ALPHONSE MUCHA
Czech graphic artist and
painter who worked in
Prague. Pans. Chicago, and
New York. For ten years
Mucha designed theater
posters exclusively for the
actress Sarah Bernhardt.
He designed the Austrian
pavilion for the Paris World
Fair in 1900. and also stamps
and bank notes. He is best
known for posters featuring
ethereal women in typical
Art Nouveau style.
Art Nouveau motifs This is a
preliminary study for a subsequent
print. Art Nouveau curling motifs of
birds, fruit, flowers, and fish have
been outlined using a sharp pencil.
The three plates facing us were
drawn with a compass. Black
watercolor washes and lines of
white gouache have been added
with a fine brush.Background color Between the
delicate shadows and highlights
of these glazed and metal
surfaces we see a large amount
of the background color of the
paper. Look at the two spoons at
top right and see how Mucha
has suggested that they are so
brilliantly shiny they reflect the
background color.Study for Plate 59 from
"Documents Decoratifs"
1902
17 x 12^1 / 4 (430 x 310 mm)
ALPHONSE MUCHA