Saturday, June 5, 2010

Too much Mucha?



Impossible. It is impossible to get too much Mucha in my opinion. Let me say this again. Much Mucha is a magnificent thing. And Prague is full of Mucha. The king of the Secessionist movement (also known as Art Nouveau), Mucha spent a lot of time in Paris doing advertisements but never forgot where he came from--Bohemia. His influence is everywhere and his actual work is not that hard to find. Some examples:
The stained glass above is in the Saint Vitus Cathedral. Beyond belief beautiful with a understanding of aqua that not many artists have had.


 

This glorious piece is part of the drapes (yes, drapes) in the Mucha room in the Municipal house. The whole building is a paean to Czech nationalism and to Art Nouveau as an extension of their culture. A must see if you go to Prague.



This is also in the Mucha room in the Municipal house. Impossible to get a photo (although Michael did a magnificent job getting details) that shows the feeling you get in each room because you are surrounded from floor to ceiling with the artist's vision of what the Czech Republic and Prague are all about.

With some musicians you just know they "get" their culture: Chopin, Copland, Gershwin, Liszt. But to me, not so many artists ooze with nationalism. In the Czech Republic it seems that so many artists "get" their culture. All you have to do to understand what it means to be a Czech is to open your eyes.

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