Alphonse Mucha, Young Couple from Rusadla, 1920,

Oil on canvas, 30 1/4" x 25".

Mucha’s rediscovered work, “Young couple of Rusadla”, 1920, is a fully completed study of a young embracing couple that was part of a larger composition. The largest composition, titled Rusadla, illustrates a processional scene from a Slavic summer solstice festival. 

The two characters of “Young couple of Rusadla”Appear in the upper right corner of Rusadla, which is now lost but has been reproduced in the magazine Zlatá Praha July 30, 1919 (issue 45/46, p. 361).

Czech artist Alphonse Mucha was a very influential figure in the Art Nouveau movement in Paris which rose to fame in 1894 after creating a very popular lithographic advertising poster for the piece, Gismonda, with Sarah Bernhardt. Subsequently, Mucha devoted himself to the chronicle of the Slavic people and their history., Slavic epic.

The fully developed original study, “Young couple of Rusadla”, 1920, which Toomey & Co. sold for $ 965,000 (offered with a $100,000-200,000 estimate) is a beautiful painting that stands on its own while expanding the scope of the larger lost painting, Rusadla. 

Mucha’s penchant for the embracing couple is clearly evident in their highly detailed portrayal, which takes place against a bright, green backdrop.