| |
Alphonse
Mucha was born in 1860 in Ivancice, Moravia,
which is near the city of Brno in the modern
Czech Republic. It was a small town, and for
all intents and purposes life was closer to
the 18th than the 19th century. Though Mucha
is supposed to have started drawing before he
was walking, his early years were spent as a
choirboy and amateur musician.
It wasn't until he finished high school (needing
two extra years to accomplish that onerous task)
that he came to realize that living people were
responsible for some of the art he admired in
the local churches. That epiphany made him determined
to become a painter, despite his father's efforts
in securing him "respectable" employment as
a clerk in the local court.
|
|