[spannish]

(1860-1939) Czech painter and designer. His Art Nouveau posters and decorative panels brought him international fame, presenting idealized images of young women with long, flowing tresses, within a patterned flowered border. His early theater posters were done for the actress Sarah Bernhardt, notably the lithograph Gismonda 1894.
Trained in Munich, Mucha went to Paris 1888 where he worked intermittently as a graphic artist. The Art Nouveau theater posters for Bernhardt, for whom he also designed costumes and jewelry, helped both to launch his career and popularize the style. He also designed textiles, furniture, ceramic plaques, and exhibition displays, and in 1900–01 a jewelry boutique for Georges Fouquet in Paris (now demolished).