Dictionnaire des Arts Décoratifs c. 1902

This is an image made by Alphonse Mucha as an advertisement for Dictionnaire des Arts Decoratifs. Notice how the whole thing is rendered with a muted, earthy palette. The outlines feel soft, as if drawn with charcoal rather than stark ink. There’s this incredible decorative patterning in the background, a sort of mandala, which flattens the space and pushes the figure forward. And what a figure! She’s draped in these flowing, almost liquid robes, with a wreath of leaves in her hair. Look closely, and you’ll notice the subtle gradations of color in her face and clothing. It’s as if Mucha is letting the ink bleed and blend, allowing chance to play a role in the final image. Mucha’s whole oeuvre is about this kind of elegant line, but the way he embraces a kind of organic fluidity reminds me of Hilma af Klint’s early experiments with abstraction. Mucha shows us how to embrace process, letting the materials speak and the image emerge through experimentation and play. It's a conversation, not a lecture!