Dusk

In his distinctive style, Alphonse Mucha, meant as he put in his words, “to communicate a spiritual message,” pioneered what became the widely successful Art Nouveau or New Art and the decorative panel as an art.

Dusk is a part of a superb series, The Times of the Day, which includes other paintings such as, Morning, Daytime, Evening, and Night. Dusk claiming its place in a pleasing manner accented by the feminine figure who beautifully blends into the background of foliage and the fading light but with her flowing features given a subtle prominence by the artist’s hand.

The muted tones of the artist’s palette only helping to bring about the harmony of the woman and nature at dusk.

The Times of the Day (1899), in which Dusk is part of, fell into a category referred to as decorative panels. A new genre at the time in which he created other popular series: The Seasons (1896), The Flowers (1898), The Arts (1898), The Precious Stones (1900), and The Moon and the Stars (1902).

Decorative panels were an invention by the printer, Imprimerie Champenois, a prominent printer at the time. It was Imprimerie who had commissioned Mucha to create the preceding series, Seasons which was so popular, leading to Imprimerie imploring him to create more sets based on the same theme.

Mucha held that creating beautiful art would improve the quality of life and as such an artist ought to promote art for all, the affluent and the general public.

Notable among Mucha's influences is August Strindberg, a Swedish dramatist, and writer who introduces him to Occultism and Mysticism which impact his life and work in a great way.