Alphonse Mucha

Second Czechoslovak Republic·1860-1939

Alphonse Mucha was a Czech painter and graphic artist who became the defining visual voice of Art Nouveau. Working in Paris from 1888, he revolutionized theatrical poster design through his work for Sarah Bernhardt, creating images that combined delicate draftsmanship, sinuous decoration, and an iconic ornamental arch that framed the human figure. His illustrations and decorative panels made him one of the most recognizable artists of the 1890s and early 1900s. At fifty-seven, he returned to Czechoslovakia and devoted the last years of his life to The Slav Epic, a monumental series of twenty symbolist canvases painted between 1912 and 1926, depicting the history of the Slavic peoples. He presented this work, which he considered his most important achievement, to the Czech nation in 1928 on the tenth anniversary of Czechoslovak independence.