What do you think?
Rate this book
Alphonse Mucha: The Spirit of Art Nouveau
Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was one of the most important decorative artists working in Paris at the turn of the century. His distinctive and original posters and his decorative panels in le style Mucha became almost synonymous with French Art Nouveau. The admirer and iconographer of Sarah Bernhardt, he was also well known as the creator of familiar advertisements and as a book illustrator. Yet there was much more to Mucha’s achievement than this. At the height of his career as a decorative artist, he became convinced that art should serve ideas, he became chief artistic and cultural adviser to the interwar Czech government, and he completed a major and controversial fresco cycle, the Slav Epic , as well as portraits and large symbolic paintings.
This book―the first full-scale treatment of Mucha’s entire oeuvre―includes discussions and reproductions of paintings, posters, panneaux decoratifs , pastels, drawings, and illustrations from throughout his career. In addition, the authors provide essays on Mucha’s Paris years; his association with Sarah Bernhardt; the importance of American patronage on his later work; his graphic and painterly techniques; and the problems connected with the conservation of the large canvases.
This lavishly illustrated book is the catalogue for an exhibition of Mucha’s work that will tour the United States, beginning in San Diego in 1998.
Published in association with Art Services International, Washington, D.C.
Published in association with Art Services International
This book―the first full-scale treatment of Mucha’s entire oeuvre―includes discussions and reproductions of paintings, posters, panneaux decoratifs , pastels, drawings, and illustrations from throughout his career. In addition, the authors provide essays on Mucha’s Paris years; his association with Sarah Bernhardt; the importance of American patronage on his later work; his graphic and painterly techniques; and the problems connected with the conservation of the large canvases.
This lavishly illustrated book is the catalogue for an exhibition of Mucha’s work that will tour the United States, beginning in San Diego in 1998.
Published in association with Art Services International, Washington, D.C.
Published in association with Art Services International
344 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
10 people are currently reading
1548 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 12, 2017
Probably the most in-depth cohesive catalog of all of Mucha's work and life. It's very thorough in the timeline of Mucha's work and different mediums he worked in. I appreciated seeing photographs of him and his line drawings and works of his that I haven't seen before.
This a very hefty book which I'd say is a coffee table book just by the size and weight of it.
This a very hefty book which I'd say is a coffee table book just by the size and weight of it.
July 10, 2009
From Library Journal
Alphonse Mucha (1890-1939) was one of the most important decorative artists in Paris at the turn of the century. His sensual female portraits with their elaborate borders embody the essence of Art Nouveau. The Mucha family and the Mucha Foundation have put together a touring exhibition of Mucha's work, and this is the companion volume. Though numerous works on Mucha have appeared in the past few decades, none have been as exhaustive as this illustrated group of essays by noted European experts. The full-scale treatment covers paintings, decorative panels, pastels, drawings, photographs, jewelry, and advertisements as well as numerous book and magazine illustrations. The essays elucidate Mucha's political activities in Czechoslovakia, which spawned the enormous murals "The Slav Epic"; his association with the actress Sarah Bernhardt; and the impact of American patronage on his later work. This lavish homage may prove to be the most important study of an amazing and prolific artist. Highly recommended.
Tons of wonderful pictures and lots of really good information about the artist himself. One of my favorite artists.
Alphonse Mucha (1890-1939) was one of the most important decorative artists in Paris at the turn of the century. His sensual female portraits with their elaborate borders embody the essence of Art Nouveau. The Mucha family and the Mucha Foundation have put together a touring exhibition of Mucha's work, and this is the companion volume. Though numerous works on Mucha have appeared in the past few decades, none have been as exhaustive as this illustrated group of essays by noted European experts. The full-scale treatment covers paintings, decorative panels, pastels, drawings, photographs, jewelry, and advertisements as well as numerous book and magazine illustrations. The essays elucidate Mucha's political activities in Czechoslovakia, which spawned the enormous murals "The Slav Epic"; his association with the actress Sarah Bernhardt; and the impact of American patronage on his later work. This lavish homage may prove to be the most important study of an amazing and prolific artist. Highly recommended.
Tons of wonderful pictures and lots of really good information about the artist himself. One of my favorite artists.
August 9, 2022
A thorough overview of Mucha’s biography and oeuvre. The plates are beautiful.
October 16, 2022
I love Mucha's work, so I am not even close to unbiased. Art Nouveaux is also a fascination, so take my rating for what it's worth, knowing that. Lovely.
January 30, 2023
just a compilation of mucha's *gorgeous* artwork created over the course of his life, and how he basically started the art nouveau style. but still, i loved seeing his art style progress over the years, and how it came to be so distinct.
January 19, 2013
While this book is a great resource for scholarly articles and a comprehensive catalogue of mucha's artwork, it has some major flaws that make me like it a lot less than I should.
The first is how the layout is done. Text only appears in large blocks, which limits the arrangement (and therefore the size in many cases) of the illustrations. This is most likely a cause of printer limits in regards to layout, but it is unfortunate how small some pictures are as a result. The "Slav Epic," especially requires a large reproduction for readers to appreciate the amount of detail in each picture (the actual canvases are HUGE), but the reproductions here are so small that the images are largely lost.
Secondly, the pieces are not presented chronologically, so any researcher wanting to study the evolution of Mucha's style is hindered by having to flip pages constantly. Studying Mucha's "phases" is virutally impossible this way as well, since photographs appear in random places throughout the book, even though he did not start using them until much later in his career, so the reader is presented with a falsified timeline.
The last (and most important) problem is the colour. Many times only black ink is used, and I found many of the pictures in colour to have erronious tone! Mucha's art may be distinct because of it's line style, but art is effected greatly by colour, so the reader will be extremely underwhelmed by Mucha's creations in this form.
The first is how the layout is done. Text only appears in large blocks, which limits the arrangement (and therefore the size in many cases) of the illustrations. This is most likely a cause of printer limits in regards to layout, but it is unfortunate how small some pictures are as a result. The "Slav Epic," especially requires a large reproduction for readers to appreciate the amount of detail in each picture (the actual canvases are HUGE), but the reproductions here are so small that the images are largely lost.
Secondly, the pieces are not presented chronologically, so any researcher wanting to study the evolution of Mucha's style is hindered by having to flip pages constantly. Studying Mucha's "phases" is virutally impossible this way as well, since photographs appear in random places throughout the book, even though he did not start using them until much later in his career, so the reader is presented with a falsified timeline.
The last (and most important) problem is the colour. Many times only black ink is used, and I found many of the pictures in colour to have erronious tone! Mucha's art may be distinct because of it's line style, but art is effected greatly by colour, so the reader will be extremely underwhelmed by Mucha's creations in this form.
February 20, 2017
What can I say, I love Mucha. This book gave me a good basic background on the artist and some exquisite art.
June 9, 2014
Alfons Mucha is artist that found way to my heart and as such, I am deeply interested in his works and his life. This book I rated five stars from two reasons. One, it maps Mucha's life and changes of his personality as we were shown in paintings and related books and articles to time. Two - it deeply describes creations, changes and finding himself as an artist.
If you perhaps study history of arts, this would be book exactly for you, because more then biography this describes painter's works within' great details. Brilliant work.
If you perhaps study history of arts, this would be book exactly for you, because more then biography this describes painter's works within' great details. Brilliant work.
February 27, 2012
I love Mucha, having discovered him while studying abroad in Prague. While this book gives quite a bit of detail on the life of the artist I was disappointed that the whole first half of the book was in black and white. I understand the publishers probably chose this format to keep the price down, but it would have been nice to see the colors and nuances the well informed commentary gave when speaking about particular pictures instead of waiting until the latter half of the book to see them.
December 18, 2012
This collection of Alphose Mucha works is quite broad in its scope. Many types of media are included and the section on his sketchbook is especially fascinating. The first half of the book contains lots of information on the artist himself, though it is slightly disappointing, since many of the pieces are produced in black and white. However, the second half of the book is in color and presents a wide range of his output. A great collection of pieces with insightful annotations.
March 7, 2008
This book is the catalogue for the exhibition of the same name which stopped at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle in the summer of 1998. It was amazing. I went twice, and occasionally kick myself for not going more (it was FREE! FREE, I tell you!). Fortunately, I have this book to keep my leg from getting too tired.
April 17, 2008
Largely unknown and grossly under appreciated Mucha was one of the worlds most prolific and talented artists. This book is difficult to find but more than worth it. Any book about Mucha is worth it, he will blow your mind. Ka-POW!!
September 5, 2007
My favorite...
January 4, 2008
Mucha is one of my favorite artists, so I love having this around for inspiration. Lots of nice art reproductions plus some good historical essays. Highly stylized and romantic artwork.
Read
July 23, 2012art nouveau and its proper fascination for the ages
July 17, 2015
beautiful art. fabulous to study. i often revisit this artist for inspiration while currently working in studio. i love the nouveau natural flourishes, so rich and dreamy.
October 19, 2010
Mucha is my favorite artist.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews