Alfons Mucha (1860 - 1939)

Emblematic figure of Art Nouveau, Alfons Mucha is a Czechoslovakian artist who was a poster artist, an illustrator, a graphic designer, a painter and an history teacher. Mucha's works are characterized by the use of shimmering colors, female figures are omnipresent and evolve in harmony with a flowery and refined nature. The white skins of his models recall the pallor of Slavic women, the artist thus affirming his Czech identity marked by Byzantine and Orthodox influences. It is with his posters, especially for stars of the time that Mucha had his first successes. His illustrations are literally ripped off in the street, as when he made the posters of the very popular Sarah Bernhardt. Ornamental and refined, Mucha's Art Nouveau has never ceased to fascinate since his death in 1939.