Culture
MUCHA
CHRONICLE
How do you feel about this poster? Isn’t it beautiful? I especially like it among Mucha’s works. Do you know Mucha? His full name is Alfonse Maria Mucha. He was born in Ivancice, southern Moravia, in 1860. When he was young, he lived in a religious atmosphere. So, this became his inspiration. After that, when he was 35 years old, he drew the ‘Gismonda.’ It was a play poster about a very famous actress in Paris at that time. After this, he got some fame and quite a bit of money. People thought he was a Maestro within the Art Nouveau movement. In 1910, he returned to his nation, Czechoslovakia, and dedicated himself to drawing the Slavs. On the 13th of July in 1939, he died of pneumonia. One of my friends introduced me to him. We became curious about him and Art Nouveau. So, we went to a gallery that featured Mucha last August. The exhibition had 6 parts. The first part was about ‘Gismonda’ and the early part of his works. The second was about his ad posters. It also was considered decorative art. It gave him some inspiration. In the third part, we saw Mucha as a very successful painter. And in the fourth, we could learn how religion is shown his work. The fifth part had ‘The Slav Epic’. So, we saw his patriotism in this part. Lastly, in the sixth part, we came to know his Utopia. In the end of his life his subjects were of love, peace and wisdom. He believed these are very important to humans. So, he wanted to complete this project but he passed away in the middle of drawing. A very important thing concerning his paintings is Art Nouveau. It was in fashion from 1890 to 1910 around America and Europe. When people heard ‘Art Nouveau’, they thought of ivy, curves, and the beauty of women. But that is not all. ‘Art Nouveau’ was an art movement. In the end of the 19th cen-
Mi-Jung Lee mjlee092@hanmail.net
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