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42 West 17th Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10011 (212) 645-0808 phone (212) 924-7978 fax gallery@ceruttimiller.com www.ceruttimiller.com |
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Alphonse
Mucha Alphonse
Mucha wrote the book on art nouveau, quite literally: his
"Documents Décoratifs"
became the definitive text on the subject and was used by art schools
for a generation. Everything that is best about the style - elaborate
ornamentation with themes from nature, fine draftsmanship, the idealized
feminine subjects, use of symbolism and allegory - flourished in him to
a high degree of stunning mastery. He seems to approach even the most
mundane of themes with an almost pious reverence, and he can elevate a
girl advertising a common product into an ethereal vision of mystic
significance. He
was born in the small Moravian village of Ivancice in what was then
Austria (later, it became part of Czechoslovakia). After studies in
Vienna and Munich he came to Paris, where he had the good fortune to be
at the right place at the right time: Sarah Bernhardt, the reigning
queen of the theater, needed a rush poster when no one else was
available due to the Christmas holiday, and had no choice but to use
Mucha - but, once she saw his work, he became her favorite designers of
not only posters, but costumes, sets and jewelry as well for the next
decade. Eventually, his association with her got him to spend some time
in the United States, where he made a connection with a rich patron who
enabled him to accomplish his life's ambition - a series of historic
canvases about the about the Slavic tribes in Europe. An
excellent lithographer and master colorist, Mucha created about 100
posters and decorative panels and has remained one of the few artists
whose body of work still excites collectors the world over. A
significant number of special exhibits of his posters have been held in
the past two decades, and the most prominent admirer and compatriot who
has amassed nearly his complete output, tennis star Ivan Lendl, has made
his collection available for touring shows - the most recent of which
scored a major success in Paris in 1989.
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