In 1990 I worked in a pub for about 6 months in Cambridge as a barman. I used to like it as it was my opportunity to mix with civilians (I was also in the army at the same time) and the clientele that frequented the pub were a right mixture. Over that time I became friends with a small bunch of mature students and frequently got invited to dine with them. One of them claimed his great great grandfather was Captain Laurence Oates, the "I'm just bobbin outside fer a bit" fella from Scott's failed Antarctic adventure. I found out that despite reports suggesting Oates died a 32 year old virgin, he actually fathered a child with a 12 year old Scottish girl! Guess how many times people said, "I'm just going to the toilet, I may be sometime", when they were in his company?
I remember one night talking about "Mucha" with the clever folk from Cambridge, this is how I was introduced to him, but they referred to him as "Moo-Shar". I've been calling him this for 22 years now and this weekend I realised it is pronounced "Mooka". Mucha is most famous for his paintings, posters and advertisements of beautiful young women in flowing robes and surrounded by flowers but I wasn't aware that he also dabbled with photography.
Mucha became a dominant figure within the Art Nouveau movement. I know what you're thinking, "What's the difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco?", spooky, I was thinking that too! Art Nouveau came about approximately 25 years before Art Deco and there are similarities however Art Nouveau tends to use swirly, pretty and ornate patterns often incorporating images of nature whereas Deco tends to be a bit more masculine, angles and strong shapes.
Any road.
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| "A Mucha Set" |
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| "Mucha - Girl with Lovely Belters" |
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| "Before the Brazilian, this style is called "The Amazon"" |
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| "A Typical Mucha" |
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