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Artist Alfons-Marie Mucha Art Nouveau
Artist Alfons-Marie Mucha Art Nouveau
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Kindle version of vintage magazine article originally published in 1908. Contains lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the last 100 years.
Read excerpt -
When the excellence of his work became apparent, Zeleny, his master in drawing, sent some of his sketches to the Prague Academy of Fine Arts. Here the young artist met with a sad rebuff, for the unsympathetic head of the academy advised him to drop art and become a government clerk. Rather in doubt, but still ambitious, he gave up all idea of intimate association with the church and went to Vienna, where he spent some months assisting on mural paintings for a new theater. After that he went to Nikolsburg, a small Moravian village.
To maintain the social prestige he deemed necessary to success, he stopped at "The Lion," the leading inn. He was both witty and musical and consequently was in demand despite the fact that his wardrobe was "artistically" shabby. At one time his only pair of trousers was in such a perilous condition that his sole expedient was to wear his top coat throughout the evening, on the plea of suffering from chills. After several public appearances in this rather embarrassing condition, he was surprised one day to receive a visit from the tailor of the place who measured him for a pair of trousers, and politely but firmly declined any suggestion of payment. Mucha later appeared in his new raiment and was much complimented on the color, cut, etc. But it was not until twenty years later, when success had come, that he chanced to learn from a letter of one of the old townsfolk that the trousers had been a spontaneous gift from the ladies of Nikolsburg.
The wife of the innkeeper became interested in the youthful artist and through her influence he was introduced to the Count Khuen Emmanof, the great man of the province, who was renovating and restoring his ancestral halls. This nobleman was delighted to find so skillful a decorator available. The artist executed for his walls no less than thirty compositions devoted to games and sports of all ages and nationalities. The due reward for his labor was a modest pension, which enabled Mucha to pursue his studies in Paris. There followed a number of years of academic training to which is due, in a measure, his present marvelous facility in drawing the human figure.
Read excerpt -
When the excellence of his work became apparent, Zeleny, his master in drawing, sent some of his sketches to the Prague Academy of Fine Arts. Here the young artist met with a sad rebuff, for the unsympathetic head of the academy advised him to drop art and become a government clerk. Rather in doubt, but still ambitious, he gave up all idea of intimate association with the church and went to Vienna, where he spent some months assisting on mural paintings for a new theater. After that he went to Nikolsburg, a small Moravian village.
To maintain the social prestige he deemed necessary to success, he stopped at "The Lion," the leading inn. He was both witty and musical and consequently was in demand despite the fact that his wardrobe was "artistically" shabby. At one time his only pair of trousers was in such a perilous condition that his sole expedient was to wear his top coat throughout the evening, on the plea of suffering from chills. After several public appearances in this rather embarrassing condition, he was surprised one day to receive a visit from the tailor of the place who measured him for a pair of trousers, and politely but firmly declined any suggestion of payment. Mucha later appeared in his new raiment and was much complimented on the color, cut, etc. But it was not until twenty years later, when success had come, that he chanced to learn from a letter of one of the old townsfolk that the trousers had been a spontaneous gift from the ladies of Nikolsburg.
The wife of the innkeeper became interested in the youthful artist and through her influence he was introduced to the Count Khuen Emmanof, the great man of the province, who was renovating and restoring his ancestral halls. This nobleman was delighted to find so skillful a decorator available. The artist executed for his walls no less than thirty compositions devoted to games and sports of all ages and nationalities. The due reward for his labor was a modest pension, which enabled Mucha to pursue his studies in Paris. There followed a number of years of academic training to which is due, in a measure, his present marvelous facility in drawing the human figure.
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