The Art Nouveau Movement: a Legacy of Alphonse Mucha
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The Art Nouveau Movement: A Legacy of Alphonse Mucha Annie Lee The Art Nouveau Movement: A Legacy of Alphonse Mucha The Art Nouveau was a significant art movement that thrived internationally during 1890s to 1910s. It was used in design arts such as architecture, furniture, fashion, product design and graphics. The movement is notable for being concerned with the well-being of the societal condition and in its graphic design, organic quality, and whiplash flow. Elegant, graceful lines were the key motifs in the style. One of the most important pioneers of this movement is Alphonse Mucha, an artist who defined the art style and revolutionized design history. Art nouveau emerged from a fast pace of life and soulless mechanization during the 18th century’s industrial revolution. As society adapted, their lives became regulated by factory shifts and endless repetitive tasks. The natural methods and freedom of the artistic movement broke this pattern, becoming an escape from their uniform and dull lives. As conformity was on the rise, influences from Japan, India and Africa arrived in Europe. The Indian stories of Rabindranath Tagore, Japanese woodcuts, Ukiyo-e and porcelain and African art began to appear, and the idea of symbolic art re-emerged from realism in the previous era. Because of this, many artists and designers began to display nature in their work. This became the style of the young generation, the new bourgeoisie, in the industrial era; a style to differentiate itself from the past wealthy aristocrats. The new arts were richer in detail and variety of materials increased compared to the previous generation. Artists used stone, wood, ceramics, metal, and glass, even exotic woods from Asia and Africa. Art Nouveau was a deep and serious movement as it encouraged new solutions to create better lifestyle. Artists were concerned with beauty, the functionality of objects, value of life and its connection with nature. For example, they designed houses for patrons, and factories for their workers for a better working environment. However, though the industrial revolution was the catalyst for Art nouveau to flourish and helped in developing and strengthening economies worldwide, it caused great social harm. First, the industrial revolution led to the usage of machines, increasing unemployment issue since a single machine with one operator can do the job of many people. Also, since the Industrial Revolution led to the race of money, people wanted to have more, and avoided social gatherings to save money. For this reason, social life began to vanish. There was also an increase of disunity within families. Prior to the industrial revolution, the man of the household generally worked nearby home, leaving household chores to the mother and children. After industrialization, both men and women leave their home to work in factories for hours while children were left on their own. As families spent less time at home, they lost their unity. In the midst of the industrial revolution, Alphonse Maria Mucha was born on July 24th, 1860, in Ivančice, Czechoslovakia. He was known as a painter, photographer and designer, but he has been primarily remembered as an artist who created stylized, intricate posters of women, mainly of Parisian actress Sarah Bernhardt. Back in the Moravian village of Ivančice, young Mucha was known to have remarkable drawing ability. However, his father had wanted him to spend his life in priesthood. Eventually, he broke free of his expectations and left to become a painter in Vienna. The development of his work and visual posters were a part of the international movement and development to Art Nouveau. To start his artistic history, Mucha voyaged to Paris at the age of twenty-seven and The Art Nouveau Movement: A Legacy of Alphonse Mucha spent two years studying while being sponsored. However, his employers became bankrupt soon after and Mucha was left penniless. In order to support himself, he spent years selling sketches in a small town of Mikulov. Later, his talent was exposed by a local landowner who commissioned him to restore paintings, leading to a benefaction that allowed him to continue his studies in Paris. With his increasing recognition, Mucha was hired as an illustrator at Lemerciers’ printing company, and his talent started to gain attention. During the Christmas Eve of 1894, Mucha was assigned with a sudden commission from the famous Parisian actress Sarah Bernhardt: create a poster for a play, Gismonda, by New Year’s Day. The overall style and design of the poster pleased Berthardt, so she signed him to a six-year contract for jewelry, costumes, theatre sets, and more posters (figure 1). After Mucha’s success with Bernhardt, he received a new status and assembly of commissions from luxury industries such as Champenois, Moët & Chandon, Job and Nestlé. Art nouveau found its most complete style in Mucha’s work. He would often use curvilinear lines in the many motifs, such as female figure’s hair styles, dress fashions, vine tendrils, flowers, and birds. Typically, there was a central stylized female figure in sensuous or provocative poses surrounded with vaporous hair, dresses embellished with decorative ornaments inspired by nature such as willowy foliage, flowers and wrapped with extravagant jewels. The women in Mucha’s work had an innocent, exotic aura, and they had neither specific age nor historical period. The figures were drawn with expressive dark lines and it was enhanced by natural soft colors along with hints of gold. Also, functional and decorative plants were used to frame the illustrations and the background was filled with floral or ornate patterns. Such patterns were illustrated in his portfolio “Documents Decoratifs” in which he established his style and the main embellishing elements of Art Nouveau (figure 2). Towards the last two decades of his life, Mucha progressively worked to glorify the nation and culture. He showed his support for the political changes in the country through his art commissions, such as decorating the Bosnia-Herzegovina Pavilion for the Exposition Universelle. Furthermore, with the independence of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the government hired Mucha to design the postage stamps, bank notes of the new Republic, and the interior of the Czechoslovakian capital’s town hall. During this time, Mucha devoted most of his years to large works in Prague. His work, Slav Epic, a series of twenty large monumental murals and canvases, worshipped the history of Slavs, which revealed his outlook on history and his pride towards his people (figure 3). The Slav Epic series were often told in a mystical narrative. Unfortunately, his last artistic project was not successful despite his efforts. Soon after, the world was in chaos as World War II sparked and Germany had invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939. Mucha was among the first to be arrested and questioned by the Gestapo for designing currency that had questionable element such as the hammer and sickle, which represented the sign of Bolshevik leanings. However, he died soon by pneumonia before he could be placed in a prison. This was an unfortunate end for an artist who had favoured peaches-and-cream beauties, a romantic affection for his country, and a desire to please his clients. Ultimately, Art Nouveau was a movement that influenced many artistic discipline such as graphic design, architecture, and fashion. As the industrial revolution erupted in the 18th century, so did consumerism. Printing The Art Nouveau Movement: A Legacy of Alphonse Mucha techniques advanced and became efficient that posters filled the streets of Paris by the 19th century. Artist and the publics started to gain respect and popularity for commercial posters as it became a Parisian trend. Ultimately, Mucha was a significant figure who helped the art movement to progress and flourish internationally. He became an internationally recognized designer and artist as he captured the essence of the fin-de-siècle spirit in his work, although Mucha declined to be credited or to be associated with it. Regardless, he defined the style and the concept that art nouveau should reflect the nature and the well-being of people. The Art Nouveau Movement: A Legacy of Alphonse Mucha Figures Figure 1.Gismonda poster. Mucha’s poster for the play featuring Sarah Berthardt. Figure 2. Documents Décoratifs- Plate 11. Alphonse Mucha’s decorative design book. The Art Nouveau Movement: A Legacy of Alphonse Mucha (Figure.3) The Slav Epic Series- The Bulgarian Tsar Simeon. One of the paintings that Alphonse Mucha spent rest of his life on. The Art Nouveau Movement: A Legacy of Alphonse Mucha Works Cited Adams, Phoebe-Lou. "Mucha: The Triumph Of Art Nouveau." Atlantic 278.2 (1996): 94. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. "Alfons MUCHA." MUCHA, Alfons (Alphonse) MUCHA Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2014. <http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/biography.php?artist=MUC>. "Alphonse Mucha." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. "Alphonse Mucha: The Spirit Of Art Nouveau: Norton Museum Of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida." Drawing 20.2 (1998): 60. 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