History Creator / AlphonseMucha

Alfons Mucha (born Alfons Maria Mucha, 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse[[note]]the French and German variant of his given name[[/note]] Mucha, was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying in various parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object_type/posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

However, Mucha thought that his most important work was an occult analysis of the Lord's Prayer. Later, he returned to his native land as Czechoslovakia gained independence after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. A dedicated Czech patriot, he designed postage stamps and banknotes for the new state, creating perhaps the most artistically beautiful money in history, and spent years on his [[TheEpic "Slav Epic"]], a series of twenty huge paintings depicting the history of his nation and its people. But he's remembered for those posters and prints.

Alfons Mucha (born Alfons Maria Mucha, 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse[[note]]French and German variant of his given name[[/note]] Mucha, was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying in various parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object_type/posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

Alfons Mucha (born Alfons Maria Mucha, 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha[[note]] French and German variant of his given name[[/note]], was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying in various parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object_type/posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

Alphonse Mucha (born Alfons Maria Much, 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939) was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying in various parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object_type/posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

However, Mucha thought that his most important work was an occult analysis of the Lord's Prayer. Later, he returned to his native land as Czechoslovakia gained independence after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. A dedicated Czech patriot, he designed postage stamps and banknotes for the new nation, creating perhaps the most artistically beautiful money in history, and spent years on his [[TheEpic “Slav Epic”]], a series of twenty huge paintings depicting the history of his nation and its people. But he's remembered for those posters.

* LeaningOnTheFurniture: Quite a few of the women in those posters seem to be resting an elbow on something [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha#/media/File%3AAlphonse_Mucha_-_Job_Cigarettes_1.jpg (maybe invisible furniture)]] — a {{Modeling Pose|s}} that in this case conveys an air of pensiveness.
* LikeParentLikeChild: Mucha’s daughter Jaroslava also became a painter, and indeed helped him in working on the Slav Epic.

-->Sometimes I spend a lot of time coming up with clever art styles and visual references for the Skin Horse wallpapers, and sometimes I say, “Forget it, Mucha pastiches always look good.”

* ModelingPoses: Mucha's poster-women are often throwing some kind of shapes. LeaningOnTheFurniture pensively is the most common, as noted above, but there's at least [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha#/media/File%3AAlfons_Mucha_-_1898_-_Dance.jpg one case]] of a (stylized but unmistakable) BoobsAndButtPose.

* SexSells: They're very tasteful and artistic examples, but the fact remains that many of those beautiful posters of pensive, lightly-clad women were created to advertise stuff. (And sometimes, when a modern viewer does realise that one of these posters was created as an advertisement, this may trigger a twinge of WhatWereTheySellingAgain?)

* SexSells: They're very tasteful and artistic examples, but the fact remains that many of those beautiful posters of pensive, lightly-clad women were created to advertise stuff.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying in various parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object_type/posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the UsefulNotes/ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying in various parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object_type/posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the UsefulNotes/ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying there and in other parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object_type/posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

* LeaningOnTheFurniture: Quite a few of the women in those posters seem to be resting an elbow on something — a {{Modeling Pose|s}} that in this case conveys an air of pensiveness.

* ModelingPoses: Mucha's poster-women are often throwing some kind of shapes. LeaningOnTheFurniture pensively is the most common, but there's at least [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha#/media/File%3AAlfons_Mucha_-_1898_-_Dance.jpg one case]] of a (stylized but unmistakable) BoobsAndButtPose.

* LeaningOnTheFurniture: Quite a few of the women in those posters seem to be resting an elbow on something.

--->Shaenon K. Garrity, artist on ''Webcomic/SkinHorse''

* ModelingPoses: Mucha's poster-women are often throwing some kind of shapes. LeaningOnTheFurniture pensively is the most common, but there's at least one case of a (stylized but unmistakable) BoobsAndButtPose.
* {{Pastiche}}: As the subject, not the creator. Pastiches of Creator/AlphonseMucha‘s poster art, with elegant women posing within stylised decorative frames, are practically a fan art genre in their own right.

Later, Mucha returned to his native land as Czechoslovakia gained independence after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. A dedicated Czech patriot, he designed postage stamps and banknotes for the new nation, creating perhaps the most artistically beautiful money in history. He also spent years on his [[TheEpic “Slav Epic”]], a series of twenty huge paintings depicting the history of his nation and its people.

Mucha was a patriot with Jewish roots, so when [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany the Nazis]] invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939, UsefulNotes/{{the Gestapo}} naturally hauled him in for questioning. They did release him eventually, but by then, the ageing Mucha was suffering from pneumonia. He died not long afterward. Although he was never entirely forgotten, his work slipped out of fashion for a while, but enjoyed a new burst of popularity in TheSixties, when his taste for swirling floral designs again came in line with prevailing trends.

Later, Mucha returned to his native land as Czechoslovakia gained independence after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. A dedicated Czech patriot, he designed postage stamps and banknotes for the new nation, creating perhaps the most artistically beautiful money in history. He also spent years on his “Slav Epic”, a series of twenty huge paintings depicting the history of his nation and its people.

* SexSells: They're very tasteful and artistic examples, but the fact remains that many of those beautiful posters of pensive, lightly-clad women were created to advertise stuff.

* SexSells: It’s a very tasteful and artistic example, but the fact remains that many of those beautiful posters of pensive, lightly-clad women were created to advertise stuff.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the UsefulNotes/ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying there and in other parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/themes/theme/posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the UsefulNotes/ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying there and in other parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer. (Among other things, he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period, designing posters for her theatrical performances.) His [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/themes/theme/art-posters posters]] remain hugely popular to this day.

* TheGayNineties: Mucha’s art style more or less defines the most appropriate visual appearance for anything invoking this trope.

Mucha’s usual subject in his posters — an attractive woman, clad or partly clad in flowing robes, frequently framed by a “halo” or decorative border, staring thoughtfully at the viewer or pensively into space — has become a minor visual trope in its own right, frequently being the subject of {{Pastiche}} or AffectionateParody, as [[http://skin-horse.com/comic/2015-08-30/ here,]] [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/dork-tower-6-goth-drops/4000-183162/ here,]] [[http://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/dr-who-art-noveau.html here,]] or [[https://io9.gizmodo.com/game-of-thrones-ladies-get-melancholy-mucha-style-theat-1441521346 here.]] They support the TheissTitillationTheory; many of the women seem to be half-way to falling out of the loose robes or gowns which they are wearing, but they are never fully nude, although there may be the very occasional glimpse of nipple.

* TheGayNineties: Mucha’s art style more or less defines the most appropriate visual appearance for anything invoking this trope.
* ValuesDissonance: A mild but recurrent case. Mucha’s posters are sometimes purely decorative, and were occasionally created to promote theatrical productions, but sometimes, they were advertisements for other events or products, and modern viewers may be bemused to realise that a portrait of an attractive, ethereal woman was intended to [[SexSells sell]] beer, bicycles, or cigarettes.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a decorative artist whose work is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the UsefulNotes/ArtNouveau style.[[note]]Ironically, though, he generally tried to dissociate himself from any school or fashion.[[/note]] He was born in what is now the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic, and after studying there and in other parts of Europe, he moved to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in 1887. While he was there, he became highly successful as a poster artist and graphic designer.

Mucha's [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/themes/theme/art-posters posters]] are sometimes purely decorative, and were occasionally created to promote theatrical productions; he had a mutually very profitable professional association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the period. Sometimes, however, they were created to advertise other events or products, leading to mild ValuesDissonance effects for modern viewers who suddenly realise that a portrait of an attractive, ethereal woman was intended to [[SexSells sell]] beer, bicycles, or cigarettes. Mucha’s usual subject — an attractive woman, clad or partly clad in flowing robes, frequently framed by a “halo” or decorative border, staring thoughtfully at the viewer or pensively into space — has become a minor visual trope in its own right, frequently being the subject of {{Pastiche}} or AffectionateParody, as [[http://skin-horse.com/comic/2015-08-30/ here,]] [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/dork-tower-6-goth-drops/4000-183162/ here,]] [[http://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/dr-who-art-noveau.html here,]] or [[https://io9.gizmodo.com/game-of-thrones-ladies-get-melancholy-mucha-style-theat-1441521346 here.]] They support the TheissTitillationTheory; many of the women seem to be half-way to falling out of the loose robes or gowns which they are wearing, but they are never fully nude, although there may be the very occasional glimpse of nipple.

* TheGayNineties: Mucha’s art style more or less defines the most appropriate visual appearance for anything invoking this trope.

Mucha's [[http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/themes/theme/art-posters posters]] are sometimes purely decorative, and were occasionally created to promote theatrical productions. Sometimes, however, they were created to advertise other events or products, leading to mild ValuesDissonance effects for modern viewers who suddenly realise that a portrait of an attractive, ethereal woman was intended to [[SexSells sell]] beer, bicycles, or cigarettes. Mucha’s usual subject — an attractive woman, clad or partly clad in flowing robes, frequently framed by a “halo” or decorative border, staring thoughtfully at the viewer or pensively into space — has become a minor visual trope in its own right, frequently being the subject of {{Pastiche}} or AffectionateParody, as [[http://skin-horse.com/comic/2015-08-30/ here,]] [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/dork-tower-6-goth-drops/4000-183162/ here,]] [[http://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/dr-who-art-noveau.html here,]] or [[https://io9.gizmodo.com/game-of-thrones-ladies-get-melancholy-mucha-style-theat-1441521346 here.]]

* TheGayNineties: Mucha’s art style more or less defines the most appropriate visual appearance for anything invoking this trope.
* TheissTitillationTheory: Many of the women depicted in Mucha’s posters seem to be half-way to falling out of the loose robes or gowns which they are wearing. They are never fully nude, although there may be the very occasional glimpse of nipple.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a decorative artist whose poster art is often considered to be the TropeCodifier for the UsefulNotes/ArtNouveau style.