INTRODUCTION

Les Saisons Buy posters at AllPosters.com

lphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939) is perhaps best known for his posters of Sarah Bernhardt, decorative panels such as The Seasons along with posters and book illustration during the Art Nouveau period at the turn of the last century. Among graphic artists and commercial designers, Mucha is known for his style books that pioneered the use of Art Nouveau in commercial packaging, design and ornamentation.

Plate 33 from Documents Decoratifs, 1902 Buy posters at AllPosters.com

ocuments Décoratifs was the most important of these style books.  It is an encyclopedia of Mucha's style in every branch of decorative and applied arts.  All 72 plates, republished from Documents Décoratifs, are available in print from Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2^nd St., Mineola, N.Y.  I recommend that you view Mucha's original work in the Dover republication.

ucha's life work was The Slav Epic - a series of great paintings chronicling major events in the Slav nation which took 18 years to complete.  The work is a part of the permanent exhibition on display at the National Gallery's Veletrzní Palace in Prague, the Czech Republic.

Alfons Mucha at work on the Slav Epic

• The Art Nouveau Style Book of Alphonse Mucha (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)
• Mucha's Figures Decoratives
• Mucha Posters Postcards: 24 Ready-to-Mail Cards (Dover Postcards)
• Alphonse Mucha: The Complete Graphic Works
• Art Nouveau Figurative Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive)
• Art Nouveau (Taschen's 25th Anniversary Special Editions Series)