Alphonse Mucha

(1860 - 1939)

 
 
 
 
 
 
1860 Born at Ivancice in Southern Moravia on 24th July.
 
1879 Goes to Vienna to work as a theatrical scene painter.
 
1883 Invited by count Khuen Belassi to decorate his castle at Emmahof in Austria.
 
1885 Begins studies at the Munich Academy of Arts, sponsered by Count Khuen Belassi.
 
1887 Moves to Paris to study at the Academic Julian.
 
1892 Commissioned to illustrate Scenes et episodes de l'histoire d'Allemagne by Charles Seignobos.
 
1894  Designs his first poster for Sarah Bernhardt, Gismonda, a play by Victor Sardou. This success leads to a six year contract with "la divine Sarah".
 
1896 Mucha's first decorative panels The Four Seasons are printed.
 
1897 February: first one man exhibition at the Bodine Gallery, Paris, showing 107 works, followed in May by the Salon des Cent;s Mucha exhibition, which shows 448 works.
 
1899 Receives commission from the Austro-Hungarian Government for the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition.
 
1900 Begins to work on designs for Georges Fouquet's jewellery shop, one of the outsranding Art Nouveau interiors.
 
1902 Publishes Documents Decoratifs, a hand book for craftsmen.
 
1905 Figures Decoratives is published.
 
1906 Mucha moves to America, where he teaches and paints many oil portraits.
 
1910 Completes the murals for the Prague Town Hall, the last major interior decoration in the Art Nouveau style in Prague.
 
1911 Completes the murals for the Prague Town Hall, the last major interior decoration in the Art Nouveau style in Prague.
 
1918 The independent state of Czechoslovakia is created. Mucha designs postage stamps and bank notes.
 
1921 Successful exhibition of Mucha's work at the Brooklyn Museam, New York.
 
1928 The complete cycle of the Slav Ep[ic is officially presented to the Czech people and the City of Prague.
 
1931 Commisioned to design a stained glass window for St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague.
 
1939 Mucha is among the first to be arrested by the Gestapo when the Germans invade Cechoslovakia. He is allowed to return home but his health is impaired by the ordeal. 14 July: dies in Prague, buried at Vysehrtad cemetery.