Alphonse Mucha
Alfons Maria Mucha was born in Czechoslovakia in July of 1860. He moved to Paris and is probably most known for his theatrical posters of Sarah Bernhardt. However he also was an influencer in the jewelry world. By the 1890's the name of Alphonse Mucha was known in Paris. In 1899 Gorges Fouquet noticed the posters and proposed that Alphonse become his jewelry designer and Mucha accepted the offer. Not only did he create the pieces of jewelry, but also designed interiors and building exterior of the Fouquet’s new jewelry boutique. Sarah Bernhardt was instrumental in connecting the two as she wanted to have jewelry of Mucha's design and ordered George Fouquet to create a bracelet designed by Alphonse Mucha. By 1902 Mucha had created a book titled Documents Decoratifs that contained plates of elaborate designs for brooches and other pieces, with swirling arabesques and vegetal forms, with incrustations of enamel and colored stones. After tastes changed from the Art Nouveau era at the age of 43 Mucha moved to the Bohemia-Moravia region in Austria and devoted himself to painting honoring the Czech people.
