With his instantly recognizable decorative style, Czech artist and Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) defined the look of the fin-de-siecle. In evocative shades of peach, gold, ochre, and olive, his seductive compositions of patterns, flowers, and beautiful women became paradigms of the Belle Epoque years. Mucha’s work permeated illustration, posters, postcards, and the advertising designs of his day. His striking posters of star actress Sarah Bernhardt were particularly famous. Alongside this delicate decorative work, Mucha also harbored strongly felt political ideas. With his monumental cycle The Slav Epic, he expressed his staunch support for Pan-Slavism, promoting the political independence of the Czech and Slavic nations from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Compiled in association with the Mucha Foundation, this book presents key works and introduces the full reach of Mucha’s oeuvre from patterned decoration to his book illustrations, posters, photographs and monumental paintings.

About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series features: a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance a concise biography approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions Par son trait plein de grace et ses details floraux, l'artiste tcheque Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) a defini le style visuel du tournant du siecle. Avec leurs nuances peche, or, ocre et olive evocatrices, ses compositions seduisantes de motifs, de fleurs et de superbes femmes sont devenues des paradigmes des annees Belle Epoque. L'oeuvre de Mucha impregne l'illustration, les affiches, les cartes postales et le design publicitaire de son epoque. Ses fascinantes affiches de la grande artiste Sarah Bernhardt comptent parmi ses plus celebres realisations. Parallelement a ses oeuvres decoratives, Mucha s'est consacre a defendre des convictions politiques. A travers le cycle monumental L'Epopee slave, il a exprime son fervent soutien au panslavisme, plaidant pour l'independance politique des nations tcheques et slaves faisant partie de l'Empire austro-hongrois. Realise en collaboration avec la Fondation Mucha, ce livre met en avant des oeuvres-clefs de Mucha et presente sa creation artistique dans toute sa richesse, de ses decorations aux mille motifs a ses illustrations, ses affiches, ses photographies jusqu'a ses peintures monumentales.

A propos de la collection Chaque volume de la Basic Art Series de TASCHEN contient: une chronologique detaillee de la vie et de l'oeuvre de l'artiste qui rend compte de son importance culturelle et artistique une biographie concise une centaine d'illustrations couleur accompagnees de legendes explicatives