Lovingly Immortalized

A  beautiful low chroma portrait painting of Mme Mucha, lovingly immortalized by Alphonse Mucha.

Ever Fabulous

Here's another one of those seldom seen preliminary studies by the ever fabulous Mucha from the ever fabulous Art Nouveau period.

Alphonse Mucha — preliminary study for an illustration — 1898

O-O-O-Ophelia

Another contemporary of Mucha (among hundreds of others, of course) was Joseph Kirkpatrick. While he is one of those not particularly associated with the Art Nouveau, his work was romantic and lyrical as was the case of so many other artists of the time. Perhaps because that was what the art academies and exhibitions were fond of, artists gravitated to similar subjects and manners — Hamlet's Ophelia being a favorite fantasy.

  

Joseph Kirkpatrick — Ophelia — 1896

Exquisite Flow

A contemporary of Mucha was John White Alexander who also infused an exquisite flow into his paintings though he was not truly an artist of the Art Nouveau, but rather was distinguished as a portrait painter, illustrator and Symbolist painter. The image below is seen here and there, but this is the warmest reproduction I've seen, which I think gives strength to the mysterious light source.

John White Alexander — Isabella & the Pot of Basil — 1897

New Year

I love finding Mucha artwork that I haven't seen before, let alone a thousand times as we've seen most of his work. This is a mezzotint print from the old days.

Alphonse Mucha — New Year — circa 1898

Remember, if we treat it right, every day is the start of a new year!

Handsome

This is a handsome digital medium rendering, utilizing some Mucha/Art Nouveau styling, brought to an androgynous slightly manga level, successfully giving new life to an old style.

© 2009 Shannon van Muijden — Declan O'Dwyer 

But, Still . . .

As I was preparing this, my daughter looked over my shoulder and said, "Mm, not his best work". She's right, but, still . . . Mucha!

Mucha — La Plume — 1897

A Treasure

Mucha is a treasure for the world, it being a better place because of him. I take comfort in looking at his work.

Alphonse Mucha — Hearst's International — December 1922

St-St-Stunning

It doesn't matter how often you have seen a particular stunning graphic by Mucha, it's stunning every time you see it!

Alphonse Mucha — Zodiac Panneau — 1896

This is a print I bought at a private museum in London.

Allegorical Month

Mucha — The Month of May — 1895

Wiener Chic

Now THERE's a magazine title that might work in the 21st century!

Mucha — Wiener Chic — January 1905

Wouldn't it be Loverly?

Mucha's work, in general, is cozy and warm to look at. Wouldn't it be loverly to take in a cuppa tea with this young lady? Perhaps there's a tincture of absinthe in the brew.

Alphonse Mucha — untitled watercolor

Nouveau Sort of Way

And, oh, I could live and work in a place designed by Mucha. It would be warm and cozy as well, in a nouveau sort of way.

Alphonse Mucha — Design for Documents décoratifs — 1902

Nothing More Satisfying

Ah, and there was nothing more satisfying for a Roman pagan, after a hard day of celebrating Spring, than to lounge around watching the city burn.

Mucha — Nero Watching The Burning of Rome — 1887

Expression of the Artist's Soul

Sorry to be jumping backward here, but I overlooked one more important example of a Mucha poster and its reference photograph.

Mucha — poster for DeForest Phonofilm — 1927

Mucha himself and his daughter, Jaroslava

— reference for poster — 1926

Larry MacDougall put it well in his comment, when he said, "Of course the photographs are lovely, but you can really see how (Mucha) transfuses them with magic. And of course like all magic, only the magician knows how it is done."

And to put it further into perspective, here is a quote for an article about the subject:

Comparing Mucha's design with the photos from which he worked gives us useful insight into the artistic process. It is clear that no photograph was ever slavishly copied; it represented only a point of departure from which inspiration takes over. With his meticulous attention to detail, Mucha certainly used the pictures to check things such as the precise position of fingers on a hand holding something—often a stumbling block for even otherwise competent artists—as well as for a correct perspective and spatial relations between people and objects. Beyond that, the heart of every design is an expression of the artist's soul.

Informative Comparative Look

To some followers of Mucha, these images won't be new. But to others, it could be an informative comparative look at Mucha's reference photos and the resulting works.

Mucha

— Poster for The Spring Festival of Song & Music in Prague —

1914

Mucha — Emerald — 1909

Mucha — Poster for The Regional Fair at Ivančice — 1912

Mucha — A plate from Documents Décoratifs — 1899

Mucha — study for the cover of Cloches de Noël et de Pâques —1900

Hey Larry!

That Mucha Look

Alphonse Mucha, world renowned for his Art Nouveau graphics, used photographs of models for much of his reference material. But sometimes the photographs themselves were beautiful and had that Mucha look about them—such as this inspirational 1919 image he used as a study for a bank note design.

Frontis

A sumptuous frontis piece for a magazine by Mucha, 1897:

And the preliminary drawing:

Under the Influence

Sir William Russell Flint was 'guilty' of Drawing Under the Influence of Mucha, here with this portrayal of Clotho—one of the classic Three Fates of ancient Greek mythology. Here she is spinning the thread of human life.

This image is from The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, edition published in 1909.

Willingly give thyself up to Clotho,

allowing her to spin thy thread into

whatever things she pleases.

Four Seasons Panneaux

Many of us have often seen Mucha's finished art for the Four Seasons, but his unused designs and sketches for the panels are a bit more obscure. As always, I admire an artist's sketches as much as finished art, full of vibrant energy, and Mucha's art is always fabulous.