Rome hosts major retrospective of Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha

PanARMENIAN.Net - Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939) was one of Europe's most renowned artists in the late 19th and early 20th century. Combining images of seductive women with innovative typographical compositions and layouts, he created highly original posters and gave birth to the new genre of visual art that blossomed in the Paris of the Belle Époque. The Mucha style soon came to indicate a whole range of graphic works and decorative objects that furnished the homes of art lovers in Paris and other countries, becoming an icon of Art Nouveau. He was hailed by the press as the world's greatest decorative artist during a visit to the United States in 1904.

The growth of Mucha's renown in the world of international art was paralleled by his growing desire to contribute to the political independence of the Czech lands and the neighbouring Slav regions, divided for centuries by the colonial powers. Despite the superficial opulence and modernist vision of the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, political tension was mounting in East and Central Europe. A believer in the universality of art and its powers of inspiration and communication, Mucha advocated the creation of a spiritual union of the Slav peoples and ultimately of all mankind. The artist dreamed of a better world where ethnic minorities of all cultural backgrounds could live in harmony without being threatened by the more powerful nations. Mucha's love of his homeland and utopian ideals are manifested in his masterpiece the Slav Epic (1911–28).

Under the auspices of the Istituto per la storia del Risorgimento italiano and the patronage of Regione Lazio and Roma Capitale, the first major retrospective dedicated to the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha is organized and produced by Arthemisia Group in collaboration with the Mucha Foundation, Art Daily reports.

Curated by Tomoko Sato, curator of the Mucha Foundation (which has produced many exhibitions of Alphonse Mucha) since 2007, the exhibition that opens at the Vittoriano - Ala Brasini from 15 April to 11 September 2016 consists of over 200 works including paintings, posters, drawings, decorative works, jewelry and preparatory drawings of the vessels of the Fouquet Boutique to retrace the inner creative process of the greatest representative of Art Nouveau.

One of the most celebrated artists in Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century, Alphonse Mucha is known all over the world as one of the fathers of Art Nouveau, the artistic movement characterized by the use of soft lines, floral forms and plant motifs that blossomed in the Paris of the Belle Époque and then spread throughout Europe. He was in reality a multi-faceted and versatile artist as well as a great experimenter with different styles and approaches, firmly convinced that the value of art derives from reflection that does not refer exclusively to the aesthetic sphere but rather finds completion there.