Alfons Mucha, 1860-1939: Master of Art Nouveau

Mucha's style epitomized, maybe defined Art Nouveau. His languid female figures, sentimental views of nature and classics, and loose allegories created a clear, strong graphic style. Perhaps it's ironic that Mucha's romantic style traces directly to a project done for commercial publicity. A commission in 1894 had Mucha create the first of his posters for Sarah Bernhardt. The poster's lithographic printing process imposed constraints to which his earlier oil paintings were not subject. For example, outlines around each feature derive from the idea of a "key block" for the multicolor process, and help hide uncertain registration in printing. Since it was necessary, Mucha made it part of his visual style, and used it in cigarette and soap ads as much in odes to the arts, senses, and seasons. This brief book presents a small selection of Mucha's huge output. It focuses largely on the commericial art from his incredibly productive 1895-1900 period. One earlier oil painting starts the collection; jewelry, interior design, and sculpture from all parts of his career appear as well. This collection also displays a few preparatory photos and drawings, sometimes with the finished work that they helped to develop. Although this book is well printed on bright, opaque paper, it's modest size sometimes makes the finest detail hard to pick out. Brevity is a problem, too - the biographical summary takes up only a few pages in the front of the book, but the book didn't have very many pages to give up. Still, it's an affordable and enjoyable summary, plenty to coax the reader into seeking out more of the beloved artist's work. -- wireweird

David is reviewing another book and people should not buy this for Mucha's non-photographic work. It is a small book of beautiful photographs by Mucha, quite varied, and very period-specific. Enthralling.

Excellent full color collection of Alphonse Mucha's illustrations. Larger and more informative than the "American Collection", and with just as nice reproduction but a much lesser cost than the "Spirit of Art Nouveau". For the art fancier on a budget, this is by far the best Mucha buy available.