Alphonse Mucha at Palazzo Mazzetti
A large exhibition of Alphonse Mucha, the Czech master of Art Nouveau, at Palazzo Mazzetti in Asti: more than 110 works, from his Paris theatre posters to decorative panels and studies for the Slav Epic, open every day from November 2026 to May 2027.
Why it's special
Mucha's women framed in flowers defined the look of Paris around 1900, and this show brings the famous posters together in an eighteenth-century palace on Asti's main street: Gismonda and Médée for Sarah Bernhardt, the JOB cigarette paper poster, the Seasons and Precious Stones series, and a three-metre preparatory sketch for the Slav Epic in the ballroom. A second section links it to Asti, with Piedmontese painting from the seventeenth to the twentieth century and the city's own Liberty (Art Nouveau) architecture.
Programme · 2026
Exhibition 'Alphonse Mucha', curated by Francesca Villanti and Annamaria Bava, organised by Arthemisia with the Mucha Trust and produced by Fondazione Asti Musei, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti, Regione Piemonte and the Città di Asti.
- Open every day 10:00–19:00; the ticket office closes an hour earlier.
- Tickets cost €14 (€10 reduced) and can be booked through Musei di Asti (prenotazioni@fondazioneastimusei.it, +39 0141 530403), which also runs guided tours of the exhibition.
- Palazzo Mazzetti is on Corso Alfieri, a few minutes' walk from Piazza Alfieri, so it pairs well with the Christmas market there in November and December.
Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939) arrived in Paris as an unknown Czech illustrator and became famous almost overnight with a poster for Sarah Bernhardt's Gismonda in 1894. His long, flower-crowned women, framed in arches and halos of ornament, became the signature of Art Nouveau, used on theatre bills, biscuit tins, champagne and cigarette papers. This exhibition gathers more than 110 of his works: the theatre posters, the decorative panels of the Seasons and the Precious Stones, calendars, illustrations, and studies for the Slav Epic, the cycle of huge canvases on Slavic history he painted in his later years. The largest piece, a preparatory sketch about three metres long, hangs in the ballroom.
The venue is Palazzo Mazzetti, the city's art museum, on Corso Alfieri. A second section turns to Piedmont, with paintings and sculpture from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, and the underground rooms tell the story of Liberty architecture in Asti itself, so after the visit you can look for its villas and shopfronts in town.
The show runs through the winter, alongside the Christmas market in Piazza Alfieri and the Teatro Alfieri season. See what else is on in Asti.