Étoile Du Soir 1902

Alphonse Mucha made this image of Etoile Du Soir, or Evening Star, I’m not sure when or with what, but that burnished sepia palette with its suggestion of gentle fading says “nostalgia” all over it. The star of the evening is draped, and be-dazzled. She turns her face away, shielding her eyes with her hand from the brilliant light. Is it modesty or pain that makes her turn from the radiance of the light? Mucha swathes her in layers of material, her body is almost entirely concealed. The details of the botanical frieze that runs along the top and bottom edges are echoed in the floral patterns on the fabric of her dress. She is caught between two worlds, natural and celestial. Like Klimt, Mucha worked within a tradition of figurative painting, but tilted it towards decorative abstraction. It makes me think of the Pre-Raphaelites, but with more graphic punch. There is a conversation going on here, about how we find our way in the dark, or how we find our way towards the light.