Alphonse Mucha, Master of the Art Nouveau

21/03/2020 > 27/09/2020

From March 21 to September 27 the Dutch Museum of Lithography (Nederlands Steendrukmuseum) in Valkenswaard presents a spectacular exhibition about the artist Alphonse Mucha. For the first time in more than 15 years a large overview of the work of this undisputed master of Art Nouveau can be seen in the Netherlands.

Around 1900 artist Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) created his own style in cosmopolitan Paris. Le Style Mucha became synonymous with the French Art Nouveau. His first innovative lithograph from 1894 for the play Gismonda, starring the Parisian theater Sarah Bernhardt, immediately made Mucha famous. In addition to various work for Sarah, Mucha increasingly received orders from well-known Parisian printers such as Lemercier and Champenois. His lithographs with elegant lines, fresh pastel hues and lush motifs of sensual, melancholic women grew into icons of the fin de siècle. Through these women, he tried to portray the Slavic soul with a slightly melancholic touch. His figures on works intended to portray the history of his beloved people, the Czechs and Slavs, however, bear witness to a raw realism. He also wrote and illustrated books such as the book Le Pater, to be regarded as his manifesto, and an important handbook for his students entitled: Documents Décoratifs.

An overview of his breathtaking lithographic work can be seen between 21 March and 27 September 2020 at the exhibition in the Nederlands Steendrukmuseum in Valkenswaard.

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