![]() ![]() To his misfortune, a terrible fire in 1881 destroyed the Ringtheater, the major client of his firm. He also began experimenting with photography, which became an important tool in his later work. His style turned Mucha in that artistic direction and influenced his later work. He also discovered Hans Makart, a very prominent academic painter, who created murals for many of the palaces and government buildings in Vienna, and was a master of portraits and historical paintings in grand format. While in Vienna, he discovered the museums, churches, palaces and especially theaters, for which he received free tickets from his employer. ![]() In 1880, at the age of 19, he traveled to Vienna, the political and cultural capital of the Empire, and found employment as an apprentice scenery painter for a company which made sets for Vienna theaters. In 1878 he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, but was rejected and advised to "find a different career". He found some employment designing theatrical scenery and other decorations. His singing abilities allowed him to continue his musical education at the Gymnázium Brno in the Moravian capital of Brno, but his true ambition was to become an artist. He designed flyers and posters for patriotic rallies. He became devoutly religious, and wrote later, "For me, the notions of painting, going to church, and music are so closely knit that often I cannot decide whether I like church for its music, or music for its place in the mystery which it accompanies." He grew up in an environment of intense Czech nationalism in all the arts, from music to literature and painting. After his voice broke, he gave up his chorister position, but played as a violinist during masses. Peter and Paul, who admitted him as a chorister and funded his studies at the gymnasium in Brno, where he received his secondary school education. Křížovský sent him to a choirmaster of the Cathedral of St. Křížovský was impressed by his talent, but he was not able to admit and fund him, as he had just admitted another talented young musician, Leoš Janáček. His music teacher sent him to Pavel Křížkovský, choirmaster of St Thomas's Abbey in Brno, to be admitted to the choir and to have his studies funded by the monastery. Īfter completing Volksschule, he wanted to continue with his studies, but his family was not able to fund them, as they were already funding the studies of his three step-siblings. He also had a talent for music: he was an alto singer and violin player. In the preschool period, he drew exclusively with his left hand. Mucha showed an early talent for drawing a local merchant impressed by his work provided him with paper for free, though it was considered a luxury. Alphonse was his first child with Amálie, followed by Anna and Anděla. Ondřej had six children, all with names starting with A. His family had a very modest income his father Ondřej was a court usher, and his mother Amálie was a miller's daughter. Mucha was born on 24 July 1860 in the small town of Ivančice in southern Moravia, then a province of the Austrian Empire (currently a region of the Czech Republic). He considered it his most important work.Įarly life Portrait of Saints Cyril and Methodius for the Roman Catholic church in Pisek, North Dakota (1887) In 1928, on the 10th anniversary of the independence of Czechoslovakia, he presented the series to the Czech nation. In the second part of his career, at the age of 57, he returned to his homeland and devoted himself to a series of twenty monumental symbolist canvases known as The Slav Epic, depicting the history of all the Slavic peoples of the world, which he painted between 19. He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, as well as designs, which became among the best-known images of the period. Legion of Honor (France), Knight of the Order of Franz Joseph I (Austria)Īlfons Maria Mucha ( Czech: ( listen) 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, widely known for his distinctly stylized and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ![]()
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