if you don't know alphonse muged by name you've almost certainly encountered his work even by way of modern graphic design the czech artist who lived from 1860 to 1939 played a pivotal role in the establishment of art nouveau a late 19th early 20th century attempt to marry decorative art and practical design to coincide with the opening of a rare muga exhibition at poster house a brand new manhattan space and the first museum in the united states dedicated exclusively to posters this is the perfect time to acquaint yourself with the life and work of this seminal artist this is several circles [Music] born in the modern day czech republic alphonse muga arrived in paris in 1887 where he would become one of the most influential turn of the century artists alongside the austrian symbolist painter gustav klimt catalan architect anthony gowdy scottish architect designer and painter charles rennie macintosh and american glass artist and designer lewis comfort tiffany mugu was swept up in a multi-disciplinary decorative movement known as art nouveau muka never formally aligned himself with art nouveau for a prophetic understanding that it was basically too trendy but his posters of goddess-like women set against dreamy botanical backdrops popularized the art nouveau aesthetic through an accessible medium that was both decorative and useful his gorgeous skillful artworks doubled as advertisements not only for the art nouveau movement but for people and products muku would eventually take paris by storm but his big break didn't come until 1894. having grown up during a time when the ruling habsburg empire was practically strangling the traditions of its czech territory muga saw art as a golden opportunity to promote and revive czech culture from an early age but his plan trajectory was derailed following his rejection from the academy of fine arts in prague and instead he found himself struggling to make ends meet as an apprentice painter he eventually found patronage which provided him with the means to afford proper artistic training he moved to paris in the late 1880s where he was working as an illustrator for book and magazine publishers when a beloved actress by the name of sarah bernhardt completely changed the course of his career bernhardt was to star in a greek play and she approached muga to design a last-minute promotional poster for her upcoming performance he agreed to the commission and rendered an exquisite likeness of bernhardt on stage standing tall in a magnificent embroidered robe the poster conjured a never-before-seen level of public interest and inaugurated a new far more lucrative endeavor for the talented artist by continuing to make promotional posters for bernhardt alongside spectacular costumes and sets for her performances muka cultivated an aesthetic characterized by flat elongated female figures and botanical bursts his work was so striking and commercially optimal that he was soon contracted to design advertisements for champagne chocolate even rolling papers for cigarettes each of which was inhabited by a regal so-called mughal woman his work was exhibited at salon gatherings in outdoor exhibitions and magazine spreads and it was during this period of intense popularity that mucha's name was most closely linked to art nouveau for the clear stylistic parallels but muku was never wild about his associations with the movement which he generally dismissed for being too contemporary when art as he saw it should be timeless and all the while muka never abandoned his nationalistic spirit he infused his work with symbolic nods to his czech roots in the way of traditional folk patterns and local flora in 1899 muga began ideating his magnum opus a series of paintings depicting the history of the slavic people between 1904 and 1909 muka traveled back and forth to the u.s in search of financial support for his monumental project moka toiled over what would eventually become known as the slav epic a series of 20 imposing canvases each portraying watershed events in slavic history from the ancient to the modern day in 1928 he presented and gifted the series to the city of prague on the 10th anniversary of czech independence just over a decade later czechoslovakia was invaded by the nazis and muka a high-profile nationalist and known freemason was arrested and interrogated he was released in poor physical and emotional health and he died only months later in 1939. on view at poster house until october 6 2019 alphonse muga art nouveau nouvelle fan is the first exhibition of muka's work in new york city since 1923. the show surveys muka's instrumental role in democratizing art through poster advertisements but it also pays tribute to the female subjects whose wiles were put to marketing use a tactic that's still very much alive and well in modern day advertising while muka's unique style is a relic of a bygone aesthetic movement his body of work remains one of the most beautiful and influential 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