Art Nouveau: Alphonse Mucha - The Master of Theatricality

With his a rich body of art work beaming with enchanting women, streaming hair and flowing fabrics, Alphonse Mucha became one of the most fascinating artistic personalities of the turn of the century. Mucha was, too, a universal artist. He was not solely a painter and a graphic artist,  he also practiced in sculpture, jewelry making, interior decorating and utilitarian art. However, his particular talent lay in decorative graphics, which, to this day, remains the base of his fame. His name has an everlasting link to the Art Nouveau movement.

Between the years of 1879 and 1881, he had a job at a Viennese studio as a junior specializing in stag sets. This revealed his undeniably talented understanding of how to arrange scenic events in an effective manner. The theater became a major source of inspiration for Mucha as it gave him ideas that would form his symbolic gesture-language that he applied to his figures and their spectacularly fantastical costumes.

He developed a style where he could combine elements of different epochs with contemporary Art Nouveau decorative art. He also found inspiration in the century old tradition of sacred art, Far Eastern art, Japanese woodcuts and The Symbolist Movement.

After leaving for Paris from Munich in 1888, he continued his studies at the Acadèmie Julian. He spent timeless periods studying in botanical gardens, boulevards, markets and railway stations, capturing perspectives, gestures and movements in his sketchbooks. This enabled him to develop, in addition, virtuosity as a graphic artist.

His printed works, such as posters, book illustrations, calendars, and magazine titles reached incredible widespread popularity. This was, however, partly due to the highly advanced reproduction techniques of the time. These compositions did, however, in their decorative motifs, abundance of ornamental pictorial elements and sparing use of calligraphically drawn lines, have the strength to shape a style.

His claim to fame was his depictions of idealized, stylized woman figures that are beautiful and girlishly graceful. They are usually loose but inseparably framed by ornament rich in flowers and foliage, symbols and arabesques. This pictorial motif shaped a style known as “Style Mucha” and became synonymous with the Art Nouveau movement.

His big break was an emergency overnight commission for what would become his first lithographic poster from Sarah Berhardt and her Théâtre de la Renaissance. This narrow, upright, almost life-sized theatrical poster was a turning point in his career represented a surprising step towards an inimitable personal style.  This advertisement for Victorien Sardou’s Gismonda appeared on the streets of Paris in the first week of 1895. It caused a roaring sensation with its wealth of well-chosen color.

Sarah Berhardt was so persuaded by the pictorial depiction of her dramatic art that she immediately signed an exclusive contract with Mucha for 6 years. This made him responsible for not only her posters but also for the stage sets and costumes of her Théâtre de la Renaissance until 1901. This overwhelming, and almost instant, success determined the nature and direction of his work for years to come.

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His works recorded the vital atmosphere of Paris in a time where it was not merely just the capital of France, but the glittering cultural capital of the world. He captured the liveliness of the turn of the century with all its worldliness and decadence.

Reference

Books

Ulmer, R., Mucha, AM.          1994. Alfons Mucha. Techen. Zurich