prague, but was not successful with art critics.

All Mukha's works are distinguished by their unique style. The figure of a beautiful and girlishly graceful woman, freely but inseparably inscribed in an ornamental system of flowers and leaves, symbols and arabesques, became his trademark.

The center of the composition, as a rule, is a young healthy woman of Slavic appearance in loose clothes, with a luxurious crown of hair, immersed in a sea of ​​flowers - sometimes languidly captivating, sometimes mysterious, sometimes graceful, sometimes impregnably fatal, but always charming and pretty.

Alphonse Mucha's paintings are framed by intricate floral ornaments that do not hide their Byzantine or Oriental origin. Unlike the disturbing paintings of his contemporary masters - Klimt, Vrubel, Bakst - the works of Alphonse Mucha breathe calmness and bliss. Art Nouveau in Mucha's work is the style of women and flowers.

The open sensuality of Mucha's work still captivates viewers, despite the fact that each era creates its own new forms of the erotic ideal. All critics note the "singing" lines in Mukha's paintings and the exquisite coloring, warm, like a woman's body.

A lot of decorations based on Mucha's sketches were made for the bride, and then the artist's wife, Maria Khitilova, whom the artist and his friends called Marushka. Khitilova was Mukha's compatriot. They got married in 1903 and lived together all their lives.

Maria was 22 years younger than the artist and outlived him by about the same amount. There was no material calculation in her feelings for the artist, because at the time of their wedding, the debts of Alphonse Mucha far exceeded his fortune.

Maria Khitilova became Mukha's permanent model, and her features are easily guessed in many paintings. In their marriage, two daughters were born, who, when they grew up, also became characters in many of the artist's paintings. Red-haired Slavic beauties in the paintings of Alphonse Mucha are dictated precisely by the images of the artist's wife and his daughters - they all had this type of appearance.

Many visual elements of his work can be found in the works of contemporary designers, illustrators and advertising artists. Mucha bowed to the ideal of artistic versatility. He was not only a painter and graphic artist. Mucha knew how to do what few people could do: he brought beauty into everyday, everyday life, made him take a fresh look at the secondary art of posters, posters and the design of various goods.

The artist created not only real paintings and, but also made simple things that surround us into works of art. Being a typical embodiment of artistic searches at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, Mucha's style became a model for a whole generation of graphic artists and designers. And today we present the Art Nouveau style through the works of Alphonse Mucha, while not knowing the name of the artist.

We remember not so much his name as his works, which continue to be popular with both museum visitors and designers.

Mucha expressed the Art Nouveau style in clear, distinct and expressive forms, easily remembered even by an inexperienced viewer. The purity of expression of style makes the work of Alphonse Mucha a unique phenomenon in history.

The artist died on July 14, 1939 - exactly 4 months after the occupation of the Czech Republic and Moravia by Nazi troops and 10 days before his seventy-ninth birthday.

Today in Prague there is a museum dedicated to the artist's work. There you can also find a lot of souvenirs with images of paintings and illustrations by Alphonse Mucha.

"Slavic epic"

Alfons Mucha is a Czech artist whose name has become a symbol of the Golden Age of painting in the West, but is practically unknown in our country. Meanwhile, the talented master left a deep mark on the history of art, introducing his own unique style, which is still called the “Fly style”. What is the mystery and tragedy of the famous artist's fate? This is our article.

Biography

Alfons Mucha was born in 1860 in the town of Ivancice (Moravia). His father was a court official, and his mother was the daughter of a wealthy miller. From childhood, the boy showed his creative inclinations, carried away by singing. Already at school age he began to draw, and after graduating from the gymnasium he decided to enter the Prague Academy of Arts. He failed his exams, so he had to look for a job. The father arranges his son as a clerk in court, and in his free time, Alfons Mucha works part-time in the theater. He tries himself as an actor, and then a poster decorator. It was a time of creative wanderings and self-discovery. For some time he worked as a stage designer for the theater, and then he was invited to paint the walls of the castle of Count Couen-Belassi. The count, admiring the talent of the artist, agrees to pay for his education at the Academy of Arts in Munich.

Confession

After training, Alphonse Mucha moved to Paris. However, by this time his patron dies, and the artist is left without a livelihood. To do what you love, you need expensive paints, brushes and paper. To feed themselves, the future celebrity is forced to earn a living by making posters, posters, invitations and calendars. But fate favors genius. One such poster radically changes Alphonse's life. the famous actress, for whose performance Mucha wrote an order, recommends him as the chief decorator of the Renaissance Theater. The artist instantly becomes famous. From orders for posters, as well as advertising posters for various products, there was no end. At the same time, Alphonse Mucha begins to paint original paintings, organizes solo exhibitions in Paris.

Love

New moments in life are connected with Paris. Here, at the National Theatre, Mucha meets a young Czech woman, Maria Khitilova. A girl who is 20 years younger falls in love with an artist and arranges a meeting with him herself. Maria becomes a new muse for Alphonse, the second love in life, as he himself noted, after his homeland. In 1906 the master marries Maria. They later have two daughters and a son. At the same time, Mucha moved to the United States at the invitation of the American Society of Illustrators, where he continued to work until 1910. Here he receives several commissions for portraits, and also lectures at New York University. But the dreams of the homeland do not leave the artist, and soon he returns to the Czech Republic.

Last tribute to the motherland

After returning to Prague, Alfons Mucha, whose paintings are becoming known throughout the world, proceeds to his most ambitious work. He plans to paint monumental canvases depicting the history of the Slavic peoples. In 1928, the author finishes the "Slavic Epic" and presents it to his native Prague. Mucha's work on the creation of official banknotes and stamps of independent Czechoslovakia belongs to the same period. Throughout his life, Alphonse does not stop learning and improving his artistic talent.

forgotten genius

After the 30s, interest in the work of the fly began to decline, and by the beginning of the 2nd World War, it was completely included in the list of enemies of the III Reich. He was imprisoned on suspicion of promoting anti-fascist and nationalist sentiments. After a series of arrests and interrogations in 1939, Alphonse dies of pneumonia, having managed to publish his memoirs in 1939. Mucha was buried in the Czech Republic at the Visegrad cemetery.

A family

Mucha lived a long and fruitful life, leaving behind talented descendants. Maria, a student and wife of the master, outlived her husband by 20 years. Jiri, the artist's son, became a well-known journalist, and the master's daughters and grandchildren inherited their creative abilities. So, Mukha's granddaughter Yarmila, who is still alive, created a project to create decorative items based on the sketches of her grandfather.

Creation

Alphonse Mucha, whose paintings became popular not only at home, but also in other countries, was able to achieve stunning success in his life. Having been educated in Brno, and then in Munich and Paris, the author began his career with illustrations in fashion magazines. Collaborating with many well-known magazines and newspapers, such as "People's Life", "Figaro" and "Paris Life", the artist developed his own, unique style. There were also serious works at this time, such as the History of Germany. Mucha's fate took a turn in 1893, when he received the usual order from the Renaissance Theater for a playbill for the play Gismonda. Sarah Bernard took part in the performance. The great actress was fascinated by the work. She wanted to get to know the author of the poster personally. She also subsequently insisted that Alphonse become the chief decorator of the Renaissance Theater. So Mucha suddenly became one of the most popular artists in Paris. He began to write posters, posters, postcards. His paintings began to decorate the most fashionable restaurants and ladies' boudoirs. During this period, the artist Mucha Alfons painted the famous series of paintings "Seasons", "Stars", "Months". Today, the master's works are included in the collections of museums around the world, and in Prague there is a museum entirely dedicated to the work of the famous fellow countryman.

The most famous series of paintings

Mucha painted several hundred paintings and posters throughout his life. Among the most famous works, a significant place is occupied by the famous series "Seasons", "Flowers", "Months", "Precious Stones", as well as the world-famous "Slavic Epic". Consider the history of most author's writing.

"Slavic epic"

At the end of his life, the artist Mukha Alfons plans to create a series of works about the history of the Slavic peoples. For the sake of his dream, the master goes to work in America, where he is forced to work hard, creating advertising posters and posters. Mucha collected ideas for future paintings while traveling through the Slavic countries, including Russia. Work on the "Epic" lasts 20 years. As a result, Alphonse painted 20 canvases measuring 6 by 8 meters. These paintings, filled with calmness, wisdom and spirituality, are considered his best works. The canvases reveal the history of several peoples at once. For example, the work "Battle of Grunwald" tells us about the liberation of Lithuania and Poland, which survived the battle with the crusaders. Here is a brief Alphonse Mucha included in the plot real historical events that took place in the XIII century in Europe. The work is filled with grief and emotion about the fate of the Slavic peoples in difficult periods of bloody wars. In each of his paintings of the Slavic Epic series, the artist reflects his faith in the bright future of his people. The most famous work from this series is the painting "The Apotheosis of Slavic History". The canvas depicts four eras of development of Slavic culture and history at once: the ancient world, the Middle Ages, the period of oppression and a bright future. The picture realized all the skill and talent of the great artist. The main goal of Mucha's creativity is to help people understand each other, to become closer. After completing the main work of his life, Alphonse presented the entire series of paintings to his beloved city of Prague. The work was completed in 1928, but since then there was no place in Prague to store and display such large-scale paintings, the Slavic Epic was first shown in the Palace of Fairs, and after the war was placed in one of the Moravian castles. After the war, the works were put on public display only in 1963. To this day, residents and guests of the city can admire this gift of the famous master, whose name is Alphonse Mucha.

"Seasons"

At the end of the 19th century, the artist was actively working on illustrations for the fashionable Parisian magazine Kokoriko. For the first time, a cycle of paintings made in gouache and pencil, called "12 Months", appears on its pages. The works, distinguished by their original style and originality, immediately fell in love with the readers. The drawings were images of graceful women with lush hair and beautiful figures. All the ladies looked attractive and seductive. A mysterious and graceful woman, drowning in a sea of ​​flowers, has always been depicted in the very center of the work. The pictures were framed by graceful ones made in oriental style. In 1986, the author paints the decorative panel "Seasons", preserving the images of divine beauties. Now the work is done with gouache and ink, but the style remains the same. The paintings were released in limited series, but sold out very quickly. The panels were printed on silk or thick paper and hung in living rooms, boudoirs and various restaurants. All drawings differed in mood and color scheme, which Alphonse Mucha carefully selected. Spring, for example, was depicted in pastel light pink colors. Summer - with the help of bright green shades, autumn - rich orange, and winter - transparent cold. At the same time, all the paintings are filled with charm, tenderness and tranquility.

advertising posters

The artist created his first advertising poster in 1882. He quickly realized that this was a very profitable business. True, the then unknown artist did not receive so many orders. He painted posters for various theatrical productions. After the arrival of popularity (thanks to Sarah Bernhardt), he becomes one of the leading artists of Parisian advertising. The posters reflected the original "Fly style" (named so later). The paintings were rich in colors and details. His compositions, usually depicting languid luxurious girls, began to be published in fashion newspapers and magazines. “Women of the Fly” (as they are beginning to be called in Paris) circulate in thousands of copies in posters, calendars, playing cards, advertising labels. The artist creates labels for matches, bicycles and champagne. There was simply no end to good orders, and now all of Paris will know who Alphonse Mucha is. The poster (the description of the painting "The Four Seasons" has already been presented above) is to the taste of the director of one of the well-known publishing houses "Champenois", and the artist concludes a lucrative contract with him. Later, while working in America, the master continues to work on a series of advertising posters, earning money for his dream "Slavic epic". Until now, these works of the master are replicated around the world in the form of fashionable art posters.

Alfons Mucha Museum in Prague

It is the only official museum of the artist. It was opened in 1998 by the descendants of the famous master. The expositions presented in the halls tell about the life and work of a skilled painter. Visitors to the Alphonse Mucha Museum get acquainted with a series of art posters created by the author at the end of the 19th century. The works reflect the elegance and beauty of female images, so beloved by the artist. Here you can also see the famous poster for the theatrical production of Gismond, which changed the life of a genius. It is from this picture that the exclusive "Mukha's style" begins, which distinguishes his work from all his predecessors. Further, guests can enjoy the spirit of the “revival” of the Czech state in the form of stamps and banknotes designed by Alfons himself. A significant place in the museum is dedicated to the famous paintings of the Slavic Epic. Visitors will also learn the details of the author's personal life. The museum presents photographs of models and friends of the great artist, as well as sketches for his future works.

Conclusion

Alphonse Mucha gave rise to a new one, becoming a role model for many famous artists of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. "Fly Style", expressive, spiritual and understandable to an inexperienced viewer, is still popular among contemporary craftsmen and designers. It feels the soul of the author, his piercing love for the motherland and an amazing sense of beauty. The bold sensuality of the author's paintings delights, fascinates and surprises anyone who discovers this unique and mysterious "Fly style". All this makes the creations of Alphonse Mucha a significant milestone in the history of world art.

End of the 19th century. Fin-de-siecle. In Europe, Art Nouveau or Art Nouveau rules. To the accompaniment of high-profile disputes between art historians, academic norms are crumbling. Straight lines give way to floral curls, and Victorian luxury - the desire to achieve harmony with nature. Alphonse Mucha, like many other artists of his time, was swept up in a wave of new art. "Women of the Fly" ("Les Femmes Muchas") became the personification of Art Nouveau.

photo: fragment of the painting "Laurel" by Alphonse Mucha, 1901

The image of La Femme Fatale

The sharply changed social role of women and the desire of the symbolists for simplicity, puritanism, give rise to a hostile attitude towards a sexually attractive woman. This is how a new female image is created - la femme fatale ("femme fatale"). Symbolists, inspired by the poetic images of Proserpina, Psyche, Ophelia, the Lady of Chalotte, draw mysterious, ephemeral women. But, at the same time, their nervousness, often hysteria, is striking. Sometimes they are even ugly and disgusting.

Sharing the general ideas of the Symbolists, Mucha managed to create the image of a beautiful, magnificent, graceful woman. She seemed to be frozen between the world of people and the world of the gods. She is a demigoddess, a deity of nature, the embodiment of Destiny itself. And, contrary to the fact that Alphonse Mucha himself considered the main work of his life, 20 monumental canvases on historical subjects under the general name "Slavic epic", it was precisely "women" that became crucial in his life. And, both in quotes and without them. Just women.

Series Time of day: Day rush, Morning awakening, Evening reflection, Night rest

Alphonse Mucha: the early years

Alfons Maria Mucha was born in 1860 in the Czech town of Ivančice near Brno. Here he met his first love, but soon the girl, like most of his brothers and sisters, died of tuberculosis. Alphonse will name his future daughter by her name - Yaroslav, and her image will appear in his work for a long time.

Portrait of Yaroslav's daughter, 1930

Series Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter

Theater in the life of Alphonse Mucha: Gismonda, Sarah Bernhardt

Mucha's first acquaintance with the theater took place in Vienna when he was 19 years old. Mukha perceived the illusory nature of the theater very organically, since as a boy he sang for several years in the church choir of the city of Brno. In 1887, having received financial assistance from a familiar philanthropist, Mucha moved to Paris, the center of the cultural life of Europe. Of course, at first the young artist has an extremely difficult time. He moonlights as a decorator, eating only lentils and beans for months. But rotation in bohemian circles, acquaintance with Paul Gauguin and August Strindberg play a decisive role in shaping him as an artist. From them, Mucha learns about symbolism and synthetic art.

But one phone call changed the life of Alphonse Mucha completely and irrevocably. It happened on December 26, 1894, when the artist, replacing his friend, worked part-time at the Lemercier Theater. The director of the publishing house, Brunhoff, was called by Sarah Bernard and asked to urgently make a poster for her new play Gismonda. All the staff artists were on Christmas break, the director looked at Mukha in despair. It was impossible to refuse Divine Sarah.

The poster drawn by Mucha made a splash in the design of the poster. I was struck by both its size (about 2 m by 0.7 m) and the new author's style. Collectors fought over every copy of the poster, even cutting them off fences. Mucha became famous overnight. Satisfied, Sarah Bernhardt offered Mucha a 5-year contract to design posters, costumes, decorations, and scenery for her performances. In addition, Mucha enters into an exclusive contract with the Champenois publishing house for the production of commercial and decorative posters.

Of course, neither the press nor the public ignored the relationship between the brilliant actress and the young artist. Moreover, the name of the latter spoke, as it were, for itself. At that time, the hero of the play by Dumas Jr. "Monsieur Alphonse", who lived off his mistresses, was very popular. The fact that the well-being of Alphonse Mucha more than improved after signing a contract with Sarah Bernhardt is undeniable. But at the time of their acquaintance, Mucha was 34, and Sarah Bernhardt was 50 years old. Mucha wrote that, of course, Bernard is irresistible, but "on stage, under artificial lighting and careful make-up." Rather, Sarah Bernard's attitude towards the artist can be compared with the patronage of her older sister. But her role in his life is difficult to overestimate.

The Models of Alphonse Mucha

In his new workshop, Alphonse Mucha works a lot with models. He draws and photographs them in luxurious outfits and jewelry. Adds comments to photos like “beautiful hands”, “beautiful hips”, “beautiful back”. Then, from individual parts, he puts together an ideal image. It happened that Mucha even covered the faces of the models with a handkerchief if they were discordant with the image created by his imagination.

The Models of Alphonse Mucha

Marushka

The true love of Alphonse Mucha was Maria Khitilova. Also Czech by nationality, a young girl (more than 20 years younger than Mucha) fell in love with the artist after seeing him at the Prague National Theatre. Soon she herself arranges their meeting and acquaintance, posing for the master for a long time. Mukha has a new muse, he calls her Marushka. And all the women who were before Khitilova, Mukha defines as "strangers." After all, until now, in his heart there was only true love for his homeland, and he so dreamed of finding a "Czech heart, a Czech girl."

“How wonderful and gratifying it is to live for someone, before you I had only one shrine - our homeland, and now I have set up an altar for you too, dear, I pray for both of you ...”, wrote Mucha.

Portrait of the artist's wife Marushka, 1905

Less and less Mucha creates demigods, painting a real woman, as well as portraits of Yaroslav's daughter and Jiri's son. And upon returning to his homeland, to the Czech Republic, the artist takes on the implementation of the project of his whole life - the "Slavic epic". The paintings created by Mucha in almost 15 years are so grandiose and monumental that only a castle in the town of Moravsky Krumlov in the Czech Republic could place them. All of them, by the way, were donated by the artist himself to the inhabitants of Prague.

Fate

There was another Woman who occupied a special place in the life and work of Mucha. It was Fate. Fascinated by the occult, spiritualism and psychics, the artist firmly believed in the finger of Fate, in a lucky break. In his opinion, it is Fate that leads a person through life, determines his actions. This woman also embodied in the paintings of Mucha.

Painting "Fate", 1920

With the advent of avant-garde ideas and the flourishing of functionalism, Alphonse Mucha loses its relevance as an artist and decorator. The Nazis, having occupied the Czech lands, add his name to the lists of enemies of the Reich. He is arrested, accused of Slavophilism and connections with the Freemasons, and interrogated. As a result, the 79-year-old artist falls ill and dies of pneumonia.

During the Bolshevik regime in Czechoslovakia, Mucha's work is considered bourgeois and decadent. And only in the 1960s, through the efforts of the artist's children, his works resume participation in international exhibition activities. And in 1998, the Mucha Museum was opened in Prague and the Cultural Foundation named after him was created.