Alphonse Mucha: Decorative Designs Boxed Notecard Assortment

Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860–1939) was the undeniable founder of Art Nouveau, in spite of his efforts to distance himself from that distinction. His highly decorative advertising works were famous for featuring a woman semi-nude, hair billowing, draped in luxuriant fabrics, and languidly posed. Alongside these eye-catching posters, labels, postcards, and calendars, Mucha created decorative designs. In 1902, by then a wildly popular artist, he published Documents décoratifs (Decorative Documents), a book filled with 72 plates of the kind in this notecard assortment. Even without the presence of stunning females, Mucha's defining ornamentation and curvy style are instantly recognizable in these images.

Alphonse Mucha

In December 1894, Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860–1939) launched Art Nouveau as a graphic form. He did so under pressure: actress Sarah Bernhardt had commissioned a poster for a new play and gave Mucha less than a week to have it designed, printed, and on the street. His resulting Gismonda poster was executed in a groundbreaking decorative style featuring sinuous lines, natural forms, and women in stylish, flowing attire. The world greeted it with delight. Famous overnight, the artist worked prolifically in his self-invented genre, enjoying huge commercial success without, somehow, ever getting rich. Countless posters (for exhibitions, Champagne, soap, bicycles, and cigarettes) followed, as did magazine covers, books (both written and illustrated), postage stamps, postcards, and even bank notes for his beloved Czechoslovakia.