The work of Alphonse Mucha seems to be very much in the spotlight across the globe this year, although given the influence of this influential, turn of the 20th century artist on the current art scene, from manga to cinema, this probably won’t surprise many downthetubes readers.

There are several exhibitions devoted to the Czech artist, offering the opportunity to rediscover of the master of Art Nouveau, an artist and philosopher and the source of inspiration for modern creation.

At the turn of the 20th century, Alphonse Mucha (1860 – 1939) was one of the most famous artists in Europe. A key figure of Art Nouveau and the inventor of an original style of graphic art, his work continues to influence contemporary creators today, combining female beauty and stylised nature with a resolutely innovative composition and typography.

The “Mucha style” has been a source of fascination ever since it was created and was applied to a variety of artworks and objects that adorned art lovers’ homes around the world at the time.

The Mucha Museum, Prague

The Mucha Museum in Prague is the only museum in the world permanently dedicated to his life and work, opened to the general public on 13th February 1998, created by The Mucha Foundation in partnership with COPA sro. All the works in the museum are from the Mucha Trust Collection and the work of the Museum directly supports the work of the Foundation.

The museum opens with a selection of Mucha’s decorative panels created at the turn of the 19th century in Paris. These series of themed lithographs are among Mucha’s most popular and well-known works and were created as inexpensive works of art which could decorate even the most modest home.

The museum also presents a selection of Mucha’s celebrated fin-de-siècle posters, including two original printer’s proofs of Gismonda, the poster Mucha created for actress Sarah Bernhardt.

Not only did this poster propel Mucha to stardom, it also revolutionised poster design. The long narrow shape, the subtle pastel colours and the halo effect round the subject’s head were to remain features of Mucha’s posters throughout his life.

Apart from the monumental canvases of The Slav Epic, Mucha’s paintings in oil are relatively unknown. The selection of paintings on show in the museum encompasses the whole range of Mucha’s artistic aspirations, from the personal to the prophetic. Of the works presented in the museum, the majority date from the later period of Mucha’s life; the only early work is Prophetess.

Some of the atmosphere of fin-de-siècle Paris and of Mucha’s studio at rue du Val-de-Grâce is recreated by using items from the artist’s studio of the period. Many of these objects may be seen both in photographs of models taken by Mucha in the studio and also in his drawings and posters. The objects he bought in Paris followed him on his travels before finally settling with him in Prague.

A selection of the sketches and designs which underpin his finished works are also on display. The drawings and pastels reflect both the breadth of his artistic vision and also his understanding and mastery of different arts media.

Several temporary but long-running exhibitions across Europe may also be of interest.

“Eternal Mucha”, Paris

In France, the Grand Palais Imersif in Paris has been hosting its Eternal Mucha exhibition since March, running until 5th November 2023. Immersive and interactive, this jaw-dropping exhibition is perhaps the most headline-grabbing event celebrating Mucha’s spectacular work. Using high definition projections, surrounded by an original musical and olfactory world, the exhibition recounts the story of the artist, presents his most emblematic work, and shows his influence

The exhibition, images featured here in an article for Sortiraparis, tells visitors the story of Alphonse Mucha and his humanist ambition in three acts: as a master of the poster in Paris; at a turning point in his career in 1900, which he was heavily involved in the Universal Exhibition in Paris; and through the presentation of his monumental works, namely the Slav Epic, which develops a vision of Slav history as a pacifist model for the world that resonates today more than ever. The exhibition also focuses on his permanent influence, from the pacifist “Flower Power” movement of the 1960s to Japanese manga, superheroes, street artists – and even tattoo art.

At the heart of effervescent Paris during the Belle Époque, Alphonse Mucha invented a new visual language that continues to inspire many artists to this day. Throughout, the exhibition highlights the striking modernity and the philosophical influences of this major artist, a reference for a host of creators.

Visitors are invited to discover Mucha’s particular influence on the television series ARCANE, the sets of which are inspired by the artist’s work.

This immersive and interactive exhibition uses the most advanced projection technologies within captivating scenography in order to offer visitors a unique experience of Mucha’s work and influences.

The olfactory dimension of the exhibition is accentuated by the olfactory world created by TechnicoFlor, calling on all the visitor’s senses.

An original musical creation, unique to GPI, has been composed specially for the exhibition by Studio Radio France. Benoît de Villeneuve and Benjamin Morando have created a contemporary score, which features citations of works by composers from Mucha’s time.

Using images in very high definition, the immersive exhibition Eternal Mucha invites visitors to dive deep into the work of this avant-garde artist, an icon of refinement, elegance and modernity.

“In Quest of Beauty”, Barcelona

“The mission of the artist is to encourage people to love beauty and harmony.”

— Alphonse Mucha

There’s not much longer to catch the Alphonse Mucha: In Quest of Beauty exhibition at Palau Martorell, in Barcelona, which runs until 15th October. This exhibition, which has an excellent guide online, follows the development of Mucha’s unmistakable graphic style and the ideas on which it was based, starting with that of beauty, the great principle underlying his theories and his artistic philosophy.

It’s divided into three thematic sections. The first two highlight his contribution to art nouveau in Paris, while the third revolves around the evolution of Mucha’s art after his return to Czechoslovakia.

Alphonse Mucha: Multitalented Artist, Hiroshima, Japan

The Hiroshima Musuem of Art in Japan is hosting their Alphonse Mucha exhibition until 29th October 2023. is one of the most famous Artists of “Art nouveau”. He is particularly famous for the theater posters of the actress Sarah Bernhardt. In addition, Mucha worked as the designer for various designs of commercial posters, decorative panels, packages, products, and Jewelry and he is also known as the great painter as indicated by the series of paintings “The Slav Eoic” in his later years. So this exhibition spotlight Mucha’s multitalent and shows Mucha’s various works from the Trimal collection in Czech Republic.

The Art of the Advertisement, Virginia Fine Art Museum

In the United States, the Virginia Fine Art Museum is hosting “The Art of Advertisement: Art Nouveau Posters of the Late 19th Century”. The exhibition, which runs until 21st January 2024, offers a selection from their collection of Art Nouveau posters highlights the late 19th-century design style, which emphasized beauty in natural forms and movement and was often expressed through flowing, stylized lines and flourishing patterns. The French, Belgian, Viennese, and American posters on view include works designed by Alphonse Mucha, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, Manual Orazi, Josef Maria Auchentaller, and others.

The Museum also hosts a web page dedicated to the work of Alphonse Mucha they hold, including a copy of Le Pater, considered to be one of Mucha’s finest works. It was published in in an edition of 510 copies in December of 1899 at the dawn of the 20th century.

Alphonse Mucha: The Seduction Of Art Noveau, Florence

The Museo degli Innocenti in Florence, Italy, will host the first exhibition in Florence dedicated to Alphonse Mucha from 27th October 2023, running until 7th April 2024. Tickets are available to pre-order now.

The exhibition will tell the story of Mucha’s art from his encounter in Paris with Sarah Bernhardt and the poster art that would change his life. The creation of the “Mucha women” used to advertise products from Nestlé chocolate, Moët & Chandon champagne, and even cigarettes, beer, biscuits and perfumes. His works, illustrations, theatrical posters and adverts made art accessible to all. 

“With Mucha, a new form of communication was born,” the Museum notes, “the beauty of flowering girls, portrayed in a unique mix of sacred and profane, voluptuous and seductive figures, represented with a unique compositional style, have become characteristics of the famous ‘Mucha style’. His images become famous throughout the world, his style is the most imitated, the powerful beauty of his women entered everyone’s collective imagination.”

The exhibition closes with Mucha’s return to work that held patriotic and social purpose. When he went home to Prague in 1910, and dedicated himself for almost twenty years to what is considered his greatest masterpiece, The Slav Epic, a colossal work composed of twenty enormous canvases in which he recounts the main events of Slavic history.

Mucha: Maître de l’Art Nouveau, Aix-en-Provence, France

The Hôtel de Caumont in Aix-en-Provence, France, is devoting its winter exhibition to Alphonse Mucha, Mucha: Maître de l’Art Nouveau running from 17th November 2023 to 24th March 2024. Featuring around 120 works from the Mucha family collection, the exhibition highlights all the splendour and evolution of Mucha’s style, with its blend of mysticism, symbolism, Slavic identity and beauty.

“The aim if this exhibition is to show, not only how Mucha’s oeuvre, which combined different aesthetics, was fundamentally committed to a cause,” ” say the organisers, “and also how the use and appeal of beauty are tinged with symbolism and mysticism throughout his career. Mucha, for whom art is universal, tried to assert his artistic intentions in his work. In addition of the evolution of Mucha’s graphic style and the mystical inspiration of his visual language, the exhibition focuses on the artist’s committed thinking as a constituent element of his works, which are characterised by beauty and harmony.”

Next to the most popular works of the time, showing that Mucha was one of the leading representatives of Art Nouveau (such as the famous advertising posters, including those produced for Sarah Bernhardt, and the famous decorative panels), you will be able to admire the artist’s paintings, which have rarely been shown, through a symbolist and allegorical interpretation. The exhibition also reveals his little-known photographic work, both in his studio in fin-de-siècle Paris and also through the documentary photographs and mises en scène that he produced as part of his research for his series of monumental paintings honouring the history of his people, The Slav Epic.

iMucha, Prague

State-of-the-art technology literally brings Alphonse Mucha’s work to life through first-rate animation in the iMucha at the Art Nouveau Hall in Prague, which offers a unique experience of the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Mucha.

The collection, which was first assembled by tennis star Ivan Lendl, became the most visited fine arts exhibition in the history of the Czech Republic during its first exhibition in the Municipal House in 2013. Since that time, it has undergone significant changes. Dozens of new original artifacts have been added and, above all, they will be presented at their world première in partially digitised form. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, visitors will suddenly find themselves in a unique decorative Art Nouveau environment. 

Alphonse Mucha Online

Online, in addition to the exhaustive Mucha Foundation official web site devoted to the artist, fans of Alphonse Mucha combined to establish art-mucha.com out of a collective passion for, arguably, the Czech Republic’s most famous painter. “We wanted to create a website where we could keep people up-to-date with current news and events surrounding the much celebrated Czech artist, but with a community focus,” the team explain. “Somewhere that like minded Mucha fans could share opinions, experiences and their own updates of current exhibitions, events and happenings involving the works of the artist.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to have been updated recently, but worth a look.

• The Mucha Foundation is online at muchafoundation.org/en | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter X

• The Mucha Museum, Kaunický palác, Panská 7, 110 00 Prague 1 | Open daily 10.00 am – 6.00 pm | Web: mucha.cz | Facebook

• Alphonse Mucha: In Quest of Beauty runs at Palau Morterell until 15th October 2023 | Carrer Ample,1108002 Barcelona | Open Monday to Sunday 10.00am – 8.00pm (last admission at 7.00pm) | Web: palaumartorell.com | Instagram

It’s recommended you buy your ticket online at: palaumartorell.com (You have to choose the time slot and be punctual. You can also purchase directly at the ticket offices at Palau Martorell, but due to the limited capacity, the Musuem recommend you buy the anticipated entry through our website to avoid queuing and waiting for availability to get in.

• Alfons Mucha – Multi-Talented Artist runs Hiroshima Musuem of Art, 3-2 Motomachi, Naka-ku Hiroshima, Japan until 29th October 2023 | Open 9.00 am. – 5.00 pm (Please enter 30 minutes before the closing time) | Special Exhibitions Page

• Eternal Mucha runs at Grand Palais Imsersif until 5th November 2023 | Open from 10.00am to 7.00pm. From 12 noon to 7.00pm on Mondays. From 10.00 am to 9.00pm on Wednesdays. Closed on Tuesday | Tickets From €6 to €16. Free for children under six | More details here

• Alphonse Mucha: The Seduction of Art Noveau runs at Museo degli Innocenti, P.za della SS. Annunziata, 13, 50122 Florence, Italy from 27th October 2023, running until 7th April 2024. Tickets are available to pre-order now | Web: museodeglinnocenti.it

• Mucha: Maître de l’Art Nouveau The Hôtel de Caumont, 3 Rue Joseph Cabassol, 13100 Aix-en-ProvenceAix-en-Provence, France, 17th November 2023 to 24th March 2024 | Web: caumont-centredart.com/en

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: Art and Illustration, downthetubes News, Events, Exhibitions, Other Worlds, Television

Tags: Alphonse Mucha, Arcane, Art Noveau, Barcelona, downthetubes News, Exhibition News, Florence, Grand Palais Imersif, Hiroshima Musuem of Art, Hôtel de Caumont, iMucha, Manga, Mucha Museum, Museo degli Innocenti, Palau Martorell, Paris, Prague, The Mucha Foundation, Virginia Fine Art Museum