When people think of Henri Rousseau they think of all the amazing jungle scenes he has painted. When it comes to Alphonse Mucha, people remember his efforts of enforcing the Slav Epic. Whether it be dealing with style, purpose, lives, education, or origin, Henri Rousseau and Alphonse Mucha have many similarities as well as differences.
             Henri Rousseau and Alphonse Mucha both are considered to be in the symbolism category for their work. Both Mucha and Rousseau's work traced back to their homelands. Rousseau is from Lavel, France and Mucha is from Invancice, Moravia, or the Czech Republic, as we know it today. As well as tracing their work back to their homelands, they were also influenced by the traditional forms of painting at the time. However, after years passed, they tried to stray away from the traditional form, creating their own forms of painting.
             On the other hand, Rousseau and Alphonse's styles were quite different. First off, Mucha's style consists of dynamic lines in geometric patterns. He achieves his dramatic effects of his pictures by the way he positions his figures and gets them to blend with the patterns. He leaves no empty spaces throughout the painting. While Rousseau's style never really changed throughout his career, his shapes and images are painted with little shadow. This portrays an overall stage-like effect. Design, shape, and color are very important to this painter. He also overlaps shapes to create a sense of shallow space, unlike Mucha. Regardless of what picture you are looking at, you will always see the differences between Mucha and Rousseau's work.
             Art came easily to the two painters. They taught themselves their own crafts and learned many different techniques after years went by. They both had a minimal amount of schooling behind them. Henri Rousseau only finished through secondary school while Alphonse Mucha continued on to Academie Julian. He stayed there for two years and ...