Reprinting a lost Mucha Masterpiece

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Alphonse Mucha, Art Gallery, Century Guild, Graphic Art, Kickstarter, Le Pater, Masonry, Museum, Symbolism

In 1899 Art Nouveau illustrator Alphonse Mucha printed a limited number of 510 copies of his most personal work-on-paper.

More than 100 years later, Century Guild is planning on reprinting the book and organising an exhibition about it. And you can take part in this project too!

Le Pater, Alphonse Mucha’s Masterpiece of Symbolism

A love letter to the close of the 19th century and a message of hope to the future.

By December 20, 1899, Alphonse Mucha had experienced four years as the most recognizable proponent of Art Nouveau graphics and the most celebrated illustrator in Paris. The massive output of the artist in his first four years in the advertising and decorative world earned much for Mucha’s publisher but very little for the artist himself.

As the end of the century grew near, Alphonse Mucha insisted upon the release of a deeply personal work, and printed 510 copies of what he for the remainder of his life considered his works-on-paper masterpiece, Le Pater.

Le Pater by Alphonse Mucha 1899

Unlike the advertising art that had dominated Mucha’s output since his “discovery” by Sarah Bernhardt in late 1894, Mucha described this series of images to a New York reporter as “the thing I have put my soul into.” (The Sun newspaper, 5 January, 1900)

If you’ld like to see all these artworks in one book, captured in high-resolution from the originals…

Please support this project and pre-order the book! You’ll also be receiving special Kickstarter-only rewards and helping create the public exhibition of a selection of the original works on paper happen in Los Angeles from July 22nd through August 20th, 2016 – just in time for Mucha’s July 24 birthdate!