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Posted 7 months ago
Alfredo
(362 items)
I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING SOKOL SLET POSTCARDS. ONE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT I WAS WILLING TO BREAK THE PIGGY BANK. AND, AS USUAL, THEREIN LIES A STORY.
1. 1926. VIII SOKOL SLET. MARKED MUCHA. DID YOU KNOW HE WAS A FERVENT NATIONALIST?
2. AND THEN, THE JACKPOT. I FOUND A PICTURE OF HIS DAUGHTER, JEROSLAVA MUCHA, FROM 1924-25. NOTICE THE EXACT POSITIONING OF THE HANDS IN THE FEMALE FIGURE REPRESENTING CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN PIC. 1. THE FACE IS MUCH MORE MASCULINE, BUT THE RESEMBLANCE IS UNMISTAKABLE.
3. BACK OF THE POST CARD. DID YOU KNOW MUCHA ALSO DESIGNED MAIL STAMPS?
4. THEN, I HAD TO FIND A COMPANION POSTCARD. MUCHA DID A SERIES CALLED "THE BEATITUDES" WHICH IS HARDLY KNOWN. IT DEPICTS THE HORRORS HIS COUNTRY HAD BEEN SUBMITTED TO HISTORICALLY. I WAS FLOORED WHEN I FOUND "BLESSED THOSE PERSECUTED IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM". NOT AN IMAGE ONE ASSOCIATES WITH PLUMP, FLOWERY MAIDENS.
DID YOU KNOW THAT MUCHA WAS ARRESTED IN 1939 BY THE GESTAPO, INTERROGATED, GOT PNEUMONIA WHILE IN PRISON AND DIED AFTER BEING FREED, ON JULY 14TH OF THAT YEAR? BASTILLE DAY? HE WAS 70 YEARS OLD. THE IRONY, FOR HIM AS WELL AS FOR BOTH COUNTRIES, BREAKS MY HEART.
ALPHONSE MUCHA WAS ANOTHER VICTIM OF THE NAZI KILLING MACHINE. LIKE THOSE WHO MADE MY BELOVED GLASS.
PaperBefore the Internet reduced all correspondence and information to colorless…
Art Nouveau GraphicsColor lithography became popular in the 1880s, about the same time as the A…
Great post, Al. Mucha's Slavic Epic and later works are some of my favorites because you can tell that they are more personal in nature.
Really enjoyed the read... Well done and the illustrations are beautiful.
Thank you all. This is my version of research . . . or serendipity.