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Inspiration from Artists Week 65 Featuring Artists Rowland Hilder and Alphonse Mucha.
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Posted
A brilliant introduction Lew, and I agree with Tony - you should be on TV, or writing books. The tragedy of Mucha's life was that he ended it with his country occupied, and his being interrogated by the Gestapo - worse, that he died before he could enjoy liberation. However, the vast majority of his life, after his first big break, was unqualified success - well deserved from his brilliant mastery of line and colour. There was another artist, born some 30 years later, who also failed to get into an Academy - and never did get the break that might have saved him, and us, from future horror; chap named Hitler....
AH was plainly NOT in the same league as Alphonse Mucha - but might cause the academics to have second thoughts about the disappointment they can inflict, since it seems Adolf never got over it; there you are, my perception of the second world war - it might never have happened but for art critics..... I don't think I'll make my academic reputation with that one.
Posted
Thanks Lew for your introduction to Mucha, a very enjoyable and interesting read - and slide show. There was revival of his art, his posters anyway, in the 70's and I had some prints of the 'Four Seasons ' on my bedroom wall. Then for a few years, prints of his posters where everywhere, I saw the images too often, and haven't really looked at his work again since - until today and I'm appreciating his work even more, and in love with it again!
Posted
It was the break he got that primed my interest in his story, his art I just plain admired. He was a struggling artist doing whatever he could to survive in a Paris brimming over with artistic talent. Lady Luck, that fickle floozy, put him in exactly the right place at the right time. In walks a Prima Donna demanding a poster within a week during the Christmas Holiday. His talent provides, and wham bam, before you know it he's a success overnight! (Following the norm in these things...an overnight success after honing his craft for years.)
I'm sure, had he not had that break, his talent would have prevailed.
Interesting point about Adolf, who knows? I suspect it wouldn't have made any difference,.
Posted
Yes Hilary, these things tend to go in cycles. Art Nouveau (and Deco) never seem to go completely out of fashion. It was in the late 1970's that we picked up our sole piece of Mucha merchandising. Our son was in college in London, we went up to visit and found several students having a 'sale' on the lawn outside their digs. In those days I think they called them 'garage sales', I'm not sure if car-boots were around then. We found a Mucha style mirror there, and my wife wanted it. About a £1 if memory serves. We both liked posters and pub mirror art, our mirror was quite old when we bought it. Here it is.
It actually looks better than my photo. A few times I've thought about replacing it with one of his posters, but we've grown fond of our bit of kitch.
It actually looks better than my photo. A few times I've thought about replacing it with one of his posters, but we've grown fond of our bit of kitch.
Posted
I'm a bit late for this one but just in case anyone hasn't seen them and is interested, we have a few 1960s articles by Hilder in the techniques area here https://www.painters-online.co.uk/tips-techniques/search/?Search=hilder
Posted
Well spotted, PoL team: actually, these articles, so far back in the day, may well be how I first encountered Rowland Hilder; it was a long time ago. Then I bought his wonderful books - he WROTE so well, too: to the extent I can remember some of his phrases after 50 odd years - such as "one thing that really bugs me" is having to look at watercolours in darkened rooms, because the light would fade them ... he spoke the language of the would-be painter and the casual observer: his unique personality thudded through his every sentence, but in a light and engaging way. Thus proving - painters are the the kindest, gentlest, and most wonderful of people! Unless they, as I did, divert the attentions into party politics, but that's another question altogether.
