Why go
Read this before seeing Mucha's posters in Prague. It connects his Czech beginnings and Paris breakthrough to the details worth looking for in his work, from Sarah Bernhardt's theatrical image to the decorative borders around a figure, and explains how that style crossed into advertising and design.
The full story
Alfons Mucha was born in Ivančice in Moravia in 1860. He worked on theatrical scenery, studied art in Munich and moved to Paris in 1887, where illustration and advertising helped support his studies. Those practical jobs became the setting for his best-known work. At the end of 1894, a Paris print shop needed a poster for Gismonda, a play starring Sarah Bernhardt. Mucha produced it quickly, and the poster's success began a six-year working relationship with the actress. When you look at one of his theatre designs, notice how the figure, lettering and decorative frame work together. The flowing clothes, flowers and halo-like shapes turn a notice for a performance into an image that can hold your attention on its own. Mucha carried this approach into advertisements, book illustrations, jewelry, wallpaper and stage design. His muted pastel colors also stood apart from the stronger colors used by many contemporary poster makers. His work reached an international audience at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris. Seeing the posters alongside his commercial designs reveals why his name became closely tied to Art Nouveau: the same visual ideas could move between a theatre wall and everyday objects.