Sammlung: Alphonse Mucha Spirit of Art Nouveau

Art Gallery of New South Wales

June 15 – September 22, 2024

One of art’s great stylistic innovators, Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939) created some of most instantly recognisable and best-loved works in modern European art. In seductive, sinuous compositions, he developed a new language that defined the look of late 19th-century Paris to be the very spirit of art nouveau.

Realised in close cooperation with the Mucha Foundation, Prague, Alphonse Mucha: Spirit of Art Nouveau is drawn from the Mucha Family Collection. Bringing together Mucha’s illustrations, jewellery, interior decoration, photographs and more, the exhibition reveals an artist and designer whose powerful influence remains with us today.

Once hailed as ‘the greatest decorative artist in the world’, Mucha rocketed to fame with the posters he created for legendary actor and international superstar Sarah Bernhardt, moving on to global recognition through advertising and product design that were his first steps towards the democratisation of art he so desired.

Seeking a true ‘art for the people’, Mucha – as artist, activist, mystic and philosopher – strived to elevate the human spirit. His strongly felt political and spiritual philosophies guided his lifelong commitment to the Slavic peoples and the liberation of his homeland in today’s Czech Republic. Within this sweeping exhibition, visitors will encounter an immersive digital experience of Mucha’s late great painting cycle, the Slav epic, in a journey that helps uncover the artist behind the famous images.