Mucha, Alphonse Maria (1860–1939)

Czech painter and designer, one of the leading figures of art nouveau. His posters and decorative panels brought him international fame, presenting idealized images of young women with long, flowing hair, within a patterned flowered border. His early theatre posters were done for the actor Sarah Bernhardt, notably the lithograph Gismonda (1894).

Trained in Munich, Mucha went to Paris 1888 where he worked intermittently as a graphic artist. The art nouveau theatre posters for Bernhardt, for whom he also designed costumes and jewellery, helped both to launch his career and popularize the style. He also designed textiles, furniture, ceramic plaques, and exhibition displays, and in 1900–01 a jewellery boutique for Georges Fouquet in Paris (now demolished).