Alphonse Mucha

'Alphonse Mucha was born in Moravia in 1860, and by the age of 40 he had both become a fixture of Parisian culture and successfully earned a place in the eternal pantheon of Art as an icon of illustration. His wonderful, Byzantine poster designs from 1894-1900 literally defined a movement: “Mucha Style” would be a term popularly used before Art Nouveau (after Bing’s Parisian store La Maison de l’Art Nouveau) took academic hold. Both in the era of the movement and in today’s academic discourse, Mucha’s unique decorations are the universal standard against which any Art Nouveau artwork is measured.

Mucha, however, had a sensitivity towards his purpose as an artist, and commented in his journals on the under- current that reveals the integrity that fueled the deeply rich quality of his art: “I did not find true satisfaction in this kind of work [decorative art]. I saw that my way was also a little higher; I was looking for the way to spread a light that would reach even the most remote corners.”'

- Quoted from Thomas Negovan’s Le Pater: Alphonse Mucha's Symbolist Masterpiece and the Lineage of Mysticism (2019)