The eighth episode introduces the Czech artist Alfons Mucha who became renowned in Paris thanks to his design of the poster for the theatre piece Gismonda starring the popular actress Sarah Bernhardt. The National Gallery Prague collections feature the preparatory study for this work, which is distinguished by the unusually elongated figure and the use of many innovative elements. Mucha is also the author of the monumental series Slavic Epic.
Alfons Mucha, Gismonda
1894
Height 198 cm x width 67 cm
Tempera on canvas
Alfons Mucha, who lived from 1860 to 1939, was a Czech Art Nouveau painter, graphic artist and illustrator. He won renown in Paris and also lived in the United States. However, his career was not so straightforward. At the age of eighteen, he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague but was not admitted. Then he left for Vienna where he made a living as a painter of theatre scenery and curtains. An encounter with Count Khuen-Belasi brought the young artist good luck. The count decided to become Mucha’s patron and promoter. He sent Mucha to Munich to study figurative painting. After two years, he continued to support the artist during his studies in Paris. At that time, Paris was a vibrant metropolis. The Eiffel Tower was under construction and many art movements emerged there.
Alfons Mucha became friends with many artists – for example, Paul Gauguin, with whom he shared his studio for some time.
A breakthrough in his career occurred at Christmas time in 1894. Mucha was at his publisher’s when the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt called. She was in need of a new poster for her highly successful play Gismonda. Mucha accepted the commission although he had just a few days to design the poster. On January 1st, the Paris streets were covered with posters depicting the beautiful actress and Mucha immediately became a sensation.
We are standing in front of the study for the unique poster. Mucha used a number of innovative elements – such as the unusually elongated female figure which captures the dramatic character of the heroine as well as the elegance of the famous actress. The female figure, clad in the Oriental Byzantine robe, holds a palm branch. This is because the plot of the drama is set during the Easter period. The title of the play – Gismonda – is written in the upper part of the picture. In the final version of the poster, the name of Sarah Bernhardt was written in the arch. This arch, which may evoke a halo, directs our attention to the face of the famous actress. At her feet, there was an inscription Théâtre de la Renaissance – the place where the drama was staged.
Sarah Bernhardt was so pleased with the outcome of their cooperation that she signed a six-year contract with Mucha. The painter then designed more posters as well as costumes and stage sets for her. From 1904 onwards, Mucha stayed in turns in Europe and in America, for example in New York and Chicago, where he taught.
Mucha was a patriot and longed to create a cycle of paintings summarizing the history of the Slavic nations. However, for such an ambitious project he needed a sponsor. He found one in the United States in the person of the wealthy entrepreneur Charles Crane. Alfons Mucha then traveled back to Bohemia and spent eighteen years working on the Slav Epic cycle. It is composed of twenty monumental paintings, some of them exceeding the size of 8 × 6 meters. When the work was finally completed in 1928, Mucha and his sponsor Charles Crane ceremonially presented it to the City of Prague as a gift to the Czech nation.
Alfons Mucha considered the Slav Epic to be his life’s work. In 2017, the entire cycle traveled abroad for the very first time, specifically to Japan. At the National Art Center in Tokyo, the exhibition was seen by an incredible number of 657.000 visitors in three months. It thus became one of the most frequented shows in the world.
Více o projektu
