The exhibition MUCHA, The Family Collection will present the works of Alphonse Mucha in a way he has never been presented before. The story of the globally renowned and celebrated artist will be told through selected paintings, sculptures, photographs, and advertising works from the private collection of the artist’s family, with some originals to be seen by the public for the very first time.
“We wish to show my grandfather not only as a versatile artist, but also as a Czech, European, and world citizen in the best sense of the word, who firmly believed that one of the basic tasks of art is ‘not to destroy, but to build bridges’. That’s something we need today perhaps more than ever,” says John Mucha, grandson of Alphonse Mucha and President of the Mucha Foundation.
The architectural design of MUCHA, The Family Collection at the Waldstein Riding School in Prague's Lesser Town was created by the world-famous Czech architect Eva Jiřičná.
Like Alphonse Mucha, Eva Jiřičná has a strong reputation worldwide and is therefore a very prestigious connection. The impressive charm of this connection lies mainly in the fact that Eva is known for her minimalism, while Mucha is renowned for his lush, decorative style.
This cross-sectional exhibition maps out the most important stages of Mucha's life. From his childhood years in South Moravia to his studies in Paris, including his friendships with Paul Gauguin and Auguste Rodin, his time in America, his return to Czechoslovakia, and the creation of one of the most important works of art in Czech history ‒ the monumental Slav Epic. Mucha longed for a world in which people from different cultural backgrounds could live together in peace and harmony. That desire is particularly poignant in today's troubling world; it is brought to us through Mucha's universally relevant message of hope.
Famous primarily as the leading representative of the Art Nouveau movement, Mucha's decorative works create significant milestones in the history of modern graphic art, yet his works of art reach far beyond their decorative value alone. This exhibition explores Mucha's art in the context of his philosophical opinions and his vision for his homeland and features not only his glorious Sarah Bernhardt posters from the time of the Parisian fin de siècle, but also lesser-known aspects of his work, culminating in his late masterpiece, the Slav Epic.
