Age of Reason 1938

Editor: Alphonse Mucha's 1938 oil painting, "Age of Reason", currently residing in the Mucha Museum in Prague, evokes a sense of tumultuous transformation. Its scale is rather grand and full of chaotic depictions of a group people emerging from what looks to me like a church. What can you make of this piece? Curator: Immediately, my eye is drawn to the visual contrast between the Church and the forge or furnace. Mucha invites us to consider two powerful, and sometimes conflicting, symbols of progress and societal control: spirituality and industry. Notice how figures emerge, perhaps liberated, from the church’s shadowed doorway. Consider the implications of moving away from the structured doctrines towards the promise of enlightenment, science, or even revolution suggested by the factory and the fiery tones on the right. How does this visual language speak to you? Editor: I see how that contrast sets the stage. It is very powerful. But what about all these writhing bodies? There's so much movement, are they emerging toward that opening you describe or away? Curator: It’s both, isn't it? A tension embodied in the painting's composition; a push and pull. The bodies, intertwined and seemingly struggling, may represent the often-difficult transition to a new era, or paradigm. Are they hopeful, or desperate? The bodies also symbolize our history, a collective struggle moving from past orthodoxies to present possibilities. Where will history lead us next, what values will rise, what values will disappear? Mucha may have painted bodies here to act as witnesses to those ideas. Editor: I see that. It feels both freeing and uncertain. It is not the future that was advertised. I realize I should reflect on my personal orthodoxies to look forward to a bright future with a proper age of reason. Curator: Indeed. Art often functions as a mirror reflecting not only the artist's vision but also our own perceptions and beliefs. Thanks! Editor: Thank you, I understand it a lot better now!