Alphonse Mucha, Zodiac (1896), color lithograph, 25 3/4 x 19″
His distinctive linear style fueled the hippie aesthetic of the 1960s, echoing through rock albums, Japanese manga and graphic design
Where is the overlap between rock albums and Japanese manga, between advertisements and comic books, between religious iconography and national identity?
Look no further than “Timeless Mucha: The Magic of Line” at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The special exhibition showcases and pays tribute to the work of Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), the Czech artist whose revolutionary graphic designs and linework characterized Art Nouveau and whose influence reverberates throughout visual art today.
The exhibit displays more than 100 works from the Mucha Trust Collection, guiding viewers through the phases of Mucha’s career and his immense impact into the present day. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, senior curator of European arts at the Nelson-Atkins, curated the exhibition. She highlights the ubiquity of Mucha’s work, saying, “Alphonse Mucha is so iconic. Even if you might not know the name, you certainly know the work.”
The exhibition opens with sweeping posters of the powerhouse actress Sarah Bernhardt, which fueled Mucha’s rise to success. The first poster Mucha designed for Bernhardt in December of 1894 was for the play Gismonda. As other artists were away for the holidays, the printers took a chance on Mucha as a last-ditch effort. Bernhardt, also nicknamed the Divine Sarah, loved his poster, saying, according to Mucha’s memoir, “You have made me immortal.” Mucha portrayed the actress in a completely new style. Marcereau DeGalan explains how striking and revolutionary it was, saying, “He took a petite woman, put her up on a pedestal, elongated the format, so you see her kind of raised up and he made her look like an icon — tall, ethereal. He put elements like a halo behind her.” This moment solidified Mucha’s career, as Bernhardt entered a six-year contract with him as her artistic director.
“Timeless Mucha” explores the power of influence, as Mucha’s great-grandson and executive director of the Mucha Foundation, Marcus Mucha, explains in his introduction to the exhibition catalog. It moves through Mucha’s personal art collection into the ways Mucha influenced future artists well after his death. Mucha was one of six children, born into a family of modest means. His mother tied a pencil around his neck when he was still in diapers as a way to keep him busy, so Mucha began drawing almost immediately. The exhibit displays one of his early pieces, a watercolor drawing of the crucifixion, made when he was just 8 years old.
Timelines orient audiences to the events of Mucha’s life, as well as the politics of the time. Mucha was a Czech person born in the Austrian Empire who dealt with persecution and therefore felt a deep sense of national identity. Themes of his Czech identity reverberate throughout his work, even as he was making advertisements. “The embroidery, the embellishing of the halo, the stars, flowers, they were all part of his Slavic identity and heritage, and for him, that is such a backbone of everything he does,” says Marcereau DeGalan. “As he goes through his life and has to make choices because of finances, he has to do commercial work. It’s not fulfilling to him, so he finds a way to weave his own identity into the work.”
Mucha’s family, through the Mucha Foundation, has carefully preserved his legacy and shared it with the public. Audiences can see his drafts and etchings, as he perfects and makes his line more efficient. They can see his early use of circles to communicate movement in two-dimensional drawings. There is even his own 1865 edition of Owen Jones’ The Grammar of Ornament, which includes pencil lines where Mucha completed designs himself.
At the time of Mucha’s death in 1939, Germany had occupied then Czechoslovakia, and because of Mucha’s deep Slavic nationalism, his art was suppressed. With the help of his son Jiří, his work was revived at a 1963 exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. The floral elements and flowing, whiplash curves fit perfectly with the hippie aesthetic of the 1960s. “Mucha’s work became part of the visual language of the 60s — nature, flowers, long hair,” adds Marcereau DeGalan. “Timeless Mucha” has an entire psychedelic room where audiences can push a button to hear the music from the album covers that mirror Mucha’s style.
Mucha’s incredible study of line and the way the eye interprets it inspired both comic book and manga artists, as seen in a section devoted to his influence on later generations of artists. The exhibition breaks down his five signature line patterns, with touch elements for those who are visually impaired. These lines can be seen throughout comics and manga. Former head of Marvel Comics Joe Quesada has three works in the exhibition and came to Kansas City for a talk about Mucha’s impact on the artform. Audiences can even create their own comic-book character at an interactive element inside the exhibition.
“Timeless Mucha” closes with Mucha’s magnum opus, the Slav Epic — 20 massive paintings created over 18 years. The works detail the story of a people. “You see elements of light in every single one of these. You see destruction, resilience, endurance, rising up. Some of them are very dark and some of them inspire hope,” says Marcereau DeGalan. “He’s really telling the story of his people, so nobody forgets.” Images of the paintings fill the final room, where audiences can sit down and take in each work. The left side projects each painting to scale, while the right zooms in on specific, intricate details. Music composed by Mucha’s daughter-in-law, Geraldine Mucha, completes the experience. It is a fitting close to an exhibition on an artist who influenced
so many yet always held onto his own identity. In everything he does, “You always feel his voice. It’s never lost,” says Marcereau DeGalan.
“Timeless Mucha: The Magic of Line” continues at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St., through Aug. 30. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Saturday and Sunday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Two companion exhibits are also on display: “Mucha’s Muses: Sarah Bernhardt and the Spirit of Art Nouveau” through Jan. 17, 2027, and “Reflections of Nature: Monet’s Water Lilies and Art Nouveau” through May 2, 2027. For more information, 816.751.1278 or www.nelson-atkins.org.
ALL PHOTOS COLLECTION OF THE MUCHA TRUST, © 2025 MUCHA TRUST
