Opening Day – Eternally New: The Art Nouveau World of Alphonse Mucha
Oct 24, 2024
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
It’s opening day for the new special ticketed exhibition and immersive art experience Eternally New: The Art Nouveau World of Alphonse Mucha. Be among the first to experience this new exhibition and immersive art experience!
The exhibition features nearly 50 original posters, books, lithographs, sculptures, and other decorative items on loan from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, with additional period pieces from other regional collections, including a penny-farthing bicycle, couture dresses, and jewelry.
Art Nouveau, or “new art,” is an international style of art and architecture that exploded in Paris at the turn of the 20th-century as Czech-born Mucha rose to prominence. His work came to define the look of the fin-de-siècle: soft pastels, sinuous floral patterns, and elegant yet bohemian women such as the internationally renowned French actress Sarah Bernhardt – in short, the essence of Belle Époque.
Mucha’s work transcends this period, however, with his impact felt throughout the decades in works ranging from the Grateful Dead’s concert posters and the “Flower Power” movement of the 1960’s to manga comics, street artists, and even tattoo art today.Several of these latter-day artists will be included through videos and large-scale images, highlighting how Mucha’s work influenced their own.
Bringing Mucha’s Art Nouveau world to life in a deeply engaging way is an accompanying Immersive Art Experience from the Grand Palais in Paris. The Taubman Museum of Art is the first museum outside of Europe to showcase the Immersive, kicking off an American tour.
Featuring sight, sound, smell, and touch, the Immersive walks visitors through the story of Mucha and his humanist ambition in three acts: as a master of advertising in Paris; at a turning point in his career in 1900, which he was heavily involved in the Exposition Universelle in Paris; and through the presentation of his monumental works, namely the Slav Epic, which develops a vision of Slav history as a pacifist model for the world that resonates today more than ever.
Members Always Free
$10 Adults
$8 Seniors, College Students, Educators, Retired and Active Military
Free for Youth (High School Students and Younger)
Daily Guided Tours Monday – Sunday at 1 p.m.
Private Guided Tours: Contact 540.342.5760 or mmcintyre@taubmanmuseum.org
Exhibition and educational programming support are generously provided by:
SELECTED WORKS
Alphonse Mucha (Czech, active in France, 1860–1939), Les Maîtres de l’afficheu, Volume 4, 1895-1900 book, lithography and letterpress, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library and Special Collections, L2024.6, Photo: David Stover, © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Alphonse Mucha (Czech, active in France, 1860–1939), Salome from L’estampe Moderne, 1897 poster, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library and Special Collections, L2024.9, photo: Sandra Sellars, © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860-1939), Rêverie, 1898, color lithograph, © Mucha Trust, courtesy of the Mucha Foundation
Still from immersive film, courtesy of Grand Palais Immersif, inspired by Alphonse Mucha, © Mucha Trust, courtesy of the Mucha Foundation
Alphonse Mucha (Czech, active in France, 1860–1939), Lady with daisy (Femme à Marguerite), 1898-1900, cotton velveteen, 27⅝”H x 30 5/16”W, 70.17 cm x 76.99 cm, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Swenson Art Nouveau Fund, 2008.37, Photo: Katherine Wetzel, © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Alphonse Mucha (Czech, active in France, 1860–1939) and Émile Pinédo, founder, (French, 1840–1916), Nature, ca. 1900, bronze, gilding, silver, marble, 27¼”H × 11”W × 12”D, 69.22 cm × 27.94 cm × 30.48 cm, signed on proper right side Mucha; founder’s seal on proper left side Bronze Garanti Au Titre PARIS, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Sydney and Frances Lewis Art Nouveau Fund, 72.13, Photo: Travis Fullerton, © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Alton Kelley (American, 1940-2008), Grateful Dead Live: “Skull and Roses”, 1971, cardboard record sleeve, © “Grateful Dead: Live” album cover used with permission of Rhino Entertainment Company, courtesy of the Mucha Foundation
Joe Quesada (American, born 1962), Ninjak #3, 1994, comic book, © Artwork by Joe Quesada, Ninjak is a registred trademark of Valiant Entertainment LLC, courtesy of the Mucha Foundation
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