Art and World Peace
Alfons Mucha’s “The Slav Epic”
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Alfons Mucha is primarily known for his art nouveau posters. His monumental work, “The Slav Epic”, went largely unnoticed. On 20 large paintings, he attempted to depict Slavic history from its beginnings to the present. At the centre of the series stood the idea of a Pan-Slavic mission: to overcome narrow nationalisms and to redeem humanity. Mucha arrived too late with this theme and its symbolic treatment for his homeland: Only today has there been a revival of interest in “The Slav Epic”.
(Osteuropa 12/2009, pp. 213–226)