July 24 marks the 156th birth anniversary of the world famous Czech artist, illustrator, jewelry designer, poster artist Alphonse Mucha. He is called one of the most famous representatives of the Art Nouveau style and the creator of his own unique style. "Women of the Fly" (images of the seasons, time of day, flowers, etc. in female images) are known all over the world for their open sensuality and captivating grace.
Alphonse Mucha has been drawing well since 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 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, Mucha moves to Paris, where he studies at the Colarossi Academy and earns a living by making advertising posters, posters, restaurant menus, calendars and business cards. The meeting of the artist with the actress Sarah Bernhardt was fateful. Once the owner of the printing house de Brunoff ordered him a poster, Alphonse went to the performance and, under the impression, sketched a sketch on a marble slab of a table in a cafe. Later, de Brunoff bought this cafe, and the table with the drawing of the Fly became his main attraction. And when Sarah Bernhardt saw the poster, made in the technique of multi-color 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 he has designed many posters, costumes and scenery for her performances.
In 1897, the first personal exhibition of Alphonse Mucha was held in France. At the same time, the concept of “Women Mukha” appeared: it was not his romantic hobbies that were meant, but the habit of depicting the seasons, flowers, time of day, art forms, precious stones, etc. in female images. His women have always been recognizable: graceful, pretty, full of health, sensual, languid - they were replicated in postcards, posters, flyers, playing cards.
The halls of restaurants and the walls of rich houses were decorated with his work, he was incredibly popular, orders came from all over Europe. Soon, Mucha began to cooperate with the jeweler Georges Fouquet, who created exclusive jewelry according to his sketches. At the same time, the artist continued to work on the design of packaging, labels and advertising illustrations - from champagne and chocolate to soap and tissue paper. In 1895, Mucha joined the Salon Hundred symbolist association. They promoted a new style - Art Nouveau, and the democratization of art, which was expressed in the concept of "art for the home": it should be inexpensive, understandable and accessible to the widest sections of the population. Mucha liked to repeat: "Poverty also has a right to beauty."
In 1900, Mucha took part in the design of the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Exhibition in Paris. At that time, he became interested in the history of the Slavs, which became the reason for the creation of the Slavic Epic cycle. From 1904 to 1913 Mucha spends a lot of time in America, decorating houses, creating illustrations for books and magazines, posters and costume designs for theater productions, and lectures at the Art Institute in Chicago. And then he decides to return to the Czech Republic and for 18 years he has been working on the Slavic Epic.
Alphonse Mucha had a chance to visit Russia. His personal exhibition took place here as early as 1907, and in 1913 he went to Moscow and St. Petersburg to collect materials for the Slavic Epic. The Tretyakov Gallery and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra made a great impression on him. Mucha was in the house of the artist Pasternak when they were celebrating the publication of a collection of poetry by his son, Boris Pasternak.
The work of Alphonse Mucha still finds its successors today:
Alphonse Mucha is a Czech-Moravian painter, theater artist, illustrator, jewelry designer and poster artist, one of the most famous representatives of the Art Nouveau style.
Biography of Alphonse Mucha
Early period
Alfons Mucha was born in the town of Ivančice (Eibenschütz) (Czech. Ivancice, German Eibenschütz) in South Moravia, near Brno, in the family of a poor court official Ondrej Mucha, the father of six children from two marriages. The artist's mother was Amalia Mukha, the daughter of a wealthy miller. As a child, Alfons was fond of singing and was accepted as a chorister in the boys' choir of the chapel of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Brno, which allowed him to study at the gymnasium. By the same time, his first experiments in painting belong (watercolor "Jeanne d'Arc"). At the end of the gymnasium, he tried to enter the Prague Academy of Arts, but did not pass the exams and for some time, under the patronage of his father, worked as a clerk in the court of his native town. He devoted all his free time to classes in the local amateur theater - first as an actor, then as a decorator and artist of posters and invitation cards.
In 1879, Mucha was noticed and invited to Vienna to the art workshops of Kautsky-Brioche-Burghardt, as an artist of theatrical scenery. But after a fire in the "Ringtheater" in 1881, which led to the death of about 500 people and destroyed his workshop, the decorating company collapsed, and he himself was so shocked that he left Vienna and moved to the small Moravian town of Mikulov (Nikolsburg), where worked on the decoration of the family castle of Count Karl Kuen-Belassi, and then his main palace Emmahof (named after Emma, the count's wife) in the Moravian city of Grushovani. Soon the artist made, together with the Kuen-Belassi spouses, a trip to Northern Italy and the Austrian Tyrol. There, Alphonse Mucha for some time painted the walls of the castle, which belonged to the brother of Kuen-Belassi. Admired by the talent of the young Moravan, the count agreed to pay the expenses of his studies at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Here Mucha soon headed the Association of Slavic Artists.
Life in Paris
After two years of studies in Munich, Mucha moved to Paris in 1887 and entered the Académie Julian, and then the Académie Colarossi, the most famous art schools of his time. However, in the same 1887, Count Couen-Belassi committed suicide. The fly was left without a livelihood. He had to interrupt the system of painting and make a living by making advertising posters, posters, calendars, restaurant menus, invitations, business cards. His workshop is above Madame Charlotte's confectionery (for some time he shared it with Van Gogh). However, sometimes there were serious orders. So, in 1892, Mucha illustrated the multi-volume work Scenes and Episodes from the History of Germany, by the French historian Charles Segnobos. The appeal to great people and great events not only of the German, but also of the pan-European past enriched the artist with valuable experience, which later came in handy when working on his most famous creation, the Slavic Epic.
A turning point in the fate of the Moravian genius came in 1894, when on the eve of Christmas he received from the Renaissance Theater a seemingly unremarkable order for the poster for the premiere of Gismonda, starring the great actress Sarah Bernhardt.
This work instantly made him perhaps the most popular artist in Paris. The delighted Sarah Bernhardt wished to meet the unknown artist, and at her insistence he got the job of the theater's chief decorator. Over the next six years, many posters for performances came out from under his brush, the most famous of which include The Lady of the Camellias, Medea, Samaritan Woman, Tosca and Hamlet, as well as the scenery of her productions, costumes and decorations. For some time, Mucha was also the lover of the famous actress.
During these years, he became widely known as the author of labels and vignettes for various goods - from champagne and biscuits to bicycles and matches, as well as a designer of jewelry, interiors, and applied arts (carpets, curtains, etc.).
There was no end to orders. Newspapers wrote about the phenomenon of the Fly, in Paris even a new concept appeared - “La Femme Muchas”. Luxurious, sensual and languid "Mukha's women" were instantly 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", "Gems" were created, which are still replicated in the form of art posters ( and subjected to shameless plagiarism at all levels). One of the most famous Parisian graphic publishers, "Champenois" ( Le Champenois), enters into an exclusive contract with him for his applied art.
All Mukha's works are distinguished by their unique style.
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. The paintings are framed by intricate floral ornaments that do not hide their Byzantine or Oriental origin. Mucha's lithographs were made in the same style, illustrating "Ilsa, Princess of Tripoli" by Robert de Fleur ... Unlike the disturbing paintings of his contemporary masters - Klimt, Vrubel, Bakst - the works of Alphonse Mucha breathe calmness and bliss.
In 1895, Mucha entered the circle of symbolists "Salon hundred" ( Salon des Cent), grouped around a small art gallery of the same name, to which such personalities as artists Bonnard, Toulouse-Lautrec, Grasse, poets Verlaine, Mallarme and others belonged. Among his acquaintances are the Lumiere brothers, with whom he participates in experiments in cinematography, and Strindberg. Since 1897, he has been organizing solo exhibitions in Paris and other European cities, including Prague, which are very successful, magazine La plume dedicates a special number to him. In 1900, Mucha took part in the decoration of the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Exhibition in Paris. This event prompted him to become interested in the history of the Slavs, which later led to the creation of the Slavic Epic cycle.
Home again
Immediately after returning to the Czech Republic, in the huge Crystal Hall of the Zbiroh Castle near Prague, he set to work. Over the next eighteen years, twenty monumental canvases came out from under his brush, depicting turning points in the history of the Slavic peoples, in particular, “Slavs in their historical homeland” (“Slavs in their ancestral homeland”), “Simeon, Tsar of Bulgaria”, “Sermon of the Master Jan Hus", "After the Battle of Grunwald", "Jan Comenius leaves his homeland" and "The abolition of serfdom in Russia". In the same years, he worked on the interiors of the most famous buildings in Prague in the Art Nouveau style - the Municipal House, the Europa and Imperial hotels, and created a sketch of the main stained-glass window of the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, which was being completed.
After the formation of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Mucha was absorbed in creating the "official" graphic style of the new state: his talent was the samples of the first banknotes and postage stamps of the country, one of the versions of the state emblem, and even government letterheads and envelopes.
In 1928, Mucha finished his "Slavic epic" and presented it to the city of Prague. Due to the fact that there was no gallery in Prague at that time that could accommodate it in its entirety, it was temporarily exhibited in the Palace of Fairs, and after the war it was placed in a castle in the town of Moravsky Krumlov (available for inspection since 1963).
By the end of his life, interest in him was lost: in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s (the heyday of functionalism), as well as in the socialist period, his work was considered outdated and overly nationalistic.
The patriotism of the artist (not so much Moravian or Czech as common Slavic) was so famous that the authorities of Nazi Germany included him in the list of enemies of the III Reich - despite the very significant contribution of Alphonse Mucha to German culture. After the capture of Prague in March 1939, the Gestapo arrested the elderly artist several times and interrogated him, as a result of which he fell ill with pneumonia and died on July 14, 1939. Alphonse Mucha was buried at the Vyšehrad Cemetery.
Creativity of the artist
Mucha placed an idealized image of a woman at the center of his posters: smooth lines, closeness to natural forms, rejection of pointed corners - these characteristic signs of Art Nouveau left an indelible impression in the minds of the recipients.
The female image itself was then used for advertising purposes for the first time, but history has shown what success this experience gained, and to this day is used by specialists from such leading countries in the advertising industry as the United States. However, Mukha must be given his due: it is difficult to find the slightest hint of sweetness in his works, which cannot be said about modern counterparts. Perhaps the fact that the aesthetics of the Czech artist was formed under the influence of medieval plots and Celtic mythology played a role here. This, on the one hand, introduced a variety of symbolism into his creations, and, on the other hand, contributed to the ornamental complexity of many posters. For orderly consideration of the background of Mucha's works, it is necessary to introduce a conditional classification:
Floral motifs, borrowed from Eastern culture, have become an essential attribute of Art Nouveau paintings for many artists: floating stems and pale petals fully corresponded to the Art Nouveau concept not only with their forms, but also with a combination of colors that had not been combined before. In Mucha's works, one can find vivid confirmation of this: pastel colors, exotic outlines, as if repeating the image of a beautiful lady, located in the foreground with her flying unrealistically long hair, dressed in light, akin to Greek tunics, clothes - all this created a unique harmony and unity , due to the interpenetration of elements of the female figure and background.
Turning to the consideration of the ornament, it should be noted that the most frequently used geometric figure in Mucha's works is the circle as a symbol of endless repetition, circulation, and also as a symbol of the feminine. Even advertising inscriptions behind the image of a beautiful lady were located in a semicircle with smoothly outlined letters.
Another motif is a symbolic image of a horseshoe in an enlarged form, with a painted ornament inside.
Here again lies a reference to the pagan worldview, not to mention the background images using mythical creatures. Mucha's creative concept was reflected in every detail of his paintings and posters: an emotionally executed figure filled with power, occupying most of the space, would be unfinished without an appropriate background that combines the features of fine and applied art. Mucha consciously sought a compromise between Byzantine and Eastern principles, between modernity and rich mythological subjects, he turned exquisite portraits of women into works of mass art and succeeded in this: everyday life was already absorbing new forms.
Thus, summing up the above, it should be noted that poster advertising of the late 19th century consists of genuine masterpieces of fine art: street posters were created not exclusively for marketing purposes, they expressed the mood of an entire era, which means they sought to conquer the minds not for commercial gain, but for a complete transition to a new vision of reality, freed from the conservatism of the past.
Bibliography
- Official website of the A. Mucha Foundation (eng.)
- Works by Alphonse Mucha
- Alphonse Mucha. Turning "earthly" into art
- Alphonse Mucha and his Art Nouveau masterpieces
- About 300 works by Alphonse Mucha
- Alphonse Mucha (Slavic epic)
- Alphonse Mucha: Flowers and Dreams Art Nouveau
- "Slavic epic" Alphonse Mucha
- Veletržni palác (Kontakty)
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Alphonse Maria Mucha(1860-1939) - Czech graphic artist, painter, virtuoso of arts and crafts. His name is associated with the emergence of a new style in art, which originated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In European art, this style was called Art Nouveau or Art Nouveau.
A distinctive feature of works in the Art Nouveau style was the rejection of straight lines in favor of natural natural curves. Alphonse Mucha was a recognized master of new refined forms. His multifaceted talent influenced many European architects, artists, and graphic artists.
Biography of Alphonse Mucha
On July 24, 1860, near Brno, in the old small Moravian town of Ivancice, Alfons Maria Mucha was born. The boy early began to get involved in singing and painting.
After graduating from the gymnasium, his father sent his work to an art school in Prague with a request for enrollment. But in response, the professors said that the author of the works did not have enough talent.
After such a failure, the young man had to work as a clerk in a local court. But this did not stop Alphonse from inventing scenery, drawing posters and tickets for the local theater. In many ways, this period of life determined the nature of his future work.
Two years later, in 1789, following an advertisement in a Viennese newspaper, Alphonse Mucha got a job in the workshop " Kautsky-Brioche-Burkhart”, which was engaged in the manufacture of various theatrical fittings.
In 1881, the workshop was completely destroyed in a fire, and the artist was forced to leave for the small Czech town of Mikulov. Here he had to deal with the design of the family castle of the local count Kuen Belasi.
The work of Alphonse made a great impression on the count, who offered the young artist help and became his patron. In 1885 Alphonse entered the third year of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. After studying for two years, the artist decided to complete his artistic education in Paris.
Alphonse Mucha was accepted into one of the most famous art schools in France - Julien Academy and then in Academy of Colarossi. However, in 1889 he was deprived of the financial assistance of Count Kuena-Belassi and worked as a simple designer, newspaper illustrator.
In 1894, the artist received an order from the theater " Renaissance". A poster was required for the premiere of the play "Gismonda" with a brilliant Sarah Bernard. By choosing an elongated horizontal format for work, adding colors and small details, the artist changed the principle of compiling posters that still existed.
The work of an unknown artist made a huge impression on Sarah Bernhardt. The great actress wanted to meet him. As a result of cooperation, the following works were created: “ lady with camellias», « Medea», « Samaritan», « Yearning», « Hamlet»
For six years after this happy meeting, Alphonse Mucha, as the chief decorator of the Renaissance Theater, drew posters, created decorations, and designed costumes and scenery for these performances.
During this period of creativity, the artist develops his characteristic recognizable style.
The semantic center of the horizontally elongated panel is the image of a mysterious stranger with a captivating smile on her lips, framed by an intricate ornament made up of fragments of fantastic flowers and plants, symbolic images, exquisite weaves of arabesques.
On the wave of success, in 1897, in the Parisian gallery " La Bodiniere» the first exhibition of the artist's works was successfully held. The next year in Salon des Cent(Salon Sta) opened a second, larger one. Then a number of exhibitions were held throughout Europe.
In 1898, Alphonse began a brilliant collaboration with Georges Fouquet, the son of an enterprising Parisian jeweler. The result of the joint work was an extraordinary collection of jewelry. Impressed by the success of the jeweler, he ordered Mukha to decorate the facade of his house and develop the interior for a new store.
In addition to artistic creativity, Alphonse Mucha was engaged in teaching and analytical activities. In 1901, his book Decorative Documentation was published, which became a practical guide for many artists.
It contained samples of all kinds of ornaments, sketches of furniture, household items, sketches of jewelry. Most of the presented drawings were later embodied in finished products.
In 1900, the World Exhibition was held in Paris, for which Mucha designed the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was at this time that the artist developed an interest in the history of the Slavic peoples, which only intensified while traveling around his native places. The desire to create a cycle of patriotic paintings in the neoclassical style grows stronger in him.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Alphonse Mucha had gained a reputation as a master, whose opinion was respectfully listened to by the artistic community not only in Europe, but also in America, which he first visited in 1904. The name of Alphonse Mucha was well known in America.
April 3, 1904 newspaper " new york daily news" printed one of his works - " Friendship"and an article dedicated to the artist's work. In 1906 Alphonse Mucha collaborated with " German Theater» in New York: he came up with scenery and curtain design, created decorative panels and costume designs. He spent four years in the United States, successfully combining painting and teaching.
Returning to the Czech Republic in 1910, the artist began to work on the realization of his old dream - the creation of a cycle of paintings " Slavic epic". This work took almost 18 years.
In 1913 Alphonse Mucha traveled to Russia, visited Moscow and St. Petersburg. A visit to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra caused him special feelings. The impressions received during the trip were reflected in the "Russian" canvases of this cycle.
In 1918, the new republic of Czechoslovakia was formed, and its government turned to Alfons Mucha with a request to develop the design of new state, postage stamps, the state emblem and forms of government documents. This period of his work is marked by the creation of a sketch of the famous stained glass window in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle.
The final canvas from the Slavic Epic cycle was written in 1928, and the artist donated 20 works to the Czech people that poeticized the history of the Slavic peoples. These works aroused less interest among the audience than his early works in the Art Nouveau style, although for Alphonse Mucha himself, working on this grandiose idea was the main meaning of his creative life.
In 1939, after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the artist was arrested by the Nazis. In prison, on July 14, 1939, Alfons Mucha died and was buried at the Vyshegrad cemetery in Prague. In 1998, a museum was opened in the capital of the Czech Republic in honor of the famous Czech artist.
Creativity and works of Alphonse Mucha
The paintings of Alphonse Mucha, with the exception of the epic paintings "Slavic Epic", are few and practically unknown to the general public. This is mainly chamber genre and portrait painting:
- « Woman in red", 1902
- « Madonna of the Lilies", 1920
- « Winter night", 1920
- « Portrait of Yaroslav", 1930
- « Woman with a burning candle", 1933
Cycle of works "Slavic epic"
From 1910 to 1928, Alfons Mucha worked on the painting cycle "Slavic Epic" from 1910 to 1928. 20 grandiose canvases were donated to Prague. The artist considered working on this cycle the main work of his life. Part of the pictures from the cycle:
Lithographs, posters and posters
Alphonse Mucha skillfully used the wide possibilities of the lithography technique (printing from the surface of a stone treated with a special chemical composition) in his works. With its help, he achieved a unique play of textures that enhances the artistic expressiveness of works known today to the whole world. The lithography technique allows replication, while each print retains its artistic originality. Thanks to this, the artist quickly became known throughout the world. In many houses one could see images of his beautiful women.
- Posters for the performances of the theater "Renaissance", 1894-1900
- » 1897
- ”, series 1896
- ”, series 1898
- ”, series 1900
- ", 1911
Jewelry
Creating posters for performances where Sarah Bernhardt shone, Alphonse Mucha depicted unusual jewelry on them. In search of new forms, he studied history and folklore.
These unseen pieces caught the attention of Georges Fouquet, a Parisian jeweler. As a result of the happy collaboration of two talented artists, completely innovative works of jewelry art were born.
The most famous work of jewelry art, created according to Mucha's sketch in 1899 - " rose hands”, a gold bracelet in the form of a snake, decorated with a scattering of precious stones. For the first time, a sketch of this bracelet appeared on the poster for the play " Medea»
It is noteworthy that although Alphonse Mucha is rightfully considered a recognized master of Art Nouveau, the artist himself did not recognize his closeness to this art. He was categorically opposed to being remembered only for his magnificent decorative works.
Working on the "Slavic epic", he hoped to convey to the minds of people his spiritual component, patriotism, concern for the future of his people. However, in the history of art, Alphonse Mucha forever remained a master of perfect forms.
Alfons Mucha Museum in Prague
In 1998 in the historical center of Prague, in a magnificent baroque Palace of Kaunitsky, built in 1720, a museum dedicated to the work of the world famous and beloved Czech artist Alfons Mucha was opened.
The museum collection contains more than 100 works. Paintings, drawings, pastels, lithographs, photographs, personal items. Particular attention is paid to the works of the most famous, Parisian period of the artist's work. The museum has a souvenir shop.
The cost of visiting the museum:
- 180 crowns - adults
- 120 CZK - children, students and seniors over 65
- 490 CZK - family ticket (2 adults, 2 children)
Museum address: Prague 1, Panská 7. Location on the map of Prague:
Telephone: +420 221-451-333
Official website of the museum: www.mucha.cz
Work schedule: daily from 10:00 to 18:00
Alfons Mucha made a truly invaluable contribution to the development of the culture of his homeland, and the Czech Republic is grateful for all his creations.
Alfons Maria Mucha was born in the Czech town of Ivancice, near Brno,
in the family of a petty court official. The courthouse where the artist's father worked is still standing,
and now it houses the museum of Mucha Jr.
The boy drew well from childhood and tried to enter the Prague Academy of Arts, but to no avail.
After high school, he worked as a clerk until he found a job as an assistant through an ad.
decorator in the Vienna "Ringtheater" and did not move to the capital of Austria-Hungary.
In Vienna, in the evenings, he attended drawing courses and made the first illustrations.
to folk songs. After the theater burned down, Alphonse was forced to move to
the Czech city of Mikulov, where he painted portraits of local nobles.
There he met Count Kuen-Belasi, a man who played a very important role in his life.
Mucha was engaged in decorating the count's castle, and the aristocrat was fascinated by his work.
As a result, Kuen-Belasi became a patron of the young artist.
He paid Alphonse two years of study at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1888, Mucha moved to Paris and continued his education there.
Many at that time aspired to the capital of France - after all, then it was the center of new art:
Eiffel had already constructed a three-hundred-meter tower, the World Exhibitions were noisy, and the artists were breaking
canons and promoted freedom. However, the count's financial affairs deteriorated,
and Mukha was left without a livelihood.
In Paris, Alphonse Mucha took up design for the first time, established contacts with publishing houses,
started creating covers and illustrations. He painted in oils
and his paintings were translated into the language of woodcuts.
For a long time he was interrupted by small orders, until Sarah Bernhardt appeared in his life -
brilliant French actress.
Perhaps Fly would have succeeded without her, but who knows ...
Sarah Bernard
Sarah Bernard
Sarah Bernhardt on Mucha's poster for the play Gismonda.
In 1893, before Christmas, Mucha received an order to create a poster for the play Gismonda.
Theater "Renaissance", owned by Sarah Bernhardt.
The artist depicted the prima, who played the main role in the performance, on an unusually shaped poster -
long and narrow. This emphasized her regal posture, the flowing hair of the actress Mucha
decorated with a wreath of flowers, put a palm branch into a thin hand, and gave a look of languor,
creating a general mood of tenderness and bliss. No one had done anything like this before Mukha.
To get the poster, collectors bribed posters or cut Gismonda off fences at night.
It is not surprising that the actress wished to meet the author and signed a cooperation contract with him.
Bernard Alphonse worked at the theater for six years. "The Lady of the Camellias", "Medea", "The Samaritan Woman",
"Lorenzachio" - all these posters depicting Bernard were as popular as "Gismonda".
lady with camellias
Samaritan
Hamlet
He came up with sketches of theatrical costumes and scenery, designed the scene and even participated in directing.
At the end of the 19th century, the theater was the center of social life, people talked about it and
argued in the salons, in the theater the ladies demonstrated new toilets and
jewels, and the men showed the ladies -
in general, the theater was food for inspiration and gossip.
Gems
Amethyst
Emerald
In the same Art Nouveau style, the artist also created colorful graphic series:
"Seasons", 1896, "Seasons", 1899, "Flowers", 1897, "Months", 1899, "Stars", 1900,
which to our time are widely replicated in the form of art posters.
Luxurious, sensual and languid "Mukha's women" were replicated
instantly and dispersed 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.
Success came to the artist.
Poetry
Painting
Music
A little later, Mucha also began to collaborate with the well-known at that time
jeweler Georges Fouquet, who created jewelry according to the sketches of the artist.
products. Mucha-style jewelry is still popular today.
During the same period, Mukha designed many packaging, labels and
promotional illustrations for goods and products of various kinds -
ranging from expensive Moet & Chandon champagne to
toilet soap.
Cleopatra
Byzantine head
These two compositions, one of which depicts the profile of a blonde and the other a brunette,
are among the most expressive works of Alphonse Mucha. Except skillfully captured faces
and richness of nuances of color, their charm lies in luxurious and fantastic headdresses,
conjuring up the vanished magnificence of Byzantine culture.
Byzantine head
During the six-year collaboration between the actress and Alphonse Mucha
warm friendly relations arose, as evidenced by their
correspondence. And love? Did Sarah Bernard bewitch the Muhu in the same way as
a galaxy of many other men? Of course, the reporters did not pass over in silence
the relationship of the actress with the Czech artist, especially since his name was
speaking in its own way: the same name was given to the comedy character Dumas son
"Monsieur Alphonse", living off his mistresses.
Some even recommended that he change his name or sign with his godfather name - Maria.
However, Mucha was not Alphonse in the sense that Dumas put into this name.
In his correspondence with Bernard there is not even a hint of what was gossip about in high society.
Zodiac
reverie
Indeed, after the conclusion of the contract with Bernard, orders fell on Mukha,
he acquired a spacious workshop, became a welcome guest in high society, where he often appeared
in an embroidered Slavophile kosovorotka, belted with a sash.
A. Mucha Self-portraits
He also had the opportunity to arrange solo exhibitions.
In February 1897 in Paris, in a tiny room of a private gallery
"La Bordiniere", his first exhibition opens - 448 drawings, posters and
sketches. She enjoyed incredible success, and soon the people of Vienna,
Prague and London got a chance to see it all too.
Alphonse Mucha was a female beauty singer. women on
his lithographs are attractive and, as one would say now, sexy.
"Les Femmes Muchas" ("le femme Musha", "women of the Fly") -
languid, lush and graceful.
A complex interweaving of folds of clothing, curls, colors, patterns.
Impeccable composition, perfection of lines and harmony of color.
Czech artist Alphonse Muchu, like many other artists of his time,
pierced by an arrow of new art. It is interesting that the tastes of the artist demanded from him even
new technical solutions in the field of lithography. Art Nouveau, or Art Nouveau, swept Europe with
early 1880s, and only the First World War returned to the prose of life
beauty lovers.
Ivy
Thistle
And then academic norms collapsed, art historians argued loudly, in fashion
included oriental motifs. Painters abandoned straight lines,
fantastic lilies, daffodils and orchids bloomed on the canvases,
butterflies and dragonflies fluttered. Art Nouveau artists believed in the possibility of achieving
harmony with nature, simplicity and moderation, contrasting them with Victorian luxury.
Expressed in art, these virtues were supposed to contribute to the harmonization
relations between people - after all, beauty now seemed not to be something abstract,
beauty has become synonymous with truth.
And, of course, the phrase of Prince Myshkin "Beauty will save the world" was inscribed on the banners of supporters of everything new.
Flowers
One of the first theorists of Art Nouveau was the English painter and art critic John Ruskin.
His ideas were quickly taken up by British Pre-Raphaelite artists who followed
the traditions of the Florentine masters of the early Renaissance (“Pre-Raphaelites”, that is, “before Raphael”).
Their fraternity included John William Waterhouse, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti...
those of whom England is now proud. Pre-Raphaelite brush created a new female image
la femme fatale ("la femme fatale", "femme fatale") - mysterious, mystical and beautiful.
The muses of the artists were Proserpina, Psyche, Ophelia, the Lady of Shalott -
victims of tragic or unrequited love. And the painters drew inspiration from their stormy
personal life. It was these images that fascinated Alphonse Mucha.
Carnation
Princess Hyacinth
Moon
His series "Seasons", "Art", "Gems", "Moon and Stars" and
other interesting lithographs that were reprinted as postcards,
playing cards and diverged instantly - they all depicted women.
Mucha worked a lot with the models he invited to his studio, drew and photographed them
in luxurious draperies. He provided photos of models with comments -
“beautiful arms”, “beautiful hips”, “beautiful profile”…
and then from the selected "parts" he put together the perfect picture.
Often, while drawing, Mucha covered the faces of the models with a handkerchief so that they
imperfection did not destroy the ideal image he invented.
Nature
At the turn of the century, Alphonse Mucha became a real master, to whom
listened to in circles of the artistic community.
Sometimes even the Art Nouveau style in France was called the "Fly style".
Therefore, the publication in 1901 of the artist's book seems natural.
"Decorative Documentation".
This visual guide for artists, on the pages of which
reproduced a variety of ornamental patterns, fonts, drawings
furniture, various utensils, cutlery sets, jewelry, watches, combs, brooches.
The technique of the originals is lithography, gouache, pencil drawing and charcoal.
In 1906, Alphonse Mucha leaves for America to earn money,
necessary to fulfill the dream of his entire creative life:
creating paintings for the glory of their Motherland and all Slavs.
In the same year, he marries his student Maria Khitilova, whom he passionately loved and
who was 22 years younger than him.
Maitre Mukha among the female images of the Four Seasons series.
Image on the wall of a jewelry boutique in Austin, Texas.
Few people know about the monumental historical canvases of Alphonse Mucha,
but his "women's collections" the world admires so far,
although the artist himself considered only these canvases the main business of his life.
In 1910 he returned to Prague and concentrated all his forces
on the "Slavic epic". This monumental cycle was donated by them
to the Czech people and the city of Prague, but was not successful with criticism.
At the same time, he designed a stained glass window design for St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
(commemoration of Saints Cyril and Methodius)
and painted many portraits of his wife, two daughters, son Jiri.
After the proclamation of the republic in 1918, Mucha was entrusted with the production of the first Czechoslovak
postage stamps, banknotes and the state emblem.
Panel from the cycle "Slavic epic"
In the spring of 1913, Alphonse Mucha went to Russia to collect materials for future paintings in the cycle.
The artist traveled to St. Petersburg and Moscow, where he visited the Tretyakov Gallery.
The Trinity-Sergius Lavra made a particularly strong impression on him.
The choice of the year of travel to Russia was not accidental. In 1913, the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty was celebrated.
Our Father
And one more very important aspect of the life of this great admirer of female beauty
(just look at his poetic portraits of women).
His personal, family life. Against the background of many loves, Mukha has always been
happy love for the only one. In 1906, already forty-six years old,
famous, he married in Paris his young student and
compatriot Maria Shitilova. She was and remained until the end of her life
his beloved Muse, his model. She was 22 years younger than the artist. AND
adored him. Sincere and disinterested. For by the time of their marriage his debts
were much larger than his fortune. However, they both knew: "money is a thing
acquisitive" - and with uneven, irregular incomes, they gave birth and raised a son and
two daughters - red-haired beauties, so similar in face and article on
dazzling mother. Then he painted them, daughters, and in
singing lines of their figures, in their features he still found her, his adored
Mary, for until the last hour he did not want and could not get rid of her charms.
daughters
Daughter of Yaroslav
artist
Young girl in Moravian costume
Woman with a burning candle
Mucha died in 1939 of pneumonia. The cause of the illness was arrest and interrogation.
in the Czech capital occupied by the Germans: the Slavophilism of the painter was so famous
that he was even included in the nominal lists of enemies of the Reich.
Fate
A museum in Prague is devoted to the work of Alfons Mucha,
exposition of the cycle "Slavic epic" in Moravsky Krumlov and an exhibition about the early years of his life
in a renovated building. court in Ivančice.
Mucha's works are included in the collections of many prominent museums and galleries around the world.
Construction plans are currently being developed in Prague's Stromovka park,
not far from the former exhibition complex, a special building for exhibiting the "Slavic epic".
Maxim Mrvitsa - Claudine
Spring |
Winter |
Yaroslav, 1925
The boy drew well from childhood and tried to enter the Prague Academy of Arts, but to no avail. After high school, he worked as a clerk until he found a job as an assistant decorator at the Vienna Ring Theater and moved to the capital of Austria-Hungary. In Vienna, in the evenings, he attended drawing courses and made the first illustrations for folk songs. After the theater burned down, Alfons was forced to move to the Czech city of Mikulov, where he painted portraits of local nobles.
There he met Count Khuen von Belassi, a man who played a very important role in his life. Mucha was engaged in decorating the count's castle, and the aristocrat was fascinated by his work. As a result, Kuen-Belasi became a patron of the young artist. He paid Alphonse two years of study at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts.
Girl in Czech costume
In 1888, Mucha moved to Paris and continued his education there. Many at that time aspired to the capital of France - after all, then it was the center of new art: Eiffel had already constructed a three-hundred-meter tower, the World Exhibitions were noisy, and the artists broke the canons and promoted freedom. However, the count's financial affairs deteriorated, and Mucha was left without a livelihood. For a long time he was interrupted by small orders, until Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), a brilliant French actress, appeared in his life. Perhaps Fly would have succeeded without her, but who knows ...
Portrait of Milada Cerny
In 1893, before Christmas, Mucha received an order to create a poster for the play "Gismonda" at the Renaissance Theater, which was owned by Sarah Bernhardt. The artist depicted the prima, who played the main role in the performance, on an unusually shaped poster - long and narrow. This emphasized her regal posture, the actress Mukha decorated her loose hair with a wreath of flowers, put a palm branch in her thin hand, and gave her eyes languor, creating a general mood of tenderness and bliss.
No one had done anything like this before Mukha. Before Gismonda, Sarah Bernhardt had only one noteworthy poster, made by the Swiss decorator Grasset - "Jeanne d'Arc". But the Gismond poster was much more interesting. To get it, collectors bribed posters or cut Gismonda off fences at night.
Flowers, 1897 |
Fruit, 1897 |
It is not surprising that the actress wished to meet the author and signed a cooperation contract with him. Bernard Alphonse worked at the theater for six years. "The Lady of the Camellias", "Medea", "The Samaritan Woman", "Lorenzachio" - all these posters depicting Bernard were as popular as "Gismonda". He came up with sketches of theatrical costumes and scenery, designed the scene and even participated in directing.
At the end of the 19th century, the theater was the center of social life, they talked and argued about it in the salons, in the theater the ladies showed new toilets and jewelry, and the men showed the ladies - in general, the theater was food for inspiration and gossip. And, of course, Sarah Bernard, and especially her personal life, has always been the object of attention of journalists and the public. There were plenty of reasons. Bernard inspired poets and writers, blue-blooded men fell in love with her.
Oscar Wilde poetically called her "a beautiful creature with the voice of singing stars." Victor Hugo presented Bernard with a diamond, symbolizing a tear that he could not hold back during a performance with her participation. The actress loved to play along with the audience. So, she allegedly did not know who was the father of her only son, and, to the indignation of respectable ladies, she called him "the fruit of a wonderful misunderstanding."
Heraldic chivalry
During the six-year collaboration between the actress and Alphonse, warm friendly relations arose, as evidenced by their correspondence. And love? Did Muhu bewitch Sarah Bernard in the same way as the galaxy of many other men? “Madam Sarah Bernhardt, as it were, was created to portray greatness dejected by grief. All her movements are full of nobility and harmony,” critics wrote. Of course, the reporters did not pass over in silence the relationship of the actress with the Czech artist, especially since his name was speaking in its own way: the same name was given to the comedy character Dumas the son “Monsieur Alphonse”, who lives off his mistresses.
spring night
Indeed, after the conclusion of a contract with Bernard, orders poured into Mukha, he acquired a spacious workshop, became a welcome guest in high society, where he often appeared in an embroidered Slavophile kosovorotka, belted with a sash. He also had the opportunity to arrange solo exhibitions. Some even recommended that he change his name or sign with his godfather name - Maria.
Poetry, 1898 |
Music, 1898 |
However, Mucha was not Alphonse in the sense that Dumas put into this name. In his correspondence with Bernard there is not even a hint of what was gossip about in high society. Rather, it was patronage, in some ways, perhaps, akin to the patronage of an older sister.
Dear Fly, Bernard wrote to the artist in 1897, ask me to introduce you to society. Listen, dear friend, to my advice: exhibit your work. I will put in a good word for you... The subtlety of the line, the originality of the composition, the amazing coloring of your paintings will enchant the public, and after the exhibition I portend glory to you. I clasp both your hands in mine, my dear Fly. Sara Bernard.
Girl with flowing hair and tulips, 1920
In the year they met, Sarah was fifty, and Mukha was thirty-four. Mucha wrote that, of course, Bernard is beautiful, but "on stage, with artificial lighting and careful make-up." Mucha admired Bernard as an actress even when she was in her sixties. In those years, Mucha lived in the USA, and Sarah Bernhardt came to this country on tour. They met more than once, and Mucha certainly wrote about these meetings to his fiancee Marie Chytilova (Marie Chytilová), assuring that between him and Bernard there were always only friendly relations.
Woman with a burning candle, 1933
Maria Khitilova was Mukha's model for a long time. Her features are easily guessed in many of the artist's paintings. There are much more reasons to trust Mukha than newspaper gossip - Fly was too noble to deceive his bride. However, Mucha was not even that chaste ascetic, as Jiri Mukha, the artist's son, presented him in his book. Jiri claimed that before meeting his mother, Alphonse allegedly did not know women. But it's not. For example, Mucha lived for seven whole years with the Frenchwoman Bertha de Lalande.
Salome
The artist met Khitilova only in 1903 - Maria Khitilova herself arranged their meeting. She was Czech, graduated from a secondary art school in Prague, and at the age of twenty-one she left for Paris. For shelter and board, she lived in a French family, helped with the housework and took care of the children. For the first time, Maria saw Fly in the Prague National Theater and fell in love like a girl, although she was fit for the master as a daughter - she was twenty-two years younger than him. The girl asked her uncle, an art historian, to recommend her to Mukha as a compatriot and aspiring artist. To the recommendation, she attached her letter with a request to receive her on the day and hour when it would be convenient for Alphonse. And Mucha invited Maria to his studio ...
Day rush, 1899 |
Morning awakening, 1899 |
Carnation, 1898
Lily, 1898
And soon he began to call her Marushka and write tender letters: My angel, how grateful I am to you for your letter ... Spring has come to my soul, flowers have blossomed ... I am so happy that I am ready to burst into tears, sing, embrace the world.
In his letters, Mukha confessed to Marushka that he had been in love with her only once, at the age of sixteen. That girl was fifteen, apparently, it was her name Yaroslava. She died - tuberculosis claimed many lives at the end of the nineteenth century. Her death for the subtle and sensitive nature of Mucha was a tragedy. Since then, Mucha, as he himself writes, turned all his ardent love to the homeland and our people. I love them as my beloved ... Alphonse called everyone who was with him before Khitilova "foreign women", who only brought him torment. And he so dreamed "all the years of exile about the Czech heart, about the Czech girl."
Red cloak, 1902
By the time she met Maria Mukha, the series “Flowers”, “Seasons”, “Art”, “Time of Day”, “Precious Stones”, “Moon and Stars” and other interesting lithographs had already been created, which were reprinted in the form of postcards, playing cards and dispersed instantly - they all depicted women. Mucha worked a lot with the models he invited to his studio, drawing and photographing them in luxurious draperies or naked. He provided photos of models with comments - “beautiful hands”, “beautiful hips”, “beautiful profile” ... and then he put together the perfect picture from the selected “parts”. Often, while drawing, Mucha covered the faces of the models with a handkerchief so that their imperfection would not destroy the ideal image he had invented.
Yaroslava and Jiri - the artist's children
But after marrying Marushka in 1906, the artist painted less and less of the demigods familiar to the viewer - apparently, a real woman replaced a mirage and a memory. Mucha and his family moved to Prague, where he began to create the "Slavic Epic", developed a sketch of the stained-glass window of St. Vitus Cathedral and painted many portraits of his wife, daughter Yaroslava, son of Jiri. Mucha died in 1939 of pneumonia. The cause of the illness was the arrest and interrogations in the Czech capital occupied by the Germans: the painter's Slavophilism was so well known that he was even included in the name lists of the enemies of the Reich.
Madonna with Lilies, 1905
Marushka remained with her husband until his last breath. She survived her husband by twenty years, tried to write memoirs about him. The love that was between Mukha and Khitilova is called in Czech "láska jako trám" - that is, a very strong feeling, literal translation: "love is like a beam."
From a letter from Mukha: 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, dear, I pray for both of you ...
Are men of the twenty-first century capable of such words? ..
Around the world
Amethyst, 1900 |
Rubin, 1900 |
Portrait of Yaroslava (the artist's daughter), 1930
Prophetess, 1896
spirit of spring
Dream Supper - Night's Dream, 1898
Ivy, 1901
Fate, 1920
Zdenka Cerny, 1913
Portrait of a woman |
Portrait of Madame Mucha |
Portrait of his wife, Maruška, 1908
Gold plated bracelet
Seasons, 1898
Byzantine head. Blonde, 1897
morning dawn
Byzantine head. Brunette, 1897
Slavs in their own land. 1912
Introduction to the Slavic liturgy. Fragment. 1912
