Alphonse Mucha Art

Alphonse Maria Mucha,["Mucha, Alphonse", Grove Dictionary of Art Online. Retrieved 3 October 2009. first name from the Czech Alfons"New Town", Frommers Eastern Europe, p. 244. Retrieved 8 October 2009. , (24 July 1860 - 14 July 1939) was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist, most well known for his images of women. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements and designs.

Art Nouveau (, anglicised to ) is an international movementDuncan (1994), 7. and style of art, architecture and applied art?especially the decorative arts?that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century (1890?1905).Sterner (1982), 6. The name 'Art nouveau' is French for 'new art'. It is also known as Jugendstil, German for 'youth style', named after the magazine Jugend, which promoted it, and in Italy, Stile Liberty from the department store in London, Liberty & Co., which popularized the style. A reaction to academic art of the 19th century, it is characterized by organic, especially floral and other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly-stylized, flowing curvilinear forms.Duncan (1994), 7?36. Art Nouveau is an approach to design according to which artists should work on everything from architecture to furniture, making art part of everyday life.Art Nouveau - Art Nouveau Art

The movement was strongly influenced by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, when Mucha produced a lithographed poster, which appeared on 1 January 1895 in the streets of Paris as an advertisement for the play Gismonda by Victorien Sardou, starring Sarah Bernhardt.Google Image Result for http://www.trueartworks.com/large/0000-0086.jpg It was an overnight sensation, and announced the new artistic style and its creator to the citizens of Paris. Initially called the Style Mucha, (Mucha Style), this soon became known as Art Nouveau.An Introduction to the Work of Alphonse Mucha and Art Nouveau, lecture by Ian Johnston of Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC. This document is in the public domain and may be used by anyone, in whole or in part, without permission and without charge, provided the source is acknowledged

Art Nouveau's fifteen-year peak was most strongly felt throughout Europe?from Glasgow to Moscow to Madrid ? but its influence was global. Hence, it is known in various guises with frequent localized tendencies.Duncan, 1; 23?24. In France, Hector Guimard's metro entrances shaped the landscape of Paris and Emile Gallé was at the center of the school of thought in Nancy. Victor Horta had a decisive impact on architecture in Belgium.Duncan (1994), 37. Magazines like Jugend helped spread the style in Germany, especially as a graphic artform, while the Vienna Secessionists influenced art and architecture throughout Austria-Hungary. Art Nouveau was also a movement of distinct individuals such as Gustav Klimt, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Alphonse Mucha, René Lalique, Antoni Gaudí and Louis Comfort Tiffany, each of whom interpreted it in their own individual manner.Duncan (1994), 34.Michèle Lavallée, "Art Nouveau", Grove Dictionary of Art, Oxford University Press 11 April 2008

Although Art Nouveau fell out of favor with the arrival of 20th-century modernist styles,Henry R. Hope, review of H. Lenning, The Art Nouveau", The Art Bulletin, vol. 34 (June 1952), 168?171 (esp. 168?169): Reflecting the state of Art Nouveau in 1952, the author notes that Art Nouveau, which had fallen out of favor as fast as yesterday's fashion, was not yet an acceptable area of study for serious art history or a subject suitable for major museum exhibitions and their respective catalogs. He foresees an upcoming change, however. it is seen today as an important bridge between the historicism of Neoclassicism and modernism. Furthermore, Art Nouveau monuments are now recognized by UNESCO on their World Heritage List as significant contributions to cultural heritage.In addition to monuments in Riga and Brussels that are specifically singled out as examples of Art Nouveau, the "Works of Antoni Gaudí" in and around Barcelona are recognised as "outstanding examples of the building typology in the architecture of the early 20th century." See World Heritage List - Works of Antoni Gaudí The historic center of Riga, Latvia, with "the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe", was inscribed on the list in 1997 in part because of the "quality and the quantity of its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture",UNESCO World Heritage List - Historic Centre of Riga. and four Brussels town houses by Victor Horta were included in 2000 as "works of human creative genius" that are "outstanding examples of Art Nouveau architecture brilliantly illustrating the transition from the 19th to the 20th century in art, thought, and society." It later influenced psychedelic art that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s .