"France Embraces Bohemia" by Alphonse Mucha

Although Alphonse Mucha is best known for his beautiful art nouveau style, I’ve always found myself attracted to his more traditional paintings. In particular, his work on “France Embraces Bohemia”, which is my favorite image he ever painted, encapsulates what I love most about art.

The painting itself is a symbolic depiction of the struggle and sufferings of the Czech nation under Astro-Hungarian rule. Mucha was very much a patriot of his Czech homeland and this is one of many images he created representing the history of his Slavic people.

Mucha’s work has had an incredible impact that is still deeply rooted among contemporary artists and illustrators to this day. Artists such as Michael Parkes, James Jean, Kent Williams, Michael Kaluta, and Barry Windsor Smith have created work directly or indirectly influenced by Mucha, which is a testament to his universal appeal.

If you’re interested in learning more about Alphonse Mucha and his work, you can do so through the following sites:

www.muchafoundation.org – Listed as “The Official Mucha Foundation homepage”, this site contains an assorted variation of Mucha’s work as well as a short biography, memorabilia and more.

www.mucha.cz – The world´s first Mucha Museum located in Prague. Contains information on Mucha exhibits including location, hours, and facilities.

www.bpib.com/illustrat/mucha.htm – This page contains an in depth biography of the Czech born artist and a few images to go along with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha – Wikipedia’s Alphonse Mucha page.

Additional suggested reading can be found here.