Alfons Maria MUCHA
Alfons Mucha (1860-1939) was a very influential but seldom mentioned figure in the history of art. He is more than anyone else responsible for the "art nouveau" style that developed around the turn of the century and applied his considerable talents to a wide variety of pursuits ranging from painting and sculpture to poster, magazine, and calendar illustration, and product and architectural design. It is probably as much because he did things other than paintings to be hung in museums that many of the leading artistic institutions have ignored his work for most of this century, but the fact that he opposed the cubist revolution and made recognizable and beautiful images meant that the critics of the 20th century would ignore his work.