INK: Alphonse Mucha Analysis

 source: http://poulwebb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/alphonse-mucha-part-7.html

Title: preliminary inked version of 'Documents Décoratifs Plate 47' 

Arist: Alphonse Mucha, 1902 

Study in crayon & ink on paper 58.1 x 46.7 cm 

Description 

This image is executed in crayon and ink on fairly large paper positioned in a portrait direction. There are wider margins of white at each side than there are at the top and bottom, making the image seem narrow. Towards the top of the painting, a woman with a sheet around her waist reclines next to or on top of a bear skin, within a circular outline. This outline is surrounded by flowing, rounded shapes that resist the edges of the paper and each other and incorporate natural motifs into their design. The woman is the main focus of the piece and below her is a repetitive but not identically repeating design reminiscent of peacock feathers. Under this is a more simplistic design of organic shapes. Each different section of design is enclosed within a thicker line of black ink and separated by a margin of white space. Only the cloth of the lady's sheet breaches these borders. The line width used to depict shading and other features of the woman's body and the bear fur is much slimmer than the width used in the patterns around the borders, with the section outlines being the thickest of all. Where the thicker lines meet there is a degree of "bleeding", where the junction is thicker still. 

Analysis 

The shading within the sheet is not coincidental: this occupies an eye-catching central position within the composition and the lines which create soft shading curve alluringly around the contours of the woman's legs, containing shapes that echo the patterns around the border. The composition altogether echoes the motifs in the patterns: the woman and the bear occupy the top third of the drawing, and as our eyes travel down the woman's sheet to the bottom, the shapes become more simplistic and less delicate, echoing the elongated stems and more complex swirls or 'sticking points' at the apexes of the patterns, like the stem and bloom of a flower. The eye is led in waves down the woman's figure, as she has been drawn with her head and knees facing to the right and her torso and the bottom of the cloth angled towards the left. This effect makes the woman seem very sensual, as does the uninterrupted white space of her bare top half. The bear's aggressive but ineffective snarl can be contrasted against the relaxed expression of the woman's face, emphasising her position of wealth and domination as she looks down her nose on the viewer. 

Interpretation 

The image represents a vision of hedonism and luxury and could easily be used to promote some form of product or lifestyle. It is very pleasing to look at as there are very few right angled edges, apart from the top and bottom sections, which are designed to contain the viewers' attention within the central sections of the drawing. The effect of this is that a viewer is encouraged to make compelling comparisons to the rounded shapes found in nature and healthy, youthful bodies. It has also been composed to look very balanced according to a viewer's natural instincts. The woman could almost be balancing on the very bottom tip of the hanging cloth. The mixture of thick and thin lines give depth to what could otherwise be a flat image. There is the impression that no line was drawn unplanned, and each one contributes to a larger interaction of shapes, lights and darks.

Evaluation
Alphonse Mucha is renowned for producing visually attractive work using a highly stylised method, whereby the figure depicted is arranged to interact with the patterns that surround it. Usually these patterns contain a mixture of organic shapes and natural elements, such as flowers. Dark borders of varying thickness and sections of white also characterise the artist. The above piece is demonstrative of these trademarks, and the skill of composing such a complex but balanced piece is worthy of appreciation.

image: Study crayon & ink on paper 58.1 x 46.7 cm © Alphonse Mucha Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris