The last couple of weeks or so were dominated by the Mucha exhibition which is to remain open until the first half of May at the National Museum of Archaeology in Republic Street, Valletta. There was a dinner attended by a handful of us to meet the Muchas at Ambrosia, Christopher and Jayne Farrugia’s popular eaterie in Valletta. Also present were Jane Spiers, a distinguished framemaker who individually designs handmade period frames and also restores watercolours and oils to museum standards and who is closely associated with the Mucha Foundation. She told me that she was in Malta with her husband, a naval officer, some 30 years ago and their first child was born at Mtarfa hospital. She greatly impressed me with her faith in God. Also present was Tomoko Sato, the curator of the Mucha Foundation. I was also to meet Sandro Debono, Curator of the Fine Arts Museum and Heritage Malta’s Chief Curator Kenneth Gambin. It was a lively party and a unique occasion to meet the Muchas who had set up the Mucha Foundation and who work relentlessly to keep the Mucha collection together and to promote it all over the world.
Christopher Farrugia, the popular chef-patron of Ambrosia, told us that in a rather roundabout way his cooking was influenced by Mucha’s Art Nouveau when in the 70s, Nouvelle Cuisine was all the rage. I wasn’t exactly in Pampers in the summer of 1964 when The Beatles were ogling singer Sylvie Vartan over in Paris and French authors Henri Gault and Christian Millau identified the new rules of French cooking. Of course there is some association between Mucha and food and drink for Alphonse Mucha designed posters for Möet & Chandon, the famous Champagne as well as Champagne Ruinart, Lefèvre-Utile biscuit tins, posters for Bières de la Meuse, all displayed at the exhibition.
I arrived slightly late because of the difficulties of parking, even at 8pm. If Parliament is not sitting is one allowed to use the MPs parking spaces is a question I always ask myself. At least I knew that my dining expectations at table would be met. I have eaten often and well at Christopher’s previous eateries and a few times at Ambrosia.
The Muchas are understated like most well-bred British people. And for that matter so are Jane Spiers and Tomoko Sato the latter was highjacked by the two Maltese curators who seem to be too young to have the responsibility of running national museums – at this stage in my life anyone who is50 and less seems but a teenager to me.
John and Sarah Mucha have three children but more about this in an interview to be published. He was a banker until recently. His parents are also noteworthy; his late father Jirí was a journalist and writer, while his Scottish mother Geraldine (she’s from the Orkney islands) is 94 and still composes music. John and Sarah live in a flat in the Czech capital situated opposite the gates of Prague Castle. Their home apparently contains a breathtaking array of Alphonse Mucha memorabilia and artworks – a living museum. Much of the posters and objects in the exhibition come from there, although there are many more which are kept in security, for obvious reasons. I asked Sarah if they now have empty walls until the exhibition is over and she said yes and is looking forward to having everything back again as it is wonderful living with so much beauty. “Alphonse Mucha idealized women,” she told me.
John was born in London in 1948 because when his mother Geraldine was heavily pregnant in January ’48, one of his Scottish relatives who was very high up in the BBC, had gone to Prague and told his parents that ‘something was going to happen.’ The Communists took power in February and as this relative had advised Mrs Mucha to have her baby in England so that he would have a British passport – this was automatic in those days – she had followed his advice. As you can imagine the Muchas have an interesting tale to tell.
At the vernissage which was declared open by Mrs Gonzi the following day and on Saturday morning when I went in again to interview Mr Mucha it became more and more evident to me that although Alphonse Mucha is best known for his posters he was not just a poster artist. There are pastels, drawings, oil paints of the famous Slav Epic. There are biscuit tins, cigarette boxes, a piece of extraordinary jewellery and the famous interior of Fouquet’s which was a jewellery shop Mucha designed for George Fouquet in the Art Nouveau style.
Mucha had moved to Paris in 1887 and continued his studies at the Académie Julian and the Académie Colarossi while producing magazine and advertising illustrations. After his first poster for Sarah Bernardt which made him famous and her immortal, as she told him, embracing him, after she saw his first poster. Alphonse Mucha because an overnight sensation and produced a flurry of paintings, posters, advertisement and book illustrations as well as designs for jewellery, carpets, wallpaper and theatre sets in what became to be known as the Art Nouveau style. He subsequently went into partnership with Georges Fouquet and designed jewellery for his shop as well as its interior and exterior. Fouquet’s shop on the rue Royale was not to endure for as early as 1923 Fouquet decided to refurbish it. All the decorative fittings were dismantled and it is these that found their way to the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, which is dedicated to the history of the city. I must visit this Museum next time I go there.
There is another Fouquet which occupies a strategic corner on the Champs-Elysées and avenue Georges V, which is a Paris icon since it opened its doors in 1899 and was recently renovated by the renowned Paris designer, Jacques Garcia. But this is a restaurant which serves French brasserie food – which is apparently not cheap ‘but worth the experience’ as a friend told me.
On Saturday evening a reception for John and Sarah Mucha was held at the elegant Villa Bologna in Attard. It was very well attended and organised by Ceramika Maltija and Humphries Kirk HKI-Network, who, as far as I could gather, are lawyers to the Mucha Foundation. This gave invited guests the rare opportunity to meet with John and Sarah Mucha. The evening was hosted by Jasper de Trafford who has recently taken over the management of Ceramika Maltija, the pottery at Villa Bologna. Jasper’s vision is to breathe life back into the pottery which nears its 60th anniversary and is a living example of Malta’s cultural heritage. This year will be spent renovating and modernising the working areas of the studios and the pottery equipment and an improvement in the quality of traditional ceramic work has already been achieved since the regeneration project started in spring 2010. A contemporary range of functional ware is also currently being designed. A commemorative plate with the Ceramika Maltija traditional lace sgraffito design was presented to John and Sarah Mucha during the evening. The reception was sponsored by Humphries Kirk HKI-Network who are a UK based law firm promoting their overseas networking.
I would like to encourage you to go and see the Mucha exhibition and become immersed in a totally different world to the one in Republic street outside. Do give yourselves time to watch the 20-minute documentary before as it is an excellent introduction to the ‘style Mucha’ as the French have always called it. There is also a most interesting book published by Midsea books which also contains articles about Maltese Art Nouveau – such as Balluta Buildings, Gustavo Vincenti’s houses and of course Antonio Sciortino’s sculptures. There are also some lovely Mucha cards and bags for sale. I have to say well done to my baby brother Joe and his team. “Wonderful things” as the archaeologist Howard Carter said when he first peered into Tutankhamun’s tomb in Luxor in 1922.