Prague Trip (Day 4)

     Today was the day that we got around to the activity that we were most looking forward to on our visit to Prague, The Alphons Mucha Museum. Mucha is my wife's favorite artist.

     Mucha is considered to be the father of the Art Nouveau movement, a flowing style that attempted to harmonize the subject with the natural world, and was most popular at the turn of the 20th Century, (1890-1910). Art Nouveau is often associated with applied art, or using the decorative aesthetic style on a more ordinary object, which is put to great effect by the American artist, Louis Comfort Tiffany, although Mucha was masterful at this as well. It is for this reason that Art Nouveau is considered a "total" art style, because it includes everything from graphic art to interior design, architecture, lighting, and household utensils. The idea is that art should be a way of life, which is a beautiful concept.
     While Mucha was an overall decorative artist, he is probably best known for his paintings, illustrations and advertisements. The Mucha Museum featured many of the posters that the artist designed for legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt, including the final poster that he did for her production of Hamlet in which she played the title role.
     The Mucha Museum also featured a four piece series called times of the day, and another four piece series of the seasons. All of them are smoothly, flowing works that are very representative of his style.
     The city of Prague has played an important role in the art and architecture of the 20th Century, pioneering movements in Art Nouveau, Cubism, and Abstract, even today with the work of controversial artist David Cerny, but the elegant work of Alphons Mucha remains as the signature of this diverse art scene.