Zdeňka Černý (1903)

In 1906 Mucha gave a series of lectures at the Chicago Art Institute. While in Chicago, he and Maruška lodged with A.V. Černý, Professor of Music at the First Bohemian Conservatory. 'Papa' Černý had three daughters, all musically gifted. Mucha befriended the second daugter, seven year old Zdeňka, and promised to paint her portrait when she became a virtuoso concert artist. The portrait was painted when she was 16 and formed the basis of for this poster advertising a European tour which Zdeňka was to make in 1914-1915. The concert was cancelled when war broke out but the poster remains as a testament to the artist's friendship with the Černý family.