RETRATO :: Christa Zaat

Christa Zaat



Alphonse Maria Mucha (Czech painter) 1860 - 1939
Portrait of Mucha's Daughter, Jaroslava, ca. 1927-1935
oil on canvas
60 x 73 cm. (23.62" x 28.74")
National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, 1400 Inspiration Place SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404, United States of America

Jaroslava, Mucha's first child, was born in 1909 in New York, during the family's stay in America. She appears in numerous pictures and designs, including Czechoslovak banknotes.
In this half-length frontal portrait, Jaroslava sits in an elaborate white headscarf with her chin in her hands.
When Mucha was working on the Slav Epic at Zbiroh, Western Bohemia, Jaroslava not only posed for the paintings, but also worked as her father's technical assistant. This early training may have helped her pursue her career as a conservator of fine art.

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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.