Mucha Rubis European Tapestry

Mucha Rubis is a Belgian made jacquard woven wall tapestry. In this work by Czechoslovakian artist Alphonse Mucha precious stones are personified in this piece from his The Precious Stones series, 1900. Rubis, or Ruby, sits with a regal look of boredom as she toys with her jewels. Her gown is very low cut and revealing. The background is set with a stylized medallion lending a dreamlike quality to the scene. The foreground is dominated by red poinetta flowers. Mucha's works frequently featured beautiful young women in flowing, vaguely Neoclassical-looking robes, often surrounded by lush flowers which sometimes formed halos behind their heads often using pale pastel colors. The Mucha Style became known as Art Nouveau French for new art and was often imitated.