Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939) was a Czechoslovakian painter whose charismatic, decorative and highly distinct style had a significant influence upon what became an international, twentieth century artistic movement known as Art Nouveau. His paintings and illustrations are elegant and eye-catching: And as fashionable now in the twenty-first century as they were at the turn of the twentieth century; when Art Nouveau was at its peek.
The oeuvre of his oil paintings was decoration, style and women – An accumulation of chic, grace and beautiful, curvaceous form. Art Nouveau was at its height from around 1895 until 1905. The opus of Art Nouveau is that art should be a functional part of everyday life and so applied to everything, from an armchair to advertising and architecture.
Alphonse Mucha had a great deal to do with the incredible sway this New Art style had upon the Parisian avant-garde: And so the international popularization of Art Nouveau. In France it was Art Nouveau (New Art): In Germany it was Jugendstil (Youth Style): In Italy it became known as Stile Liberty (Liberty Style) – After Art Nouveau became synonymous in Italy with the London fabric, fashions and furnishings department store Liberty.
The Alphonse Mucha style quite literally became an overnight sensation when a lithographic theatre poster he designed emerged into the heart of Paris on January 1st 1895. It advertised a play by the great Parisian dramatist Victorien Sardou: Who popularized and wrote many famous plays such as La Tosca (1887) as well as created the genre of the nineteenth century drama - The Well Made Play. In January 1895 this artistic style was not known as Art Nouveau: It was known as Style Mucha; French for The Mucha Style.
Mucha had moved from Czechoslovakia to Paris around eight years beforehand and studied arts at the Académies Julian and Colarossi: He earned money producing illustrations for advertisements and various publications. The poster advertising Sardou’s play Gismonda starred one of the most famous actresses in Paris: Sarah Bernhardt. Just two weeks beforehand Mucha had been in a print shop when the urgent need for a poster advertising the play came about: Which was being held at one of the most grand and famous theatres in Paris – Théâtre de la Renaissance.
The Gismonda poster was so successful Bernhardt commissioned his work on contact for six years. During this time Mucha produced an incredible body of posters, illustrations and designs – In addition to producing designs for carpets and wallpaper as well as theatre sets. His designs were as curvaceous, beautiful and strong as the women he so frequently portrayed in his most famous illustrations: Unquestionably, his was a distinctive style – A style that would be imitated many times over until ultimately it became known as Art Nouveau.
The Exposition Universelle held in Paris from April 15th until November 12th 1900 saw Art Nouveau Style become internationally renowned Designer Chic. This was a world fair held to celebrate and honor everything that had been accomplished during the nineteenth century – It also endeavored to pick up the pace of development with the dawning of a new era. There were over seventy-six thousand exhibitors at the Exposition Universelle; which spread for more than a kilometer, right across the heart of Paris. It was here that more than fifty million visitors from all over the world would recognize a new style – A style that was predominant at the exhibition – A style that was now known as Art Nouveau.
I think the Exposition Universelle made some contribution toward bringing aesthetic values into arts and crafts – Alphonse Mucha
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Our canvas art and oil paintings are painted to the highest standards by artists with at least fifteen years experience. We guarantee you won’t get better quality elsewhere. Whatever your room size, whatever your budget, whatever your style, Arts My Passion has it all.
Our wall art ranges from the modern day contemporary canvas art to the reproduction of traditional oil paintings by the great masters. We can produce custom sizes and custom artworks; our limits are infinite.
