Alphonse Mucha
Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939) was a Czech artist who became the defining figure of the Parisian Art Nouveau movement. His lush, stylized posters—especially those featuring actress Sarah Bernhardt—made him internationally famous. Despite this commercial success, Mucha was deeply patriotic, considering his true masterpiece to be The Slav Epic, a monumental series celebrating Slavic history. Personally, he was a devoted family man whose life tragically ended shortly after enduring a grueling interrogation by the Gestapo.
