06 Nov “Alphonse Mucha. A triumph of beauty and seduction” Published by Moebius, printed by Tecnostampa, Loreto, Italy.

From October 8 to March 8, 2026, Palazzo Bonaparte in Rome will be the temple of Art Nouveau. Alongside the most extensive and comprehensive exhibition on the art of Alphonse Mucha, visitors will be able to admire the works of the greatest artists who have explored the theme of female beauty and seduction.
Under the patronage of the Embassy of the Czech Republic, the Lazio Region, the Municipality of Rome – Department of Culture, and the Czech Center at the Embassy of the Czech Republic, the exhibition is produced and organized by Arthemisia, in collaboration with the Mucha Foundation and the Royal Museums of Turin. It is curated by Elizabeth Brooke and Annamaria Bava, with scientific direction by Francesca Villanti. The main partner of the exhibition is Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Internazionale with Poema. The exhibition features over 150 masterpieces by Alphonse Mucha, retracing his entire history, as well as works by Giovanni Boldini, Cesare Saccaggi, ancient statues, Renaissance works, Art Nouveau furnishings and objects, and many other curiosities.

The guest of honor at the exhibition is Botticelli’s Venus from the Royal Museums of Turin, an icon and global symbol of timeless beauty.
The relationship between Mucha and Botticelli, despite being separated by four centuries, focuses emblematically on the representation of female beauty and the role it plays in their respective imaginations. Mucha reinterprets this ideal of beauty in an original way, transforming it into a decorative and modern language.
Botticelli was brought back into the limelight by the English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood who, as contemporaries of Mucha, shared his ideals of artistic expression and his commitment to the highest figurative standards.
The entire exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to experience a rare convergence between the artistic worlds of the Renaissance and the fin-de-siècle.

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923). The relationship between Alphonse Mucha and Sarah Bernhardt was a crucial artistic collaboration that launched Mucha’s career and revived Bernhardt’s fame, transforming both into icons of the Belle Époque. It began in 1895 with the creation of the poster for Gismonda, which was so successful that Bernhardt signed an exclusive six-year contract with Mucha. Mucha became Bernhardt’s official stylist and graphic designer, creating posters, costumes, sets, and jewelry, and defining the diva’s public image with his distinctive Art Nouveau style.

Mucha, like Boldini, created unique and recognizable female icons, achieving worldwide success that began in Paris and reached New York, where his art became a symbol of Art Nouveau. Although their styles differed, Mucha and Boldini succeeded in capturing and representing the female figure in a memorable way for the general public, establishing themselves as key figures in the art of their time and influencing subsequent generations.

A master of the modernist style, better known in Italy as “Liberty”, which became popular in Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mucha succeeded in blending his Slavic heritage with the many influences he absorbed from the natural sciences, Japanese prints, nineteenth-century paintings, and Byzantine art friezes into a unique form of expression, creating what would later be defined as the Mucha style. The beauty and grace of women were celebrated by giving the female figure a seductive and solemn dignity, enhanced by the refinement of the poses and gestures, the soft or nuanced colors, and the decorations of leaves and flowers that intertwined with the elegant physicality of the protagonists, who were such strong communicators that they imposed themselves on advertising posters.
Mucha was described by the New York Daily News in 1904 as ‘the greatest decorative artist in the world’ for his anti-academic and hedonistic style, marked by a constant search for ornamentation that still inspires countless contemporary artistic expressions, from street art to artistic dermopigmentation, or tattooing.

Mucha was one of the leading illustrators of the Belle Époque and worked for several prestigious companies, including Nestlé. He created advertising posters for a wide range of products, from perfumes to foodstuffs, helping to define the advertising aesthetic of the period. At the time, posters were a key means of communication, and the use of a renowned artist such as Mucha helped to build the brand image and make it recognizable.

Alphonse Maria Mucha. Born in 1860 in Moravia (now the Czech Republic), Alphonse Maria Mucha began his artistic career in Vienna and then in Paris, which was the artistic center of the time. His fame exploded with the poster for “Gismonda” for Sarah Bernhardt in 1894, earning him a six-year contract that launched him as a successful poster artist, as did his advertising and theater posters, created for companies such as Nestlé and Moët & Chandon.

Mucha is the narrator of a Belle Époque characterized by the technological progress of the great universal exhibitions and the massive spread of new consumer goods, with a nod to the fascinating world of the occult and mysticism. His works are not confined to the walls of studios, galleries, and salons, but find their place in the streets, covered passages, and squares, where a new society eager to embrace the new century is emerging.
His most impressive work is a series of 20 paintings, created in the last years of his life and called the “Slav Epic.” The cycle, a testament to his cultural and political commitment to the Slavic cause, consists of twenty large canvases (6×8 meters) depicting the main events in Slavic history between the 3rd and 20th centuries.
After the creation of Czechoslovakia, he worked for the new state, designing stamps and banknotes and creating the decoration for St. Vitus Cathedral.

“Alphonse Mucha. A triumph of beauty and seduction”

edited by
Elizabeth Brooke
and Annamaria Bava
scientific direction by
Francesca Villanti

pages: 280
closed size: 24 x 28 cm
packaging: Hardcover

editore: MOEBIUS
stampa:
Tecnostampa
Loreto (AN) Trevi (PG)
Italia

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