Mucha ~ Klimt ~ Lautrec

The three artists share approximately the same date of birth (around 1960), and Alphonse Mucha has a similar formative background tp the other two, having worked as an assistant in Vienna (where Gustave Klimt lived and work) and having emigrated to Paris (where Henri De Toulouse Lautrec lived and work).

The reciprocal influences are extremely clearin the advertising posters: the gusto for decoration, for the dense symbolism and the sensuality of their women. Klimt, one of the founders of the Secession’s movement, is less interested in verisimilitude than the others--his figures are intentionally flat and volatile, marked with a complex net of symbols embodying controversial ideas. Lautrec's works are more *social*: he captures with unique talent the Parisian nightlife. Mucha's work is maybe more commercial and his symbolism more overt, but his paintings and lithography show an extreme elegance and harmony. The three artist testimony the decadence of the intellectual society at the turn of the century and are the pioneers of the coming Art Nouveau in France (or Art liberty in Italy and Jugenstil in Germany).

Paintings: from the top, clockwise, By Mucha, Secession by Klimt, poster for the first exhibition, 1898; and by Toulouse Lautrec.