Mucha Museum: Art Nouveau Beauty

The Mucha Museum in Prague is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to this famous Art Nouveau artist. You might know his famous decorative portraits, but he was a universal artist in many disciplines. Come to visit the Mucha Museum and discover more about this world-famous artist.

Life of Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha became famous in Paris when he designed posters for famous actress Sarah Bernhardt. It was a period of emerging impressionism when society was open to new techniques. His style was unique and innovative, so it immediately attracted the attention of the public. People were even stealing the posters for themselves during the night. After such success, he also expanded his style to decorative art and jewelry.

At the age of 43 years, he returned back to Bohemia-Moravia, still the part of Austria at that time. He devoted his life to painting a series of twenty monumental canvas, known as the Slavic Epic, depicting the history of the Slavic people. He even designed the first Czechoslovak banknotes, when the newly independent country was born. If you want to see the original decoration of Alphonse Mucha in Prague, have a guided tour in Municipal House and/or visit a St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle and look for one of the stained-glass windows.

What You Can See in the Mucha Museum

The Mucha Musem displays a collection of about 100 works consisting of posters, paintings, drawings, but also decorative objects, photographs, and personal items. Of course, the majority of the exhibition displays his famous decorative posters created during his life in Paris (1887 – 1904). What I appreciated were original photographs from his atelier in Paris with Paul Gaugin and other artists of the impressionistic period.

For Mucha is typical portraying women in allegory cycles. I like the Four Seasons cycle and the Four Times of Day cycle depicting women in thematic surroundings, colors, and decorations. I also found interesting his posters emphasizing the Slavic features around the period when Czechoslovakia emerged as a new state.

In the Mucha Museum, you can even find a few oil paintings that are not so well know, besides his monumental the Slavic Epic, of course. Unfortunately, you won’t find it here. What you can find in the museum is also a small cinema with a half-hour long documentary movie that provides you the information in the context. Before you exit the exhibition, don’t forget to have a look at the museum shop, offering numerous books and souvenirs with Mucha’s motifs.

Thanks to the Mucha Museum and the Mucha Foundation for enabling to photograph the exhibition.

How to get to the Mucha Museum

You can find the Mucha Museum in Panská street, between the shopping street Na Příkopě and Jindřišská street, just a few steps from the Museum of Senses. The nearest tram stop is Jindřišská, or metro stop Můstek.