The next few years are the maturity of Natsume's style. His works are not only huge, but also span many artistic fields.
Poster:
Natsume created a series of posters for sarah bernhardt and De La Renaissance theaters, which were brought to the United States with bernhardt's tour in the United States and influenced the style of American posters.
Decorative group painting:
Natsume created many decorative group paintings called "Panneaux décoratifs" (a set of four paintings created around the same theme, often printed on flexible paper or silk fabrics to decorate walls), including 1896 "Four Seasons", 1897 "Four Flowers" and1897.
Advertising pictures and packaging pictures:
Natsume also created a large number of advertising paintings and commodity packaging paintings (from biscuits and bicycles to soap and cigarettes), because the sweet female images and extremely exquisite details he painted were in line with the concept that "beauty means quality" at that time;
Jewelry design:
In the six-year contract, Natsume designed many jewels for bernhardt. /kloc-in 0/900, he cooperated with goldsmith George Fouquet to design jewelry for the latter's jewelry store.
Architectural design:
1899, Natsume designed the Bosnia and Herzegovina Pavilion for the international exposition held in Paris the following year and won the silver medal.
oil painting
1906 After moving to America, he created many oil paintings and portraits.
1897 February, Natsume's first solo exhibition was held in Bodine Gallery, and his 107 works were exhibited. 1902, Natsume published Decorative Documents, which is a craftsman's manual. He hopes to pass on his artistic ideas to future generations through this book.
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Natsume's works absorbed the elegant descriptions of Japanese woodcuts in shape and outline, the colorful colors and geometric decorative effects of Byzantine art, and the meticulous and perceptual descriptions of Baroque and Rococo art ... He created a character image called Natsume Style with perceptual decorative lines, concise outlines and bright watercolor effects. After his processing, all female images appear sweet and elegant, with exquisite figure, youthful vitality and sometimes elegant and supple hair. His paintings are often composed of beautiful young women and decorative flowers with smooth curves.
Unlike other artists, Natsume is also a photographer. He uses photography techniques to assist his creation. He asked the model to pose as he needed and take pictures. Then, according to the photos, he arranged and processed the clothes and hair on the screen. After special composition and flower decoration, he finally finished his creation. Many of his posters are based on photos, and many of the posters he painted for bernhardt are stills from artists or photos taken by artists themselves. This habit actually comes from his poor life experience before he became famous, because every time he hires a model, he has to pay a high fee according to the time, which Natsume, who is too poor to afford. Recording the model's image with photos can not only accumulate materials, but also save a lot of money. Later, Natsume regarded photography as an auxiliary tool as important as sketch.
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Natsume loves his hometown Czech deeply, and he thinks his success is not only a personal achievement, but also an achievement of the Czech people. During his stay in the United States, Natsume was deeply moved by Bedrich Smetana's symphonic poem "vltava river" played by Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and decided to return to his hometown. 19 10, Natsume gave up the reputation and comfortable life brought by the success of commercial painting, and ended his long-term guest life in France and America with his family and returned to his hometown. At this time, Slavs were fighting against the Habsburg dynasty of Austria-Hungary for national independence. Strong national feelings prompted Natsume, 50, to conceive a grand theme: "Slavic Epic". This masterpiece depicts an unforgettable scene in the long historical process of Slavic peoples, including the Czech Republic, from prehistory to19th century. The whole theme includes twenty giant oil paintings (6 10╳8 10cm). Natsume originally planned to finish it in five to six years, but he didn't expect that the whole project took him eighteen years from191year. In this series, he devoted almost all his efforts, because they contained all Natsume's hopes and dreams for the motherland. He once wrote: "The purpose of my creation is by no means to destroy, but to create and build an eternal bridge, because we must have such hope that only by better understanding each other will mankind be more United."
Slavic epic The Abolition of Russian serfdom (1861)1914)
Although Natsume has achieved great success in the field of commercial painting, he is not satisfied. He has always wanted to create some serious works that can truly represent his consciousness. Slavic epic is regarded by Xia as the summary of his artistic career, and he devoted a lot of time and energy to this theme. He not only consulted experts on Slavic history, but also did a lot of research on the environment and related figures of the selected historical scenes. In Central Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, the rural scenery, people's lifestyles and folk costumes have not changed much compared with those of centuries ago, so Natsume often travels through the countryside with cameras and sketchbooks, passionately seeking inspiration and collecting materials for his works. Although these oil paintings still attach great importance to the layout of the picture and the delicate description of the details, they are very different from the previous commercial paintings, and they show more dignified historical precipitation and profound realistic foundation. The protagonist of the picture is no longer the same girl, but a vivid image of Slavs in real life, and the picture is full of rough life texture; Style is no longer a pure decoration, but more a symbol. These oil paintings do embody all the artist's artistic talents, but they are not as famous as his commercial works.
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19 181October 28th, shortly after the end of World War I, independent Czechoslovakia was born. A few weeks later, on1February 18, this new country issued the first set of stamps, and Natsume was the designer of this set of stamps (I'm afraid no other country has such a famous artist designed the first set of stamps for it). Natsume also designed paper money for this new country. He contributed his strength to the motherland in his own way.
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1928, 20 oil paintings of the whole Slavic epic series were all completed, and Natsume donated them to Prague, but he didn't get a warm response. At this time, the trend of the Art Nouveau movement has passed, and supporters of mass modern art have denounced the so-called "19th century" style. In the change of artistic taste, Natsume became the "laggard" of the times. Although Natsume's works are still very popular with the public, because his art is not "new", art critics have not paid much attention to his painstaking works.
When Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, he became one of the first people arrested by the Germans. Although he was allowed to go home after the trial, his health was damaged. 1July, 939 14, he died of pneumonia in Prague and was buried in Vishehra Cemetery.