It is not always necessary to think that artists are the types who are not very happy in ordinary life, finding solace only in creativity, which no one understands anyway. On the contrary, some were really lucky, as if the whole monastery prayed hard for them or they made a deal with the devil, in exchange for good luck. We will talk about one of them in this article.
Madonna of Lilies
Czech artist Alfons Mucha (1860-1939), one of the most famous representatives of the Art Nouveau style, could well consider himself a very lucky man. Fortune did not change him throughout his life. He was lucky to have friends, patrons and customers. When money was required for the realization of his creative ideas, he easily found them, as if they themselves fell from the sky, and became famous after his first order of posters for the play with the participation of the famous Sarah Bernhardt "Gismonde".
Poster for the play "Gismonde" with Sarah Bernhardt.
Sarah was so impressed by Mukha's work that she immediately signed a six-year contract. However, this is not only in the artistic merits of posters, but also in the artist's ability to competently flatter the aging actress, to portray her recognizable, but younger and more beautiful than she was in reality. The public perceived Sarah Bernhardt as an image from the posters of Mukha, and thanks to the virtuoso work of makeup artists and acting skills, she quite corresponded to it on stage.
Moon. From the series "The Moon and the Stars."
Many said that Mucha had an affair with the famous actress, but it is unlikely that this was true, there was a correspondence, indicating that Mucha and Bernard were only good friends.
However, female attention Mukha was not deprived of female attention, and finally arranged his personal life thanks to a fortunate coincidence. He fell in love with a girl Marushka Khitilova, who was 22 years younger. She simply came to Mukha's studio and maintained relations until the artist's death at the age of 79.
Garnet. From the Gemstone series.
Marushka had more than good reasons to fall in love. Mukha by that time was considered the most fashionable and popular Parisian artist, at his studio on duty a lot of noble and rich ladies who certainly wanted to order a portrait "in the style of Sarah Bernhardt". He was rich, famous, successful and in love - as if fate decided to be especially generous for Mukha. It would seem that there was nothing to be desired, but there was a small touch that should have been added to create the image of the ultimate lucky man.
Art. Dance
At some point, Mukha got bored of painting portraits and creating posters, and felt that he could do more - to remain in the history of painting not as a Parisian salon painter and poster writer, but to contribute to the art and national consciousness of his homeland, which he loved wholeheartedly. Living in Paris, he longed for his native Czech Republic, and once in the U.S. at a social party met a millionaire Charles Crane, who agreed to pay for a grandiose project Mucha - a cycle of 20 huge paintings "Slavic epic.
The apotheosis of the history of Slavicness. From the cycle "Slavic Epic"
For twenty years Mucha painted these pictures, so consonant with his Slavic soul. They reflected significant historical events taking place in Bohemia and other Slavic countries. It was his personal contribution to culture, so he simply donated them to his native country. The paintings were exhibited until 1935, when the museum workers decided to hide them from the Nazis, and they did it so thoroughly that they were discovered only 25 years later, when Muha himself was no longer alive. They are now recognized as a national treasure.
Night rest and evening reverie. "Seasons of the Day" series
And who can now dispute that the Fly was indeed a real lucky man?
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