Alphonse Marie Mucha
Czech (1860-1939)
Nature, c. 1900
gilt bronze, silver, and marble
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, The Sydney and Frances Lewis Art Nouveau Fund
Photo: Katherine Wetzel © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

play audio segment

This sculpture was created by Alphonse Mucha, a Czech artist who became one of the most fashionable artists in Paris at the turn of the century. Although best known for his posters, Mucha also created jewelry, textiles, furniture, and sculptural busts such as this one. Simply titled Nature, it's typical of the artist's dreamy, poetic depictions of women, which earned him overnight success. Here "Mother Earth" is portrayed as a glamorous, remote queen with an ornamental crown and flowing, golden tresses that become increasingly abstract as they wind around the sculpture's base.

Mucha's decorative, pleasure-seeking images of women were widely copied and used to promote everything from cigarette papers to theatrical performances. When actress Sarah Bernhardt saw his 1894 poster of her as the star of the play Gismonda, she liked it so much that she gave Mucha a six-year contract to design her publicity posters.