The Master of Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau was a style of painting, illustration, architecture and decorative arts that was popular worldwide in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  It rejected the academic styles of the era and emphasized natural forms with asymmetry, intricate designs and curves.

Currently the Kaluz Museum in Mexico City has two exhibits on Art Nouveau.  The first one centers on painter and graphic artist Alphonse Mucha.  Mucha was born in Czechoslovakia, but he spent more than a decade in Paris where he became known as the "Master of Art Nouveau.

This design for a Czech magazine in 1882 anticipates the style Mucha would develop in Paris.

Illustration for a book of French fairy tales, 1892

Study for the cover of a Parisian cultural magazine, 1898

Two covers for the magazine "Au Quartier Latin"

A 1897 travel poster for the newly opened train service from Paris to Monte Carlo

Three posters for theater productions starring the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt

Poster for a banquet in honor of Sarah Bernhardt

Zodiac, 1896

Two from a series of lithographs entitled "Flowers of Britanny"

An 1897 advertisement for Nestle's Food for Infants

Next up...

The other exhibition deals with the influence of Art Nouveau on Mexican artists.