Étoile Polaire 1902

Editor: Okay, next up we have Alphonse Mucha's "Étoile Polaire," painted in 1902. It’s an oil painting and it strikes me as ethereal, with that flowing fabric and a woman reaching toward… something celestial. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, first off, I’m utterly enchanted by the framing – all those delicate floral motifs trapping this cosmic dream within its embrace. It's classic Art Nouveau: organic lines trying to harness something untamable. Tell me, looking at the woman herself, what feelings does she stir? Editor: Hmmm, a kind of yearning, maybe? She seems to be trying to grasp something just out of reach, with a calm serenity that juxtaposes against an intense emotion. Curator: Precisely. Mucha wasn't just painting pretty pictures, was he? Étoile Polaire translates to North Star and allegorically Mucha invokes not only an eternal guide, but this very human desire to look for higher meanings in a secular time. Mucha always managed to distill a yearning that permeates daily existence. Doesn’t that wash over you as well? Editor: I see that. It is beautiful but also it contains that sense of a melancholy quest for the ineffable. It is as if beauty *is* the quest itself. Thanks for opening up this reading for me! Curator: My pleasure. Next time you feel a little lost, perhaps just look for your own North Star in something beautifully framed, maybe?