Five Artworks We Love in AGNSW’s Alphonse Mucha: Spirit of Art Nouveau Exhibition

At the turn of the 20th century Alphonse Mucha was lauded as the greatest decorative artist in the world. The Czech-born artist’s decorative style, his iconic posters in particular, marked the beginnings of the art nouveau movement. But Mucha was also a painter, photographer, sculptor and designer. His grand series, The Slav Epic, painted in the last years of his life, bears little resemblance to the works he is best remembered for: posters of come-hither nymphs with flowing curls that were used to sell cigarette papers, chocolates and soap. Instead, The Slav Epic is a testament to his social activism, advocacy for Slavic culture, and the lofty spiritual and moral aspirations he held for his art.

Here are five key works to look out for in Alphonse Mucha: Spirit of Art Nouveau, the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s (AGNSW) winter exhibition showcasing over 200 of Mucha’s works.

Job, (Poster for Cigarette Papers), 1896

I bought a postcard of this advertising poster for cigarette papers years before I knew who the artist was. I was 18, just finished high school and on my very first trip to Paris. I brought it home with me and stuck it on my mirror. It followed me through many a share house where it was unceremoniously covered by magnets and charts outlining household responsibilities. She even became my very first Facebook profile pic. All this to say, I loved her. With her cascading hair, puckered lower lip, flushed cheeks and half-closed eyes she embodies the romantic aesthetic of fin-de-siecle (end-of-century) Paris.

Gismonda, 1894

This poster comes with excellent lore. In 1894 Sarah Bernhardt was the world’s most celebrated actor. But her play Gismonda was not having a good run. Believing that the issue lay with the marketing, she requested that a new poster be made to advertise the show. It was December 26, and the artists usually on call for the printers were away. Alphonse Mucha, ever diligent, happened to be at the studio working on book proofs. He took the job.

The printing company loathed the poster, but, with no other choice, presented it to Bernhardt. To the artist’s surprise, he received a summons from the actor, who upon greeting him at the stage door of the Théâtre de la Renaissance, proclaimed, “Monsieur Mucha, you have made me immortal”. She offered him a six-year contract as her artistic director, working across her stage sets, costumes, jewellery, and the posters that would go on to become quintessential examples of art nouveau, and make him the most famous artist in the world at the time.

Damned Women by Rodin

This is not a sculpture by Alphonse Mucha, rather a piece given to him by his dear friend, sculptor Auguste Rodin. It’s the only sculpture by Rodin that has a personal inscription upon it, and is inscribed “a Mucha, Rodin” (from Rodin to Mucha). It features two nude female figures in a state of sexual union and was, at the time, considered too risqué for the final version of Rodin’s epic sculpture The Gates of Hell. This piece was kept by Rodin’s daughter on her desk where she used it as a paperweight. The two artists wrote to each other regularly and remained close until Rodin’s death in 1917.

Princess Hyacinth, 1911

Mucha expressed his patriotism through his work in many ways, from designing Czechoslovakia’s (as it then was) first postage stamp through to the themes of his posters. The women at the centre of Mucha’s legendary posters can be interpreted as symbols of national pride. The colour lithograph Princess Hyacinth depicts Czech theatre and film star Andula Sedláčková, who starred in Oskar Nedbal’s fairytale ballet Princess Hyacinth at the National Theatre, Prague, in 1911. Mucha’s details in the poster reference a dream sequence in which the blacksmith becomes a lord, and his daughter a princess who is abducted by a sorcerer.

The Slav Epic (digital experience)

Mucha’s epic work, conceived in the last years of his life, consists of 20 enormous canvases (the largest was 6 x 8 metres) tracing Slavic civilisation from ancient times through to liberation from the Austro-Hungarian empire. Mucha described the cycle of paintings as a “light shining into the souls of all people with its clear ideals and burning warnings”. The final room of the exhibition is a high-definition projection of the paintings, with visual effects set to an original instrumental and choral score specially commissioned for the exhibition, performed by Sydney musicians.

Alphonse Mucha: Spirit of Art Nouveau is on now at AGNSW until September 22. $35.

artgallery.nsw.gov.au