Alphonse mucha children

Alphonse Mucha was born on 24 July 1860 in the town of Ivancice in Moravia. He was the second son of Ondrej Mucha, who had six children from two marriages. Ondrej worked as an usher at the Ivancice court house.

From his earliest years, Mucha's artistic talent was evident. He could draw before he could walk - indeed his mother used to tie a pencil round his neck so that he could draw while crawling about on the floor. Very few of his early drawings survive, though an example of an early design can still be seen in the church in Ivancice where young Alphonse carved a monogram of his initials onto a church pew.

Despite his talent, Mucha failed to gain a place to study at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts. Instead he took up a job arranged by his father in the court where he disgraced himself by making caricatures of the plaintiffs and defendants. Fate intervened in the form of an advertisement for apprentice theatrical scenery painters in Vienna. At the age of 19 Mucha was given his first job as a professional artist.

Mucha had spent hardly a year in Vienna when the Ring Theatre, hi

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