Alfons Mucha (born July 24, 1860 – died July 14, 1939) was an outstanding artist of the 19th-20th century Art Nouveau, who is called his own by both the Czech Republic and France. He became famous for his original posters with beautiful women and exquisite floral designs. Alphonse Mucha also created a cycle of monumental paintings glorifying the motherland. He invented unusual jewelry and designed interiors. The construction of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, which lasted 600 years, was completed shortly after the installation of a grandiose stained glass window according to the sketch of this master.

Biography of Alphonse Mucha

Alfons Mucha was born on July 24, 1860 in the south of Moravia. This is a historical region of the Czech Republic, which at that time belonged to the Austrian Empire. The artist’s childhood passed in a rather poor family: his father served as a petty official and raised six children. The boy was able to get a school education thanks to his talent for music: he sang in the church choir, which gave him the right to study at the gymnasium. But drawing attracted him more.

With the help of his father, Mucha gets a job as a clerk, and devotes his free time to amateur theater. He played roles, painted scenery and posters. Soon his artistic talent was noticed. At the age of 19, he was called to Vienna to create scenery for the capital’s theaters. Unfortunately, this career ended in tragedy: in 1881, a terrible fire broke out in the Ring Theater, which claimed the lives of 500 people. Mukha’s colleagues were among the dead. The shocked artist returns to provincial Moravia with almost no money.

While working as a portrait painter, he met Count Kuen-Belasi and received an offer to decorate his family castle. In the future, the count patronized the artist for several years and helped him get a professional education. Together with the Kuen-Belasi couple, Alphonse Mucha traveled to Italy, then studied for two years at the Academy of Arts in Munich, and finally arrived in Paris in 1887.

Parisian period

In France, Alphonse Mucha was quickly left without financial support: his patron lost a huge amount of cards and shot himself. The training was over and the work began. The artist painted posters and postcards, illustrated magazines, and eventually more serious book editions.

Real fame came to Alphonse Mucha through collaboration with the legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt. Once she urgently needed new posters: the version ordered in advance did not impress. Before the New Year holidays, no one wanted to work. Only Mukha came to the printing house, and in just one night he made a draft version of the future masterpiece. When the poster for the play “Gismonda” appeared on the streets, Mucha woke up famous.

In addition to posters, the painter created advertising posters and collaborated with the famous jeweler Georges Fouquet. The latter was interested in the amazing bracelet invented by Mucha for the playbill of the play “Medea”. Soon the artist’s fantasy was embodied in gold. The decoration was called “Rose of the Hand”, and new sketches followed.

American period and homecoming

In 1906, Alphonse Mucha married a young compatriot artist Maria Khitilova. Despite the big age difference, this marriage was a happy one. Two children were born in the family: Yaroslav’s daughter became an artist, and Jiri’s son became a writer and screenwriter.

To provide for his family, he traveled to the United States, where he spent several months a year. He taught, did interiors, painted portraits, and one day found a generous patron. It was the wealthy philanthropist Charles Crane.

To work on a new cycle, I had to rent rooms in the Crystal Castle, because in ordinary apartments there was no room for canvases measuring six by eight meters. The work stretched for 18 years and was completed by the tenth anniversary of the proclamation of the Czechoslovak Republic. Twenty grandiose works were donated to Prague, which at that time did not even have a gallery that could accommodate them.

The prosperous life of the 78-year-old artist ended after the capture of the Czech Republic by Nazi Germany. Because he was known for his patriotism, he was interrogated several times by the Gestapo. The result was pneumonia and death on July 14, 1939.