Victor Arwas Livres

Art Deco offers a broad insight into the splendour of this most lavish of decorative styles, as seen in the work of its leading French exponents

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was one of the most important decorative artists working in Paris at the turn of the century. His distinctive and original posters and his decorative panels in le style Mucha became almost synonymous with French Art Nouveau. The admirer and iconographer of Sarah Bernhardt, he was also well known as the creator of familiar advertisements and as a book illustrator. Yet there was much more to Mucha's achievement than this. At the height of his career as a decorative artist, he became convinced that art should serve ideas, he became chief artistic and cultural adviser to the interwar Czech government, and he completed a major and controversial fresco cycle, the Slav Epic, as well as portraits and large symbolic paintings.This book -- the first full-scale treatment of Mucha's oeuvre -- includes discussions and reproductions of paintings, posters, panneaux decoratifs, pastels, drawings, and illustrations from throughout his career. In addition, the authors provide essays on Mucha's Paris years; his association with Sarah Bernhardt; the importance of American patronage on his later work; his graphic and painterly techniques; and the problems connected with the conservation of the large canvases.This lavishly illustrated book is the catalogue for an exhibition of Mucha's work that will tour the United States, beginning in San Diego in 1998.

Tchèque de naissance, mais ayant fait l'essentiel de sa carrière en France et aux Etats-Unis, Alphonse Mucha a longtemps souffert dans son pays natal d'une sorte d'ostracisme. Pourtant, aujourd'hui, par l'action conjuguée des descendants de l'artiste et de nombreux historiens d'art, son œuvre est remise à l'honneur et considérée à sa juste valeur, celle d'un art audacieux et novateur, aux résonances spirituelles profondes. Cette réhabilitation est marquée par l'organisation d'expositions à travers le monde, l'ouverture d'un Musée Mucha à Prague, et la publication de cet ouvrage. Celui-ci, abondamment illustré et rédigé par des spécialistes, offre pour la première fois un panorama complet de l'œuvre protéiforme de Mucha. Né en 1860 dans un petit village morave, Alphonse Mucha devint célèbre presque du jour au lendemain. Après avoir créé sa première affiche pour Sarah Bernhardt, à Paris en 1895, il développa son style propre, aux lignes sinueuses, aux couleurs pastel et aux motifs décoratifs foisonnants. Dans l'esprit de l'Art nouveau, dont il était l'un des principaux acteurs, il mit son inspiration au service d'une grande quantité d'objets et de matériaux, créant notamment des affiches publicitaires, des bijoux, du mobilier, des services de table, élaborant un répertoire décoratif qui se voulait universel. Ce désir d'universalité n'était pourtant pas limité au seul plan formel. Au fondement de son art, il y a la volonté de transmettre un message de paix et d'harmonie, dans lequel le beau et le bien sont intimement liés. Cette philosophie idéaliste, si elle sous-tend l'œuvre purement décorative de Mucha, est explicite dans ses autres créations, peintures d'histoire, allégories, et scènes symbolistes, moins connues mais auxquelles ce livre consacre une large part. Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) fut un des plus célèbres représentants de l'art nouveau. A l'heure où le style 1900 connaît un regain d'intérêt, il est bon de porter un regard neuf sur l'œuvre de cet artiste trop souvent catalogué comme un affichiste talentueux mais sans grande profondeur. Tel est l'objet de cet ouvrage qui présente, outre les créations les plus connues de Mucha, un éventail complet de son art.

A Parisian journal that attempted a mix of cartoons, short stories, little tales of fashion-folk, gossip about prominent persons; columns of aphorisms on such subjects as marriage or love; fashion-orientated, sophisticated banter set out as pages of dialogue; and comments about music, art, theatre, races, sports, and the stock exchange.

A Catalogue Raisonn, of Legrand's graphic works, the outcome of several years of research by Victor Arwas, art historian and passionate collector; as well as a study in depth of the artist.

Bronze and ivory sculptures in the Art Deco style have become the stars of every major collection of the period. They are the epitomy of their era, reflecting the excitement of the Ballet Russe, the expressionism of silent movies, the simplification of form in 20th century art and the sheer fun of the hyper realistic craftsmanship of their creators. Partly cast in bronze and partly carved, with astonishing skill, in ivory, some were made in Paris by such sculptors as Chiparus, who created hiaratic figures of exotically clad dancers and heroines of mythology, ballet and opera. Others came from Berlin and ranged from the exquisitly beautiful and wholesome girls by Preiss and Poertzel, Philippe and Harders to the strict and bizarre leather clad amazons of Bruno Zach; while others still came from Vienna where the dancers and nudes by Lorenzl and Daka. All the great figures are gathered here in full colour. Their background, history, technique and development are discussed in depth and there is an extensive list of biographies of the artists as well as the identification of the editing firms and foundaries.

15 barevných tabulí, v ilustrované obálce/deskách