Mucha's Studio, Models and Staged Photography

Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist. You may be familiar with his poster Salon des Cent (below). It was ubiquitous during the 60s.

Between 1896 and the early 1900s Mucha took a series of photographs of models that served as preliminary studies for his final paintings.  From these photographs he selected appropriate images and synthesised them to create a complicated historical event on a single canvas. The studies are interesting in their own right. His studio photography grew into a part of his experimentation with his models to express his philosophical ideas through theatrical poses and gestures.

More:Mucha Foundation

Bonus: Print and colour your own Mucha colouring sheet.

Thanks Bruce!