Book Description
This lavishly illustrated book presents the full spectrum of Alphonse Mucha`s works, from his innovative posters and decorative panels to his architectural designs, jewelry, sculpture, photographs, books, and interiors. The authors discuss Mucha`s years in Paris, his iconography of Sarah Bernhardt, his service to the Czech government, his distinctive style that became nearly synonymous with turn-of-the-century French Art Nouveau, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

You get what you pay for
If your a fan of Art Neveou, Mucha, Art Deco, or just the history of a wonderful artist than this is a must buy. It has some wonderful images that are not common in other books about Mucha, plus it goes it to detail how he started his career.

The book has a fabulous balance of commentary and his various forms of fine art, design, and nouveau. (It also has some of the best construction and printing quality that I've seen in an art book. )

Great purchase
This book was well worth the money.It not only includes great pictures of his work, it also includes information about his life.The order they are placed in allows you to compare his work that takes place around the same time.It also includes his other works, such as jewelry and sculptures.I would definitely suggest this for anyone who asks.

Another textbook masquerading as an art book . . .
If you are looking for an art book, avoid this one. I adore Mucha's work. That being said, I was decidedly underwhelmed with this massive tome. I was really looking forward to this because it seemed like it would be loaded with full color images from Mucha's career.
Half the book is black and white pictures with text. Then comes the 'Catalogue' which I'm finding means code for 'small pictures ahead'.
The entire Slav epic is reproduced, however the images are so tiny you can barely make it out, except for a couple pieces that take up half the page. Even more annoying is the fact that the teeny images occupy what is largely a blank page.Two or three images way down at the bottom and blank space for the rest of it.
I guess it's part of 'negative space' and art or whatever, but it felt like a rip off.
The rest of the 100 or so pages of art is much like this. Small images of most of his work, like 'Seasons' and 'Jewels' with mostly a blank page.
Why wouldn't they use more of the page and blow up the image so the reader can enjoy the works? This large book could have been the definitive book on Mucha for art book lovers. That is why I would rate this as an over hyped textbook. The best Mucha book out there is the one I imported from Prague.
Don't waste your time with this unless you are into a scholarly approach to this fantastic artist. For classroom study at best.

Excellently
The detailed comments written with feeling.
Illustrations reflect all stages of creativity
The book, worthy any collection

A great addition for a personal library
I purchased this book from Amazon.com after visiting the Mucha Museum in Prague in September '07. Believe it or not, there were NO English versions of Mucha's life, works, or anything in book form. I was pleased to find this book available here and have enjoyed it greatly. It has good coverage of his life, and his works and a complete section in the back of his works in color. The only drawback is that not all of the colored pages are true to the colors that I saw at the museum, but most are good. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is the first comprehensive overview of Mucha's life and work and is published in association with the Mucha Museum in Prague. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Mucha the great, in print!!!!
Wonderful book, very good bio of the man plus a great many examples of his work. Only downfall to me is i wished the images would have been larger. But thats just me nitpicking, because i absolutely love this book. I think anyone who's a fan of Mucha should own this book. Cheers, enjoy.

Spectacular
I was extremely happy with this. The only negative thing I have to say about this book is I wish some of the prints were larger.

This has a great collection of Mucha's artwork, and an in depth look at the mans life; including photo's of models and photo's of his own family.

If you enjoy Alphonse Mucha, this is a must own.

Good, but wish I had my book from prague
This book is great for those who do not have a great book on Mucha. The book contains a superior history of Mucha's life and intro the Art Neuvou period(Art Nuvo). Mucha should be credited with the entire period in my opinion.

There is wide sampling of his works, beyond that in other books. There are examples of jewelry, metal works, paintings, prints, furniture, and architecture. The images are printed very well.

All in all, this is the second best book; The best book was purchased in Prague at his museum (can't find in US...or remember name). This book had mostly paintings but I miss the superior color quality and few pictures run across two pages (a pet peeve of mine and occasional issue in this book)...this book seems to be as good as it gets here.

Can't get better than this.
This book has it all lots of pictures as well as interesting information on Mucha and his work.I feel that it shows how he and his work became an icon of Art Nouveau.It is not just posters and panels that are covered it goes into every aspect of Mucha's work.There is information and pictures on "The Slav Epic", jewellery, lead light pastels, drawings and more.I would recommend this book to anyone that loves Mucha or Art Nouveau.

lovely Art Nuveau book
I bought this book as a gift for a Mucha fan.It's a great price for such a beautiful hardcover book.The high quality glossy pages vividly exhibit the many prints and photographs represented.There is also ample and varied biographical information about Alphonse Mucha's life and career.It's a great book for any art-nuveau fan. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (5)

If you Love Mucha you will love this.
This is a reproduction of Mucha's portfolio "Documents Decoratifs" which is a lovely selection of Mucha's work.It includes not only many nude women and flowers (which one would expect) but also designs for furniture, silverware and lots of jewellery.If your looking for a source of information on Mucha this is not it but if you just want to gaze lovingly at a wide selection of his work you will adore this book.

Just wonderful!
Hey it just does'nt get any better than this for me! The Man is just one of my favorites Artists. What can I say?

Pure Goodnesss,,,
This is one of the books of Mucha; how can I complain? His distinctive art style, that nearly defined all of the known conception of Art Neuveau(curse my bad spelling), is on full display.The flowing designs of Mucha have stood the test of time.His art is loved by art-traditionalists and my punk-music loving buddies and proves true art is loved by all.

a comprehensive pictoral history of art nouveau...mucha
mucha was great....i laughed,i cried,i saw excessive yet tasteful amounts of nudity...lets hear it for the slav epics.....and his nudie girls....that crazy slavic painter....he studied at nyu....i think....withwhistler?.....lots of nudies....worked from photos,loved photos....thisbook reflects muchas artwork by showing pictures of it....guns and roses.

An excellent resource for art nouveau design
A truly beautiful book, many of the plates are full page and in full color.His nudes and semi-nudes are entirely captivating with exquisite attention to detail.The remainder of the plates are tints and depictvarious items in art nouveau style (jewelry, silverware, china, etc.). There are also a few pages containing color borders and backgrounds.Thecopyright in this book is unusual for Dover Publications, as it grants noexplicit free-use of the images contained within it. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Mucha Postcards
If you love Mucha's work and cannot afford to go out and buy posters, prints or delicious books then this is your answer.These cards can be used to frame or decoupage etc.They are beautiful and the detail and color are how they should be, I have seen others and they are washed out and the detail is not that good.

I received this quickly with no delays.

Moderately grainy, but decent
The 24 cards are as follows: all 12 from Les Mois (The Months) - Mois artistique et litterare (1898); Topaze of the Precious Stones series; Femme a la Plume (Woman with a Quill); Le Crepuscule (Dusk); Fleur de cerisier (Cherry Blossom); Exposition de 1900 (Exhibition 1900); Dessin pour uneventail (Design for a Fan); L'enfance (Childhood); Dessin pour unprogramme (Design for a program); 4 Moet et Chandon Menus.

Overall, I wasdisappointed in the color clarity - Topaze and the Moet et Chandon menusseemed over-saturated and Fleur de cerisier seemed too light.All theprints are on the grainy side, as well - I would venture to say my colorprinter would do as well.I wouldn't say these cards are of framingquality, as I had originally hoped, but they are perfectly suited forsharing your love of Mucha with friends by mail.

Exquisite detailed prints!
Mucha in all his splendor of the dancing line to create beautiful compositions. Prints on cards are of good quality. My students could not get enough of his artistry. ... Read more

Product Description
Front cover is "flittered" (flecked with metallic glitter) . 2008 slim wall calendar, wire coil at top, 6.5"W x 13.75"L . Upper 1/3 of each page has a different Mucha picture, bottom 2/3 has dates of month line-by-line. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

pictures too small
I should have pulled out my ruler before buying this calendar. It is much smaller than I was expecting. Worse is that the pictures are small compared to the calendar part. They are only about 4 3/4 inches tall and 6 inches wide. They are very pretty pictures, but most of what you see when you open the calendar is the 8 1/2 inch tall calendar part, with the little 4 3/4 inch tall picture at the top. Too much calendar to picture ratio for my taste. Most calendars are 50/50 calendar to picture, not 2/1 calendar to picture. I wouldn't have bought this calendar if I'd seen a picture of the opened calendar. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Mucha beautiful!
I am a porcelain artist and this book has been so inspirational. I think we should have heard more of this artist.

Inside the mind of the artist
I appreciated this book as it gives a different perspective on Mucha's works. Being mostly a collection of pencil drawn sketches, it lets you enter the creative process of the artist, while other books I own just present the finished work.

Really useful for who'd like to understand his approach to drawing.

A Brief but Decent Introduction to Brilliance
This affordable and brief work to the works of Alphonse Mucha offers an introduction to the artist.Includes some early works, preliminary drafts, and finished products.Useful for those who are studying technique--you can see how he drew (pencil--a few in ink).About 60 illustrations in all, 8 of these in color.I remain fascinated with Mucha's perspectives on beauty.Very inspirational!

What a joy to behold!
What charm & grace does the man bring forth! Its things like this that make life worth living and makes us all just that much better.

The master at work
The pencil drawings in this book are fascinating. You can really see how he worked on each design, and occasionally the original sketch has some interesting variations from the final product. I particularly enjoyed some of the less popular works that are to be found here. ... Read more

Book Description
Mucha's Byzantine beauties graced walls throughout Paris in thelate 1890s.These romantic female figures were incredibly popular andforever changed the movement of art nouveau. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

An American Collection
This is a VERY small book, smaller than a cd case. The illustrations are great and it gives a very general overview of Mucha's life. I purchased this book as a reference for a report on Mucha for a college level class and it was definitely not very useful for that purpose.The author does not cite any resources for the information in the book and other than looking good on the bookshelf it was not worth the price.

Part of a Really Useful Series
I run enrichment programs for school age children and this book along withthe other books in the Vignette series from the Collector's Press have beenterrific in introducing kids to great artists.This book does a great jobof chronicling Mucha's life and career.I highly recommend it as anintroduction to Art Nouveau and Alphonse Mucha.

Useful Reference Book
I found this book to be a great addition to my library of art nouveaureference books.It is small and concise. The author obviously loves hissubject matter.I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in anoverview of Mucha's work in a quick read.

Save your money ...
Don't even bother.There is a magnificent book published by Art Services Inc. in association with Yale University which, after years of searching, is the definitive book on Alphonse Mucha."Alphonse Mucha: The Spiritof Art Nouveau", 1998, by Victor Arwas,Jana Brabcova- Orlikova andAnna Dvorak. Costs more $$, but you're really getting something! Exquisite! Text and great color pieces. A treasure.

Save your money ...
Don't even bother.There is a magnificent book published by Art Services Inc. in association with Yale University which, after years of searching, is the definitive book on Alphonse Mucha."Alphonse Mucha: The Spiritof Art Nouveau", 1998, by Victor Arwas,Jana Brabcova- Orlikova andAnna Dvorak. Costs more $$, but you're really getting something! Exquisite! Text and great color pieces. A treasure. ... Read more

Book Description
Though Alfons Mucha (1960-1939) achieved lasting international acclaim as an Art Nouveau painter, graphic designer, and decorator, his photography is not as well known. In this new, expanded edition produced in cooperation with the Mucha Trust, an intimate and accomplished photographer is revealed. A kind of sketchbook and personal visual diary, this record of captured moments from the mid-1880s until the end of the artist's life illuminates both Mucha's career as an artist and the time in which he lived. In addition, the behind-the-scenes glimpses of his studio prove that Mucha--a key creator of the ideal of Art Nouveau beauty--was one of the pioneers of the classic nude in Czech photography. For lay readers and photographic connoisseurs alike, this volume illuminates a unique and powerful artistic vision. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Brief introduction
Mucha's style epitomized, maybe defined Art Nouveau. His languid female figures, sentimental views of nature and classics, and loose allegories created a clear, strong graphic style. Perhaps it's ironic that Mucha's romantic style traces directly to a project done for commercial publicity.

A commission in 1894 had Mucha create the first of his posters for Sarah Bernhardt. The poster's lithographic printing process imposed constraints to which his earlier oil paintings were not subject. For example, outlines around each feature derive from the idea of a "key block" for the multicolor process, and help hide uncertain registration in printing. Since it was necessary, Mucha made it part of his visual style, and used it in cigarette and soap ads as much in odes to the arts, senses, and seasons.

This brief book presents a small selection of Mucha's huge output. It focuses largely on the commericial art from his incredibly productive 1895-1900 period. One earlier oil painting starts the collection; jewelry, interior design, and sculpture from all parts of his career appear as well. This collection also displays a few preparatory photos and drawings, sometimes with the finished work that they helped to develop. Although this book is well printed on bright, opaque paper, it's modest size sometimes makes the finest detail hard to pick out. Brevity is a problem, too - the biographical summary takes up only a few pages in the front of the book, but the book didn't have very many pages to give up. Still, it's an affordable and enjoyable summary, plenty to coax the reader into seeking out more of the beloved artist's work.

-- wireweird

Good for coffee table, alright for collector.
This is a small collection of Alphons Mucha's work.It includes lovely prints of Mucha's poster design and painting, a small biography, however, what disappoints me the most is the small dedication to his major work "The Slav Epic" and jewerly design.This is a good gift to introduce someone to Alphonse Mucha, but if you are a collector or fan of Mucha this is not the right book for you.

Photographs, Not Artworks, And Quite Beautiful
David is reviewing another book and people should not buy this for Mucha's non-photographic work.It is a small book of beautiful photographs by Mucha, quite varied, and very period-specific.Enthralling.

Best value Mucha book around!
Excellent full color collection of Alphonse Mucha's illustrations.Largerand more informative than the "American Collection", and withjust as nice reproduction but a much lesser cost than the "Spirit ofArt Nouveau".For the art fancier on a budget, this is by far thebest Mucha buy available. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Line drawing tracings of Mucha originals
If you are looking for a book of Mucha's work as he did it, look elsewhere. This book is an artist's renditions, or, more crudely, tracings, of ~37 Mucha works. It seems other reviewers weren't expecting this. The drawings could be useful for some applications; I have seen Mucha's work copied at street-painting festivals, and I think this book would be helpful to one replicating the work in such a way. I can also see this book used as a coloring book for an older child who is interested in art (although, note there is partial female nudity).

The works represented spans his poster work, advertising pieces, and decorative pieces, produced from 1896-1905.

Again, if you want colorful Mucha work, try another book. One example is Alphonse Mucha, by Sarah Mucha. Dover press produces many wonderful books, so you are are bound to find more than one to suit your desires.

fantastic!
as an art student i LOVE Mucha's work, and while searching for full color printed books on his art, i discovered this fun little item. the renderings of his art are very well done, hours of fun when you feel like being a kid again! defenatly more of a novelty or adult coloring book, but i know plenty of adults who still enjoy coloring. as an artist myself it seems a bit silly to use a coloring book, but what artist doesnt want to recreate the masterpeices of their idols in a fun, stress free way?

Not what I expected
I don't know what happened, if this product has more than one listing, or what, but I could swear it wasn't clearly listed as a "colouring book".I also was unaware that these were Mucha drawings traced by another's hand -- and not traced with special sensitivity toward Mucha's intentions -- lines implied with color are absent (including Sarah Bernhardt's upper lip, making her smile in the poster for "La Dame aux Camelias" appear insipid) , highly rendered chalk and pencil drawings are reduced to a few bold ink lines.There is an appealing sharpness, but, for me, the drawbacks out-weigh this positive.

The foreword mentions that the book is intended as "clip art", and I suppose it would serve that purpose, though it's not a purpose that interests me.

I'm a bit puzzled by the coloring book aspect -- I'm not sure Mucha's figures, sometimes of bare-breasted women, is the ideal material for crayolas.

Unless you ARE looking for clip art or a coloring book for grown-ups, Dover's several other Mucha books would be a better purchase.

Review of recent purchase
The product is very useful to me. I received it in a timely manner and for a good price. All is well.

A treat for Mucha fans!
I love coloring, and I love Alphonse Mucha.What a way to combine two favorite past-times!The pictures are rendered on quality paper for you to either color to match Mucha's originals, or create a new color scheme.Definately worth the price! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Figures decoratives - 4.5
This book is a reproduction of Alphonse Mucha's second commissioned portfolio that was published in 1905. It's main use was and continues to be to help artists with composing the body within unusual and interesting shapes. The bulk of the drawings are, as would be expected with Mucha, of women in various dress or in the nude. There are also a few examples of younger children. I found this book to be useful for practice as copying the various figures has helped me gain a better grasp of anatomy. My only complaint would be that there are no studies of men in the plates.

Not enough
Mucha I love. His art is still very unique even today. It never seems old. This book is a good Dover book to see 40 plates by Mucha. They are presented in their original color. But I wouldn't recommend buying it because Dover has another book on Mucha which has 70 plates in original color. The 70 plates book is excellent and I recommend highly on getting it before it goes out of print.

The works presented in this book aren't too diverse. They are mostly tinted in either red or blue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Alphonse Mucha
Art lovers around the world recall with delight Mucha's wonderful portraits of Sarah Bernhardt. Mucha single-handedly revolutionized French poster art at the turn of the century with art nouveau advertisements for Moet & Chandon, Job, Nestle's, Benedictine brandy and "the flower of the nineties"; Monaco Monte-Carlo.

Mucha's work was an inspiration to architects and designers who adapted his style of sinuous flowers and plant motifs for designing buildings and furniture. Mucha's harmonious designs, sensitive colors and superb draughtmanship have earned him the reputation as one of the outstanding and influencial graphic artists of Europe.

This stunning and colorful book is the most accurate record of Mucha's work available. Included are 163 full-color plates, some appearing here for the first time since their original publication. A complete catalogue section contains 525 detailed and illustrated entries and an extensive bibliography of books, periodicals and exhibition catalogues.

Marina Henderson's introduction, "Women and Flowers," and Dr. Anna Dvorak's epilogue, "Illustrations for Books and Periodicals," describe with insight Mucha's life, his achievements and his philosophy.
--- from book's back cover ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mucha Calendar
The calendar is lovely. Good quality pictures with saturated color. Pleanty of space to write in the calendar squares. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Beautiful reproductions!
I was thrilled with the quality of the reproductions!I am using them in a project and they look marvelous.I would recommend this collection highly.Amazon was the first place I'd ever seen this and I have been in many book/gift stores before.This collection had many images that I'd never seen reproduced.The colors are truly sumptuous and "true."The collection includes Luchon, Zodiac, Cycles Perfecta, Lance Parfum 'Roda, 'Bleu Deschamps, Fruit, Moravian Teachers' Choir, Friendship, Sarah Bernhardt/La Plume, a few gorgeous ones which don't have names--and even more!There is a collection of Mucha postcards that were MADE as postcards--they are pretty.But these images come from the best of Mucha's posters.I thought they were a bargain at this price!

beautiful !!!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!! I am happy that I purchased this set of Mucha's postcards. It's a great piece for my collection of Art Nouveau. I don't even want to use them as postcards. I 'm gonna keep them for myself! The quality of paper is perfect - the finish is glossy, colors are vivid and deep. I just wish there were more pictures in the set. :)

Mucha Poster Cards
These post cards are beautiful and the quality is great.I can't bring myself to tear them out of the book and actually mail them to anyone.I am going to have to order a second book so I can use them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Collection
I actually don't own this book, the cost is preventative for me.But I studied with this book for all of the years I had access to it at the art school I attended.It is a beautiful, fairly comprehensive book that I am determined to purchase as soon as I can squeeze out the money from my student budget- it is well worth it!There are notes about each plate and in some cases other variations formerly in circulation.A must have for any art nouveau or Mucha lover! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Worth the expense and difficulty to find this
Not art quality prints or anything, But good quality posters with a generious buffer between the picture and the calander at the bottom. The only down side is that its a bit hard to figure out what day of the week a date is i.e its not formatted like most calendars. But if you are buying this you probably aren't buying it to write your appointments on anyway. Some of the colors are a bit duller that I would prefer, but I haven't seen art quality copies of originals to know which version brighter or duller more earthtone tinted are truer to the artists concept. ... Read more