Alphonse Maria Mucha (Czech painter) 1860 - 1939
Moravian Teachers' Choir, 1911
colour lithograph
108.5 x 79.5 cm. (42.72 x 31.3 in.)
printer/makers: V. Neubert, Prague
private collection
From humble beginnings, the Moravian Teacher's Choir became a world-renowned professional ensemble. Some of the songs in their varied repertoire of classical, folk and popular music were composed by Leoš Janácek, a fellow choirboy at Mucha's secondary school in Brno and a celebrated composer of modern Moravian folk music.
Mucha depicts a girl in traditional Moravian folk dress from the town of Kyjov. She cups her hand to her ear to listen to the song bird perched on a branch behind her, recalling the figure in the decorative panel The Arts: Music.
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Born in Ivancice, Moravia near the city of Brno in the modern day Czech Republic, Alfons Mucha began his artistic training taking drawing lessons at the Academy of Visual Arts in Prague and continued his studies in Munich. In 1890, the young artist moved on to Paris and enrolled in the Academie Julien where he was the student of J. P. Laurens, Gustave Boulanger and Lefebvre.
While in Paris, Mucha began to draw illustrations for books and magazines. In 1894, almost overnight, based on a poster he designed for a play starring Sarah Bernhardt, Gismonda, he became a success. Although widely regarded as one of the premier artists of the Art Nouveau period, Mucha shared much in philosophy and artistic temperament with the artists of the Symbolist movement. The composition of his posters was influenced by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Carlos Scwabe and the atmosphere surrounding the Salons de la Rose + Croix as well as by Byzantine and Japanese art. Although most renowned for his poster designs, the artist himself set more store by his other projects. In 1898-1899, he did a series of illustrations for The Lord's Prayer adding personal comments which echoed those of the founder of the Rose + Croix, Joseph Peladan. The crowning achievement of his career was the monumental series, The Slav Epic; twenty huge canvases that marked his return to the history painting of his youth.
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