[.ca] Alphonse Mucha: The Spirit of Art Nouveau (ISBN 0300074190)

Superb book!:
I saw this book at Borders and requested it from the library since I couldn't afford to buy it that day. It is an amazingly beautiful book with so many pictures. I love art books with lots of pictures, and this has many in colour as well as black and white. I recommend this book very highly. If you are a fan of art nouveau, Mucha, or just appreciate beauty, you will love this book.

Stunning Material And A Subject Well-Served:
This large and very handsome book, which presents itself as the catalogue for a 1998 exhibition, is a beautifully and intelligently presented anthology of the artist's very diverse career, capturing drawings and paintings, sculpture, posters, illustrations, decorative panels, and even jewelry design; the work of a master, all in excellent reproduction. Mucha was a fascinating man and an artist of considerable magnitude, and as the title claims, his work is the spirit of Art Nouveau, though no such label should limit the amazing body of achievment found here. I haven't collected other books of his work yet, but surely this volume will remain definitive for some time.

One of the most complete books of Mucha:
By far, this is the best Alphonse Mucha reference book that is currently being published. There are others out there that have ALL of his works in one volume but they are now out of print. Not only is this rich in text about the artist and his life but it is a catalogue for one of the largest Mucha exhibits to travel throughout the US. Because it is a catalogue of an exhibit, it does not have every single one of his works. BUT it does have complete sets - the Four Stars, the Flowers, the Muses, etc. One of the best aspects of this books is that it also has his sculptures, jewelry, and studies of his Slavic pieces. Many of the Mucha books out there (which I still recommend) do not always have a complete look into the variety of his works. This book does. I was lucky enough to see this exhibit in Reno - and it was just beautiful. To see the works in person is just breathtaking.

I'm tempted to steal the copy at my university's library:
This book is excellent. I just wanted to say that I was pleased that his paintings were also included as well as all of his poster illustrations that Mucha is more famous for. So far this is the only Mucha book I've found that includes the "Slav Epic" series of paintings.

Best of the Best Mucha books you can find:
I have been looking for the picture "Lottery of the National Unity for Southwestern Moravia in Brno" ever since I saw the original this past summer in Prague, where the Mucha museum is located. If you have never heard of this picture, perhaps you can understand how MANY Mucha drawings, paintings, watercoulors and pastels are in here, to find such an obscure one. Not only does it have his known art, such as the 4 seasons, Laurel and Ivy, etc; But is also has his political art, THE ENTIRETY OF THE SLAV EPIC (Which is amazing), and many of his interior designs. How critics ever said Mucha wasn't one of the great masters of pen and ink, eludes me. This is one of the best books, and with Amazon's savings, it's even better. :)