Tomoko Sato
New York: Mucha Foundation Publishing, 2025.

“This volume reappraises the graphic work of Alphonse Mucha and explores its influence on graphic art since the 1960s. Published in conjunction with a touring exhibition in the US & Mexico, this volume surveys the development of Mucha’s style, synonymous with Art Nouveau. It explores how it was rediscovered by later generations of artists, becoming an artistic idiom for the Psychedelic Art of the 1960s and 1970s as well as a wide range of visual culture from the late 20th century to today. Coinciding with the opening of the new Mucha Museum in the baroque Savarin Palace in Prague, ‘Timeless Mucha’ is organised into three thematic sections: Inspirations for the Mucha Style, Le Style Mucha, and Art Nouveau and The Rebirth of the Mucha Style and Its Legacy. The first two sections focus on Mucha’s artistic development, examining the theoretical basis of Mucha’s style–famously known as “le style Mucha” in fin-de-siecle Paris–and its context. Tracing the artist’s footsteps from his youth in Moravia through the 1890s, when he attained fame as a poster artist, the first section highlights a selection of works of art, crafts and books from his own collection. The third section explores visual links between Mucha’s artistic idiom and the styles developed by later generations of artists. While Mucha’s style continues to influence today’s visual culture, including fashion, animation movies and computer games, this catalogue also focuses on a philosophical aspect of Mucha’s legacy: the art of message-making.”