Alphonse Mucha ⁽²⁷⁾

Alphonse Mucha: the man who turned advertising into art. Before he became the king of Art Nouveau, Mucha was just an artist trying to make ends meet. He started out doing humble illustrations, but then, in 1894, he was hired to create a poster for a French actress named Sarah Bernhardt. This turned out to be a stroke of genius, because Mucha’s flowing lines, intricate patterns, and bold colors made him an instant sensation—like the Taylor Swift of Parisian posters.

Suddenly, everyone wanted a piece of his work, and the rest is history: from champagne advertisements to intricate jewelry designs, Mucha gave us a whole new way of seeing beauty. So, thank you, Alphonse, for making the everyday stuff look so extra.