Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), Czech-French poster designer and painter. One of the leading artists of the art nouveau period, he created poster designs characterized by sinuous “whiplash” lines, flowers on thin, twining stems, women with long, flowing hair, and elegantly attenuated lettering. As regular poster designer for the French actor Sarah Bernhardt, Mucha created theater bills for her plays in the 1890s, as well as producing advertisements for commercial products, such as his famous poster for Job cigarettes, and exhibitions. He also designed window displays and exotic interiors. After 1913 Mucha turned to painting, devoting himself chiefly to large historical canvases. Best known among his paintings is the series The Slav Epic, painted during the 1910s and 1920s.