Frey Wille Hommage à Alphonse Mucha Fire Enamel Gold Plated Creole Earrings

Hommage à Alphonse Mucha; Alfons Maria Mucha was born in 1860, in Moravia (now the Czech Republic). In childhood, drawing was his hobby; he was a self-taught artist and spent the beginning of his career as a scenery painter. In 1887, after studying at the Academy of Arts in Munich, Mucha moved to Paris, and continued his studies at the Académie Julian and Académie Colarossito, all the while working as an illustrator for the advertising industry. In 1894, Mucha learned that a local print shop had an urgent need for an advertising poster for the play Gismonda, featuring Sarah Bernhardt, who was the most famous actress in Paris. He volunteered, the poster was a huge hit and, within a short period of time, Mucha became the most successful graphic designer and illustrator of his generation. He enjoyed enormous acclaim; in 1901, he was named Chevalier Légion d'Honneur. In 1904, Mucha moved to the United States, where he taught at various universities. In 1910, he returned to Prague and focused on painting what he considered to be his masterpiece, The Slav Epic. As an artist, however, he was one of the first to be arrested when Germany invaded his country in 1939; he died that year, shortly after his release.