So who is Alphonse Mucha? Alphonse Maria Mucha was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist best known for his distinct style and his images of women. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements, and designs.
For a brief background of Alphonse Mucha’s biography, he was first recognized around the Christmas of 1894 when he happened to drop into a print shop where there was a sudden and unexpected need for a new advertising poster for a play starring Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress in Paris at that time. Mucha volunteered to make the poster. Come New Year of 1895, the advertisement for the play Gismonda by Victorien Sardou appeared on the streets of the city giving him overnight success. As such, his name was revealed and announced all over Paris. To Bernhardt’s joy, she immediately entered into a 6 year contract with Mucha.
That was the start of the success of Mucha. After that, he produced a lot of paintings, posters, advertisements, and book illustrations, as well as designs for jewellery, carpets, wallpaper, and theatre sets. He was able to set a trademark on his designs as “Mucha Style”.
“Mucha Style” gained international presence through the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris. He later on decorated the Bosnia and Herzegovina Pavilion and collaborated in the Austrian Pavilion. He later on died on a lung infection on July 14, 1939 after being released against the hands of the Gestapo who captured him during the peak of fascism in the late 1930s.
Today, Mucha’s style are being revived in several arts such as the Sailor Moon posters, and other designs. Happy 150th birthday Alphonse Mucha!