Alfon Mucha - world famous Czech painter

From Wikipedia:

Alfons Maria Mucha^[1][2] (Czech: [ˈalfons ˈmuxa] ^ⓘ; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939),^[3] known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, he was widely known for his distinctly stylized and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt.^[4] He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, as well as designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.  

Mucha was born on 24 July 1860 in the small town of Ivančice in southern Moravia,^[6] then a province of the Austrian Empire (currently a region of the Czech Republic).^[7] His family had a very modest income.

Mucha studied in Munich and Paris, and then settled in the French capital for several years. He later lived and taught in the USA, and returned to Bohemia in 1910.

As an illustrator and author of advertising drawings for a French theater magazine, he was not unsuccessful, but there was no talk of fame either. It came practically overnight. Sarah Bernhardt, then a Parisian theater heroine of the highest luminosity, ordered a poster from him in 1894 for the performance of Gismondo, presented at the famous Theater de la Renaissance. It was a revelation. Something that had not been there before. Mucha took full advantage of the possibilities of the relatively recently significantly improved technology of lithographic printing.

By giving the face of countless posters, vignettes, stickers, jewelry, and calendars in the following years, Mucha, already a valued artist, and embellishing everyday life with exceptional decor, enriched the history of art more than the authors of the famous canvases that fall to the dust of oblivion in museums, galleries, and salons.

Abroad he is most famous for his poster work but in Czechia we also admire his cycle of big paintings Slavic Epic

Mucha managed to capture not only the ideal of contemporary beauty, but also a new approach to advertising that is still used today, when products are promoted by world-class models. Moreover, because it was a print, Mucha opened the poster to the general public, allowing them to buy it and decorate their homes with it.Mucha managed to capture not only the ideal of contemporary beauty, but also a new approach to advertising that is still used today, when products are promoted by world-class models. Moreover, because it was a print, Mucha opened the poster to the general public, allowing them to buy it and decorate their homes with it.

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                                     Margaret