Have Some Mucha with Your Mocha

One of the can't miss places to see in Prague is the Mucha Museum. My friend Sher and I recently spent a Saturday morning exploring the beautiful, wistful art of Czech patriot Alphonse Mucha.

The museum showcased many of his art posters produced in Paris for various products such as champagne. Many of the posters are not for a commercial product but represent concepts like the four seasons, parts of day, or arts.

Mucha's posters for Sara Bernhardt created such a sensation when they hit the streets of Paris she signed him to do the posters all of her future plays. We know her name to this day because of her business saavy in immortalizing herself.

Besides the gorgeous art, the museum visit was uplifting because of Alphonse Mucha's character and attitude. I made a note of one thing he said because I loved how he viewed his individual impact as a person:

"I was looking round for a means to spread light that would reach even into the remotest corners. I did not have to look long. La Pater[a book]. Why not give it's words pictorial expression."

Alphonse Mucha did all of the bank notes, emblems, logos, seals and signs of the Czech First Republic. The Czech Republic has had a few iterations since then so all of those designs have been replaced. Along with that service to his nation, Mucha also painted the "Slav Epic," a giant tour-de-force artisitic representation of the history of the Slavic people. A weekend trip to see that in the country is on my must-do list.

Our entire visit took 1.5 hours. So when out for a coffee of hot chocolate in Prague this winter, have some Mucha with your mocha.