In Quest of Beauty: Alphonse Mucha at the Sainsbury Centre

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Where do I even begin? In short, this was a spectacular exhibition and I've said it before, but I'll say it again - I highly reccommend it! 

I must say that I'm a little biased in some ways since,  Alphonse Mucha is without a doubt one of my all time favourite artists. I first stumbled across his work on a visit in Prague in the summer of 2014. I was wandering around the streets of Prague and as I passed a shop front, I glanced through the window, saw his work and stopped in my tracks. I couldn't help but be gravitated toward them. So I took all my friends inside, basked in the glory of his work and picked a few of his postcards. There's something so captivating about the bold yet delicate graphic of pieces that draw you to them. So I was ecstatic to learn that the Sainsbury Centre had his work on display and the moment I got some time off uni, I made it my mission to go. And that's what I did.

For images that are mentioned in this post as well as one's I particularly liked from the exhibition I will link to a pinterest board, here, where you can view them as I have no rights for these images.

Just a little side note: In general the Sainsbury Centre is a great place to just go and spend some time looking around, and the permanent collection they have on show is definitely worth a look. It's great to take some time look at everything and you wouldn't believe how quickly the time goes by. I'll do a post on my thoughts on the Sainsbury Centre at another time, but for now please keep reading to find out about 'In Quest of Beauty'.

The title of the exhibition, 'In Quest of Beauty', is so very fitting because beauty is something Mucha captures with great success and effortlessly so. Thus, in my mind the quest is over.

As you enter the exhibition space you are met with the most wonderful shade of pink all over the walls, which compliment the work on display wonderfully, as well as a little background about the Mucha Foundation and Mucha himself. As it turns out Alphonse Mucha was the pioneer for graphic design, so anyone interested in graphics I strongly suggest you come along and pay a visit and take a good look into Mucha. I had no idea how influential Mucha was, but in retrospect, the style of work he was producing was far from traditional at the time and straddled the line two-dimensional graphic language with a great sense of realism also. With the bold outlines and soft colour schemes, that are are a part of his graphic fingerprint, I feel as if to call them cartoons would be an insult to his name - this is not demean any cartoonists, but I believe his work was meant to be more than that. His work, I feel even today, has something so beautifully timeless about it. It's very probable that someone could see his work and think he was a practicing artist today.

Sarah Bernhardt as La Princesse Lointaine: Poster for La Plume magazine (postcard) 

The first piece of work we are welcomed by is Mucha's iconic 'Gismonda' poster which put him on the map. This is because 'Mucha's poster marks a radical departure from traditional poster design' and he himself said that he liked to think of these posters as "open-air art exhibitions" which is testament to his philosophy of art being accessible to all, not just those who were better off. Isn't that a wonderful notion? With every piece of work Mucha made, he engaged with the same sense of poise, concern and fortitude, rendering each creation just as important as the next. Follwing 'Gismonda' we are met with the incredible Sarah Bernhardt as 'La Princesse Lointaine': Poster for La Plume magazine. Words cannot describe how stunning this poster is. Mucha captures a great sense of beauty in an celestial way which give his works a transcendent quality. Then we are met with ornate bronze and silver statue, 'Head of a Girl',  for the stand of the Houbigant Perfumery at the Paris Exhibition 1900.

Before we delve into the depths of the exhibition, the curator kindly collated some Art Nouveau items to put Mucha's work into context - a rather thoughtful gesture on their part. I think this would help one not to feel intimidated or overwhelmed by not fully knowing or being aware of the era Mucha was a part of. Two items from the Art Nouveau collection displayed made quite the impression on me. The first being the 'Princesse Lointaine' Light Fitting by Adolphe Armand Truffier. I never thought a light fitting could be breathe taking, but trust me, this one was. And the other item I fell in love with was the 'Figure of Loïe Fuller' manufactured by Riessner Stellmacher und Kessel. For any of those that know me I am a big lover of ceramics, and I've never seen such skilful execution of earthenware in my life. I almost didn't believe it was ceramic and initially thought it to be metallic. The manufacturer's ability to capture movement in the ripple detail of the fabric leaves me in absolute awe. The figure is caught in motion whipping round in a circular motion, creating a 'whiplash' line heavily prominent and associated in Art Nouveau which is a motif that can be seen throughout Mucha's work. (Again, click here to view the images mentioned in this post.)

Once you're finished with putting Mucha into context, as well as viewing some wonderful jewellery and trinkets - some of which are made by Mucha, there's a timeline of events in Mucha's life. I have to admit, I usually scan over these at exhibitions but it was great to get a proper sense of the life Mucha led.

After all was read, I started on the rest of the exhibition. This included a great range of the rest of Mucha's artistic catalogue. From posters, to advertisements to product packaging and decoration. I enjoyed every second of it and revelled in the glory that is Mucha's legacy. Thankfully the way the exhibition is laid out, the sequencing of everything is very fluid. So there's no need to feel like there is a set path on has to take when exploring, just meander as you please around the floating walls draped in Mucha's artistry. In regards to the floating walls, some feature a quote from Mucha which I found to be very uplifting and inspiring. Furthermore, there's a real sense of evolution in his style as you progress though the catalogue of his work, it's subtle but there's a clear this shift in his graphic language. Though his last few pieces (click here and here to view), have a differing impact, some are much more soft, dream-like and ethereal and others darker in tonality. Even so, they remain to posses Mucha's charm and aura. As we come to the end of the exhibition there's the option to sit and watch a 30 minute documentary on Mucha's life which a delves deeper into Mucha more so than the timeline near the beginning. This comes a DVD which is currently available for sale in the Sainsbury Centre shop.

My series of postcards & bookmark.

In all, it was honestly so remarkable to get up close and personal with Mucha's work and I think I'd quite like to visit again! Just so you know, there is no drinking or eating in the space as well as no photography permitted - but believe me when I say no photos can do justice to the real beauty of Mucha's work! They hold an experiential quality that you can't appreciate from a photograph. For example, some pieces have a wonderful iridescent quality that animates their surfaces as you orbit around them. I managed to get some more postcards for my collection, but one day I really want to get some authentic prints for my home. It was also suggested by a lovely gentleman who was at reception, for me to check out more of Mucha's Slav Epic collection, and they did not disappoint. They are most definitely worth checking out. If you would like more detail about everything on display, please follow this link here to a pdf. of all the wall text (caption) labels.

For those of you that aren't local to Norfolk, I believe this Alphonse Mucha exhibition will be coming to the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool as well as the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow. And if you want to know a bit more about Mucha and where to view is work, I suggest you visit the Mucha foundation site, here.

If you're quick, there are some exclusive tickets available to a special viewing and tour of the exhibition followed by free tea and cake after - click here.

Thanks so much for reading,


Margaret xXx

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