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This morning started with a trip through Old Town to New Town, or at least the edge of it, to visit the Alphons Mucha Museum. You may not know the name, but it\u2019s likely you are at least passingly familiar with his work. Mucha is one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement, and along with Aubrey Beardsley and Toulouse Lautrec, its most famous practitioner. Mucha was a native Czech, but his most famous works were the music hall and concert posters created when he lived in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. His style was hugely influential, even to modern graphic artists like Peter Max\u2014striking figures, heavy outlines, flowers and natural elements, idyllic settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
When Mucha returned to Czechoslovakia, his work became more political. He began to use Slavic models rather than Parisian ones and he incorporated themes having to do with Czechoslovak history and national identity. His goal was to unite the people of his new state under a single mythic tradition, and he famously supported Slavs in a Czech dominated society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The museum is too small and cramped, and like so many other museums dedicated to famous local artists, most of Mucha\u2019s most well-known works are not here. But there is plenty to see here, along with some more traditional paintings from his earlier days before he developed his distinctive style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n