Myth and Modernity: From Crete to Couture Yuima’s Nakazato's Ode to Idomeneo in Paris

The potent ceremonial atmosphere at Yuima Nakazato's AW24 haute couture show in Paris. Photograph and cover picture by Andrea Heinsohn

In the rarified world of Parisian haute couture, few designers captivate the imagination like Yuima Nakazato. The new Unveil collection evinces his creativity and ability to merge historical inspiration with contemporary innovation. This season, the Japanese couturier drew on his work designing stage costumes for Mozart's opera Idomeneo. His compelling Autumn/Winter 2024 show explores the nature of human experience through the lens of ancient Greece, writes Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Research by Antonio Visconti. Photographs by Elli Ioannou and Andrea Heinsohn 

Yuima Nakazato backstage

at his haute couture show in Paris.

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

THE atmosphere at the opening of Yuima Nakazato's show is electric, the darkness in the Saut du Loup at Paris' Palais de Tokyo only relieved by shafts of red light, illuminating dancers clad in silvery tunics. The only sound amid the gloaming, the tinkling of the ceramic 'armour' of the dancers as they move. 

The stately, measured pace of the show has a potent ceremonial atmosphere, with rousing moments from Mozart's Idomeneo. At the crescendo, one by one, the models open their long sleek, black robes to reveal a blood-red interior and crocheted vests of intertwining threads, like capillaries or printed, veined fabrics. These tailored, beautifully cut suits, crafted from wool and textiles made from proteins developed by Japanese start-up Spiber are designed as a challenge to utilitarian clothing. The sheen of the black exterior is a startlingly vivid contrast to the crimson inside, representing the life force. 

"A lining of delicate, hand-knitted red thread emerges from the suit, the same color of the blood that flows through our veins," explains Nakazato. "My intention was to turn the state of being clothed into something that exposes the individual even more than wearing no clothing at all," 

While the red and white patterned long tunics and string-like vests seem like arteries in the human body, the sculptural Biosmocking designs are both otherworldly and elegant, like plants with lush leaves worn by young Greek gods. The glimmering, crocheted tunics embellished with ceramic pieces worn by the dancers makes them appear as soldiers.

"During combat, the most important feature of an item worn on the body is its functionality, which is as true now as it was in ancient times," says the designer. "Utilitarianism also serves as a driving factor in evaluating the design of a garment in apparel mass production. By removing the usefulness and making them purely decorative ~ inverting the original meaning of clothing ~ I sought to express my resistance to this trend."

"My intention was to turn the state of being clothed into something that exposes the individual even more than wearing no clothing at all."

Red ropes represent struggle, while 

fine red threads are like capillaries.

The dancers' ceramic "armour" 

peals musically as they perform. 

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui brought Nakazato's vision to life on the runway with the dancers' movements accentuating the sonorous chimes from the ceramic pieces and enhancing the narrative's immersive quality. 

The dynamic presentation underscored Nakazato's skillful integration of multiple art forms into a cohesive spectacle. The interplay of sound and motion on the runway blended performance art with high fashion. 

The island of Crete, where the tale of Idomeneo unfolds against a backdrop of war and complex human relationships, originally inspired the opera stage design in Geneva with its entwined ropes. This time it is reinterpreted in Nakazato's show as a metaphor for an imbroglio and struggle.

"The scenes of armoured figures, entangled in red ropes representing the sea in the opera, hinted at multiple meanings, bringing me face to face with the unchanging nature of the human condition as it has stood from ancient times to the modern day," the designer comments. 

The visual metaphor is also ingeniously enhanced by Nakazato's signature hand-made ceramic sculptural pieces which resonated through the show with a lilting musicality. Each piece is crafted from Japanese clay and meticulously shaped by Nakazato and his atelier team, transforming the wearer into a living instrument. The sounds created by the chiming of the ceramics offer a sensory aspect that draws the audience into the show.

The skillful integration of multiple art forms into a cohesive spectacle on the runway, blended performance art with high fashion

The elegant, tailored robes in

black with scarlet lining inside.

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Integrating innovative design and thoughtful storytelling, Nakazato deconstructs and reimagines ancient Greek motifs. His aim is to transcend the aesthetic by incorporating history and culture.

The designer's signature approach is to explore fashion as a medium for self-expression, social change and environmental responsibility. His work is a salutary reminder that fashion can not only clothe us as a protective layer but can be an effective artistic tool.

In an industry driven by fleeting trends, Yuima Nakazato is committed to both sustainability and creating beautiful, adaptable designs. His ability to weave together diverse elements ~ ancient narratives, modern technology, and ecological practices ~ sets a new standard for couture, one that is as intellectually stimulating as it is visually captivating. 

Considering the best practices for the environment is an important part of the designer's work and is evident in his use of advanced technologies to create more ecologically friendly fashion. His collaboration with Epson on a new technology that recycles scraps generated during fibre production, transforms waste into new textiles. While digital printing with pigmented inks minimizes water and energy consumption. Garments made from these recycled materials underscore Nakazato’s ethos of creative reinvention

In an industry driven by fleeting trends, Nakazato sets a new standard for couture that is both intellectually stimulating and visually captivating

Sculptural Biosmocking is a

key part of Nakazato's designs.

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Yuima Nakazato's holistic approach extends to every detail of the collection. The shirts, made from protein fibres and organic cotton, are adorned with decorations crafted from silk and cotton lace. The meticulous attention to materiality and craftsmanship honours couture tradition but also pushes the boundaries of contemporary design.

The look of the collection is further enriched by the designer's collaboration with Mikimoto on black pearl jewelry and hand-knitted accessories. 

These pieces link the collection’s inspiration from the ancient world to a modern context while the shimmering dark pearls have a thematic resonance with the sea. 

Each season, Nakazato's use of ceramics as wearable art is an avant-garde experiment in material and form, The designer likes to mix elements that are aesthetically interesting yet also invite philosophical inquiry into the role of fashion in expressing identity and emotion.  

While his focus on new techniques reflects a futuristic mindset, Nakazato's reverence for historical themes makes his work rich in cultural references. He wants people to engage with the designs on a deeper level, to appreciate the stories woven into each garment, and to embrace the transformative and experimental nature of haute couture and its ability to illuminate a path forward in fashion.

Scroll down or tap pictures for full screen to see Yuima Nakazato's Autumn/Winter 2024 Collection

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024, Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024, Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumne/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph; Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato. Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Ell Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumm/Winter 2024. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumn/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato, Unveil, Paris Haute Couture, Autumne/Winter 2024. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Fast Fashion is Harming our Planet: These Four Tips can Help you Build a More Sustainable Wardrobe

Sustainably adding to your wardrobe involves questioning your needs and taking your time shopping for each piece to understand how and where it was made.

By Maryse Côté-Hamel, Université Laval

As sunny summer days return in the northern hemisphere, you may be looking to refresh your wardrobe. The allure of a whole “new you” is pervasive, and the foundation of many a successful marketing campaign.

Indeed, as the weather changes and we spend more time outdoors, you may need lighter summer clothing. However, before you run out to H&M, it is worth considering how you can sustainably add to your wardrobe while limiting its carbon footprint.

Sustainably adding to your wardrobe involves questioning your needs and taking your time shopping for each piece to understand how and where it was made — the antithesis of the fast fashion which has come to dominate global shopping trends.

These four tips can help you build a more sustainable wardrobe.

Fast becoming unsustainable

Fast fashion refers to the rapid production and distribution of clothing to reflect the latest trends. Since the early 1990s, technological improvements, lower costs of production and streamlined supply chains have significantly shortened fashion cycles. Clothes today can be made and sold to consumers at a low price within just a few weeks of being designed.

Two seasons — autumn/winter and spring/summer — were common in the Western fashion industry just a few decades ago. Nowadays, some retailers offer tens of small seasons a year. This constant churning of trends pushes consumers to update their wardrobes frequently by encouraging disposability.

While easier on the wallet, the consequences of the fast fashion industry are myriad. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the global fast fashion-dominated clothing and textile sector is responsible for two to eight per cent of all global carbon emissions and nine per cent of annual microfibre pollution to oceans.

In addition, fast fashion uses about 215 trillion litres of water annually, the equivalent of 86 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. Moreover, workers are often exploited in inhuman conditions for little pay while shareholders pocket skyrocketing profits.

A report on the impacts of fast fashion produced by DW Planet A.

In response to these criticisms, a growing number of fast-fashion retailers, such as H&M and Zara, are claiming to take steps towards reducing their environmental footprint. These outlets claim, for instance, that they have replaced synthetic fibres and polyester, made from oil and petroleum, with natural and recycled ones.

However, the ubiquity of greenwashing across the fashion industry makes it hard to tell if these claims have any weight.

Sustainable shopping?

In the face of such serious concerns, how can anyone hope to shop sustainably?

The first, and in many ways most crucial, step is to simply commit to slowing down your approach to fashion itself by embracing sustainable fashion and shopping ethically to help put the brakes on overproduction and overconsumption.

1 - Buy less, buy better: While forgoing shopping or opting for hand-me-down and secondhand options is preferable to buying new from a sustainability standpoint, such avenues may not always be possible. Therefore, try and buy fewer items of a higher-quality from sustainably conscious brands. Being careful with where, and what, you purchase can help limit the negative environmental and societal impacts of our clothing purchases.

However, most fashion retailers do not control the entire supply chain and, thus, cannot guarantee the sustainability of their clothing. This means consumers must be diligent when shopping and make informed choices themselves.

Recycling and clothing rental are valid options, however, it is worth noting that textile recycling can be expensive and not without environmental impact in terms of both materials and carbon footprint.

If you do opt for a clothing rental service, then avoid using online services that rely on delivery. Likewise, if you must purchase your clothes online, then avoid fast fashion sites like Temu in favour of buying directly from manufacturers you trust.

2 - Repair, reuse and recycle: Prolonging clothing life by wearing pieces over several years and mending it when required, rather than throwing it away, can also be a great way to reduce the environmental footprint of your wardrobe. Even paying for a pair of jeans to be professionally repaired will likely be considerably cheaper than buying new — saving you money in the long-run.

Patagonia, a California-based outdoor gear retailer, encourages consumers to “repair, reuse, and recycle” items. They practice what they preach, using materials, among others, made of recycled bottles since 1993.

The French government recently introduced a country-wide program to subsidize clothes and shoe repairs with the aim to reduce the amount of clothing thrown away. Check to see if your area has similar programs and petition for their creation if not.

3 - Prioritize natural fibres: Opt for natural fibres such as organic cotton, linen, silk, hemp and bamboo. Ideally, clothing should be durable, locally manufactured and made from fair-trade, sustainably sourced natural materials.

While natural fibres are ideal for everyday clothing, synthetic high-performance materials are essential in athletic wear or water-resistent outdoor apparel that can withstand the elements. Recycled materials and other “circular” manufacturing processes should be sought out for these needs where possible.

4 - Choose simple, timeless pieces: Clothing, such as jeans, should be worn for as long as possible and be made from safe, recycled or renewable materials. The design of the garment should also be minimal. For instance, distressed jeans require the use of several toxic chemicals to give them their worn-out appearance.

Forgo ever-changing trends — such as the short-lived Regencycore or Barbiecore — and add to your wardrobe slowly. Make sure that every item you buy is a good fit and aligns with your current lifestyle.

In today’s world of high turnover fast fashion, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed or despondent at the relative lack of sustainable options. However, it is possible to add to your wardrobe sustainably by questioning your needs and taking your time shopping for each piece to understand how and where it was made.

In time, you may even come to appreciate a smaller well-curated wardrobe of timeless pieces that you can wear for years, and not just a few weeks.

Maryse Côté-Hamel, Assistant Professor of Consumer Sciences, Université Laval

Did people in Ancient Rome and Greece Love the Same Way We Do? Perhaps Even More Hopelessly

Venus and Adonis by the Italian late Mannerist artist Paolo Veronese, executed early 1580s, Museo del Prado, Madrid 

By Konstantine Panegyres, The University of Melbourne

Sometime around 100 AD, the Roman lawyer and aristocrat Pliny sent a letter to his third wife, Calpurnia – who was staying in a different part of Italy – to express how much he loved and missed her:

I love you so much, and we are not used to separations. So I stay awake most of the night thinking of you […] The only time I am free from this misery is when I am in court and wearing myself out with my friends’ lawsuits. You can judge then what a life I am leading, when I find my rest in work and distraction in troubles and anxiety.

Most people living today have felt some form of passionate romantic love, or will at some point in their lives – often with heartbreak in equal measure.

When we have problems with love, we like to console ourselves by thinking this happens to many other people. This is certainly true.

It has, of course, been happening for thousands of years.

Why do we fall in love?

One of the most famous ancient accounts of passionate love is found in the writings of the physician Galen (126–219 AD) who worked in Rome. In his book On Prognosis, Galen describes how he paid a call to the house of a man whose wife seemed unwell – suffering from insomnia, yet not with fever.

Galen questioned her, trying to find out why she couldn’t sleep, but she was unresponsive:

She replied hesitantly or not at all, as if to show the folly of such questions, and finally turned over, buried herself completely deep in the blankets, covered her head with a small wrap, and lay there as if wanting to sleep.

On subsequent visits, he discovered the woman was in love (and infatuated) with a dancer called Pylades, whom she had seen dancing at the theatre in the city. Her poor condition came from knowing her love could never be more than a secret desire.

Erastes (lover) and eromenos (beloved) kiss in a scene an Attic cup created circa 480 BC. Wikimedia

Ancient people recognised how love could occur seemingly randomly, for reasons both simple and complicated.

In a play called The Man Who Loved Musical Pipes by Theophilus (4th century BC), one of the characters explains his basic reasons for having fallen in love with someone:

As for me personally, I’m in love with a young woman who plays the lyre […] she’s pretty, she’s tall, she’s good at her job.

Ancient lovers’ passionate embraces and affections have sometimes been recorded in intimate detail.

In one anonymous poem (of uncertain date), the author describes how, after his lover won a boxing contest, he went and kissed him on the lips even though his face was covered in blood:

When Menecharmus, Anticles’ son, won the boxing match, I crowned him with ten soft garlands, and thrice I kissed him all dabbled with blood as he was, but the blood was sweeter to me than myrrh.

The difficulties with love

There are many Greco-Roman stories about unrequited love and the miseries it can bring.

According to the philosopher Aristoxenus (4th century BC), one woman named Harpalyce died of grief after she fell in love with – and was rejected by – a man called Iphiclus.

A 1st century Roman mosaic depicting a love scene. Wikimedia

There are also stories of people struggling to be with (and stay with) their lovers.

Galen explains how one of his patients, a slave, pretended to have a knee injury so he wouldn’t have to travel away from his lover for work.

Elsewhere, Galen writes about people engaging in secret love affairs:

They often have sex when they are drunk or have not digested their food, and they often engage in secret affairs so no one notices.

He says, with dry humour, these “secret affairs” are the reason “the similarity between children and parents in humans is less pronounced”.

A bronze Roman knife-handle decorated with lovers, circa 1st or 2nd century. British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA

Spouses also bickered back then, much like today. In a letter from around 200 AD, a man travelling in Alexandria, Egypt, wrote home to his wife to complain how she didn’t seem to care much about him:

sleep does not come to me at night because of your inconsistency and your indifference concerning my affairs.

Is love a sickness?

Some ancient doctors thought love was a major factor in determining a person’s mental and physical health.

Galen, for instance, believed love could be blamed for some of his patients’ ailments.

I know men and women who have been struck by passionate love and become despondent and sleepless, then contracted an ephemeral fever because of something other than their love […] The disease of people who are constantly thinking about love is hard to cure.

Galen of Pergamum depicted in a 1906 work by Portuguese artist Veloso Salgado. Wikimedia

Galen recommended people with lovesickness should change their lifestyles and engage in bathing, drinking, horse riding and travelling. He also advised them to invest their emotions into other matters such as gladiator fights or hunting with dogs.

Other doctors thought love was so powerful it could potentially cure people’s psychological problems. The 5th-century physician Caelius Aurelianus said love could be both the cure and the cause of insanity.

Either way, there’s no denying it

In one of his plays, the influential playwright Antiphanes (active in the early 4th century BC) wrote:

There are two things a man can’t conceal: that he’s drinking wine and that he’s fallen in love. Because both conditions betray themselves from the expression on his face and the words he speaks. In the end, those who deny it are the ones they most obviously convict.

So the next time love is on your mind, take comfort in knowing you’re not alone. For millennia, people have dealt with this difficult emotion – in all its glory and calamity – and come out the other side unharmed. Mostly, anyway.

Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Melbourne

‘If the Land is Sick, So Are We’: Australian First Nations Spirituality

Jimmy Donegan's painting, Papa Tjukurpa Pukara, depicts andcestral stories. Jimmy Donegan/AAP

By Joshua Waters, Deakin University

First Nations peoples have been present on the Australian continent for more than 65,000 years. During this time, they have managed to develop and maintain continuous, unbroken connections with the land, water and sky.

Understanding the deep interrelatedness between humans and their (human and nonhuman) kin and ancestors instilled a sense of responsibility, through custodianship of their environment. The aim of this was to survive, and to promote a sense of ecological and cosmological balance.

Indigenous Australian spiritualities understand this balance, which is essential to living in harmony with all things in creation.

More than two-thirds of young Australians are experiencing eco-anxiety, while almost half of Australians believe our country is in “decline”. First Nations spiritualities may have some answers.

Dreaming Ancestors

Australia’s more than 250 different First Nations language groups are connected by various elements of spirituality.

In a general sense, spirituality captures the relationship between self, others and “God”.

In an Indigenous context, spirituality is the basis of First Nations peoples’ existence. Essentially, it is a way of life that informs their relationships with all of creation, including plant and animal kin.

The notion of creation itself is informed by cosmologies that are specific to each group. A deeply seeded belief in creative forces that have shaped – and continue to shape – all things is personified as Dreaming Ancestors.

These entities can take many forms and pervade all parts of the universe. They are also said to exist in “time outside of time”, otherwise known as The Dreaming.

The presence of these entities, along with the paths they travelled, the conflict and interactions they experienced, and in some cases, their subsequent deaths, scored Earth’s surface.

The areas and landmarks they occupied in The Dreaming are now depicted as sacred or culturally significant places. The memory of their existence is honoured through rituals and ceremonies that hold the laws and customs for each community.

Cultural practices such as stories, songs and dances have been used as memory aids to transmit knowledge across thousands of generations, and to maintain the Laws and customs handed down by each Dreaming Ancestor.

Kombumerri and Mununjahli law scholar Christine Black suggests these cosmologies define First Nations peoples’ principles, ideals, values and philosophies. In turn, this promotes an overarching Law of Relationship, which teaches us about the importance of Aboriginal protocols for promoting balance and harmony, while also honouring diversity and relational interconnectedness across species.

Songlines, which intersect and connect across the entire continent, support individual groups in trading materials and intellectual properties, propagating spiritual practices and processes that centre social and ecological health.

Maintaining balance and harmony

Despite the vast differences between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups, the primary aim of their spiritualities tends toward developing, maintaining and sustaining cosmological order through balance and harmony.

Balance as a dynamic, fluctuating process plays a crucial role in the workings of the universe. This is also true for many of the fundamental laws of physics, as well as the human body, and at quantum levels. This concept is also reflected in First Nations Australian languages.

Warraimaay historian Victoria Grieves-Williams describes how Yarralin people of the Central Northwest area of the Northern Territory say a person is “punyu” when they are feeling fully alive. This means they are good, happy, strong, healthy, smart, responsible, beautiful and clean.

Similarly, punyu can also refer to the time when people burn off the tall grass in the correct season. Yarralin peoples describe the application of cultural burning in this way as making the country “happy to be taken care of” and “clean and good”.

Australian anthropologist Deborah Bird Rose suggested when the cosmos is punyu, it is homeostatic. This means it is always working towards perfect balance and harmony, of which humans may be regarded as key facilitators (custodians).

Grieves-Williams extends this notion of homeostasis to capture balance in relation to the human body, too. This suggests punyu is the closest word for the caretaking of living systems (both personal and planetary), health and the overall functions of wellbeing.

Australia’s ability to connect with First Nations spiritualities through Indigenous cosmologies may be a doorway into finding deeper meaning in ourselves and the universe – and the vital role of humans as a custodial species and facilitators of a greater cosmological order.

Rekindling our connections

First Nations spirituality promotes a strong sense of interrelatedness and interconnectedness between all things, particularly people and the planet.

Aboriginal Elders have told us we are a reflection of the Country: if the land is sick, so are we. If the land is healthy (or punyu), so are we. Wik First Nations scholar Tyson Yunkaporta says our collective wellbeing can only be sustained through a life of communication with a sentient landscape and all things on it.

In a time when we as a global human population are navigating the complex challenges of modernity, an immersion into First Nations’ spirituality may help us better live in harmony with all things – and importantly, ourselves and each other.

We can explore the depths of these teachings and learn to appreciate them (rather than appropriating them) by reconnecting with the land in meaningful ways, under the guidance of First Nations Elders and Traditional Custodians.

Joshua Waters, Senior Research Fellow, Indigenous Knowledges, Deakin University

Paris Haute Couture: Highlights of Rahul Mishra Autumn/Winter 2024 Collection by Andrea Heinsohn

Alphonse Mucha and Art Nouveau: 100 years After its Creation, His Work is Still a Balm for a World in Upheaval

By Will Visconti, University of Sydney

Alphonse Mucha’s body of work is full of contradictions.

He is most often identified with late 19th-century Paris, but was in fact Moravian (Czech). His vision for the purpose of art was for the betterment of humanity and creation of utopia, but his most famous artworks are advertisements. His style typifies Art Nouveau, a movement at its peak between the 1890s and 1910s, but his career spanned several decades from the late 1800s until his death in 1939.

Self-portrait with posters for Sarah Bernhardt at Mucha’s studio in rue du Val-de-Grâce, Paris, c1901 © Mucha Trust 2024.

Born in 1860 in what is now the Czech Republic, Mucha trained in Paris. He worked as an illustrator in Paris and Prague, and exhibited work in the Paris Salon before rising to fame with his poster works and branching out into other media. After several visits to the United States, he returned to his homeland in 1910 and remained there until his death in 1939.

A new exhibition of his work at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the largest of its kind seen in Australia with over 200 pieces on display, shows the full breadth of Mucha’s work and his commitment to the transformative power of art across media.

Art and ideals

The twin concerns of Mucha’s art are beauty and identity, specifically, national identity.

This may provide the biggest surprise to viewers who recognise his work, showing the extent of his productivity over so many decades and multiple media. Not only did Mucha compose his iconic posters and design jewellery, but he created murals for Czech municipal buildings and a portfolio of designs for interiors.

Alphonse Mucha, Princess Hyacinth. 1911, colour lithograph 125.5 x 83.5 cm © Mucha Trust 2024.

Significantly, he also designed postage stamps and banknotes in 1918 for the newly-formed Republic of Czechoslovakia.

His work is suffused with his utopian ideals and vision for a better world. For Mucha, art was for all. He believed in the power of art to make the world kinder and more beautiful. Such was the popularity of his posters that people removed them as soon as they were put up, to keep for themselves.

His works define the Art Nouveau (“new art”) style of the late 1800s, full of dynamic natural forms or shapes. The vines and flowers that decorate and frame Mucha’s artworks are also found in art, architecture and interior design.

L Alphonse Mucha, Zodiac. 1896, colour lithograph 65.7 x 48.2cm, The Mucha Collection © Mucha Trust 2024.

To compose these works, Mucha used photographs of models as figure studies, which fill a wall of the exhibition. These photographs include Mucha himself posing with his daughter Jaroslava, a frequent collaborator and artist in her own right.

Celebrity and brand development

After the internationally-renowned actor the “Divine” Sarah Bernhardt, commissioned Mucha for a last-minute poster design, his own celebrity increased. Mucha began work on the poster for Bernhardt’s play, Gismonda, on Boxing Day 1894, and it was ready by New Year’s Day 1895. So began a fruitful relationship between the two.

Installation view of the Alphonse Mucha: Spirit of Art Nouveau exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 June – 22 September 2024. Photo © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Diana Panuccio

Bernhardt, herself a sculptor, was rendered in larger-than-life sized posters for many of her plays, which convey the drama and tragedy of her performances, including roles as Hamlet and Lorenzo de’ Medici. When Bernhardt saw the Gismonda poster, she declared “You have made me immortal”.

Adjacent to these images conveying the glamour of celebrity and consumerism, the exhibition includes several works that highlight Mucha’s engagement with spirituality, Freemasonry and mysticism.

Alphonse Mucha, Sarah Bernhardt: La Plume art edition poster. 1897, colour lithograph, 69 x 51 cm © Mucha Trust 2024.

A curious juxtaposition in another room shows Mucha’s involvement with advertising alongside his famous rendering of seasons or artforms as allegorical figures. Where series of richly-decorated images show beautiful young women with glistening gold and silver, the largest and most eye-catching work is an advertisement for Nestlé.

By depicting lissom women in a recognisable style, products grabbed attention without necessarily being depicted, as with JOB cigarettes or Moët & Chandon.

Alphonse Mucha, Poster for JOB cigarette papers. 1896, colour lithograph, 66.7 x 46.4 cm © Mucha Trust 2024.

The Slav epic and national pride

Since his teen years, Mucha had a sense of patriotism, expressed first through amateur dramatics and later through his artworks.

This patriotic fervour is best encapsulated in the monumental Slav Epic, 20 canvases tracing pivotal episodes in Slavic history. The work was intended to educate and inspire the Slavic people to build a peaceful future and learn from their past. It is crowned with a golden Christ-like figure to embody the new republic.

Alphonse Mucha, The Slav Epic XX: Apotheosis Slavs for Humanity. 1926 (detail) egg tempera and oil on canvas, 480 x 405 cm © Mucha Trust 2024.

Given the fragility of the Slav Epic works to travel beyond their current home in the town of Moravský Krumlov, the Art Gallery of New South Wales instead provides digital projections set to music.

It offers a chance to experience the grandeur of the works, the richness of the colours and imagery, all treated with Mucha’s eye for detail.

Mucha with the Slav Epic canvases as exhibited in the Klementinum, Prague, 1919 © Mucha Trust 2024.

A final display shows both the links to Japanese art in Mucha’s works and the broader taste for Japonisme during the late 1800s. The same influence is seen beyond this exhibition in Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters, with their use of flowing black lines or a limited palette. There are also manga, showing the legacy of Mucha’s artworks now reflected back in Japanese art and album covers. Groups like The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane reproduced or appropriated Mucha posters, drawing on their iconic status and melding it with a psychedelic sensibility.

Alphonse Mucha, The Flowers: Carnation. 1898, colour lithograph on paper,107.5 x 47 cm. © Mucha Trust 2024

This exhibition offers more than just beautiful things. It provide the viewer with a glimpse of art that uplifts, and a balm for a world in upheaval, as it did 100 years ago.

Alphonse Mucha: Spirit of Art Nouveau is at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until September 22.

Will Visconti, Teaching staff, Art History, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.