Birth Anniversary: Alphonse Mucha — July 24, 1860

Alphonse Mucha was born on 24 July 1860 at Ivančice, in Moravia. In Paris he became, almost by accident, the face of Art Nouveau: the Gismonda poster for Sarah Bernhardt (1894) launched the «style Mucha», with its flowing-haired women, floral garlands and decorative frames. His lithographs, panels and calendars spread the new taste across Europe. Back in his homeland he gave his last decades to the Slav Epic, a monumental cycle of twenty canvases on the history of the Slav peoples. The anniversary marks the artist who made the aesthetic of the new century popular and recognisable.