Seduction of art nouveau in Florence

During this highly exciting time, Alphonse Mucha, thanks as well to his encounter with Sarah Bernhardt, the most beautiful and renowned actress of the time, became very famous and highly sought-after artist. Upon trusting her image to Mucha, she ensured his great popularity. His works, illustrations, theatre posters, and advertisements were accessible to everybody. With him, a new form of visual communication came into being: the beauty of blossoming young women, portrayed in a unique blend of the sacred and profane. Voluptuous and seductive figures depicted with a unique compositional style became characteristics of famously known “the Mucha style”. The legend of “Mucha’s women” was born, and it helped many companies to market numerous products with his images giving rise to enduring advertising campaigns like the one for Nestlé Baby Food and Moët Chandon.

 

However, Mucha did not neglect his patriotic and social commitment. In 1910, he returned to Prague and devoted nearly twenty years of what is considered his greatest masterpiece, the Slav Epic: a colossal work composed of twenty enormous canvases recounting the main events in the history of the Slavs. The Florence exhibition is held under the patronage of the Municipality of Florence and of the Embassy of the Czech Republic, the show is organized in collaboration with the Mucha Foundation and In Your Event, and is curated by Tomoko Sato with the collaboration of Francesca Villanti.