La Femme Animee en Fleur (Lys)

La Femme Animee en Fleur refers to two related paintings by Alphonse Mucha, both of which we have featured within this website. Both items feature portraits of a single woman intertwined with flowers and plants in very much the typical style of Art Nouveau.

Alphonse Mucha was highly skilled in portraiture and would carry these talents across a variety of different mediums, going way beyond just the illustrative methods that he remains most famous for. For example, he would produce designs for stained glass windows as well as menus and posters. There seemed no limit to the ways in which these feminine beauties could be reused. This style became known as Art Nouveau, or New Art, and has proven particularly popular with female art followers and that remains the case today. He would also work in other ways, with historically-based murals that underlined his versatility, but female portraiture will always be how he is best known. There was a feminine charm to many of these paintings which was a rare achievement for a male artist, but at that time it was only really men who were allowed to be successful artists. Thankfully, things have changed and Alphonse even encouraged his own daughter to follow in his footsteps.

This iteration of his La Femme Animee en Fleur series captures a female figure looking off into the distance, somewhere to the viewer's left hand side. Her dress is simple but elegant, which is how the artist usually worked, adding accompanying elements for interest in what ever way he saw fit. Her dress covers the full length of her body, with a display of flowers covering her feet. These plants then continue on behind her. In the top of the painting we find an outline of trees to give the impression of a natural setting such as a forest or park. The way in which this woman even has flowers wrapped around her upper body suggests that she is entirely at one with nature. The tones of colour used also have similarities throughout the piece, giving a consistent synergy which continues this idea of humanity and nature combined together seamlessly.

This artist would offer an alternative to what else was seen during the late 19th and early 20th century. He would lead a group across Europe who brought modernist art to the masses, though their interpretations about how to do that varied considerably. See Antoni Gaudi, for example, who from the field of architecture and starred in Spain with some innovative ideas. There were many others, too, who between them covered a full breadth of artistic disciplines and together they became known loosely as the Art Nouveau movement. Mucha has to be considered the most famous Czech artist of all time, and there seems little chance of him losing that status now that he has a museum set up in his honour.