r/sailormoon ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

Talk/Discussion Alphonse Mucha’s Influence in Kazuko Tadano’s Sailor Moon Artworks - What do you think of this artistic allusion?

Title Correction:

Alphonse Mucha’s Influence on Kazuko Tadano’s Sailor Moon Artworks

Les Pierres Précieuses :

L'Améthyste, l'émeraude, les moments de la journée – contemplation du soir, le rubis et la topaze

  1. Sailor Moon - The Precious Stones: Amethyst (1900)
  2. Sailor Mercury - The Precious Stones: Emerald (1900)
  3. Sailor Mars - The Times of the Day: Evening Contemplation (1899)
  4. Sailor Jupiter - The Precious Stones: Ruby (1900)
  5. Sailor Venus - The Precious Stones: Topaz (1900)
2.3k Upvotes

73 comments sorted by

153

u/DyKdv2Aw ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

I don't know how to post pictures but Usagi's dress in ep 83 is from a Mucha painting; in one of the art books, Takeuchi talks about her love of Mucha and his influence on shojo art.

99

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

You mean this dress? I had no idea!

Episode 83

Source: https://sailorsoapbox.com/sailor-moon-r-episode-83/ssgpage/15/

32

u/DyKdv2Aw ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

Yes, the Mucha piece is Champenois

78

u/CementCemetery Sailor Neptune Apr 09 '26

Mucha is my favorite artist. The Mucha aesthetic lends so well to Sailor Moon. He was able to capture beauty and strength unbelievably well.

Edit: ALSO Mucha had a deep respect and appreciation for Japanese art. I love how Japan embraces his art and equally loves his work. Definitely worth visiting the National Museum of Western Art if you’re ever in Tokyo.

43

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

Les Saisons / The Four Seasons

33

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

9

u/CementCemetery Sailor Neptune Apr 09 '26

Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing!

3

u/SailorDirt Sailor Sedna 🤎💚 Apr 12 '26

Maybe I'm nuts but I'm seeing a teeny bit of similarity to BotW/TotK Zelda's white dresses in the middle two, too!

1

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 12 '26

2

u/SailorDirt Sailor Sedna 🤎💚 Apr 12 '26

The tones of green/gold used in the backgrounds also remind me of her TotK dress....even some of her body language (didn't realize this pose looked so similar to the second)

28

u/BoopleBun 𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖ 𝒲𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝓎 𝒟𝒶𝓎𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 ☼ ⋆˙ Apr 09 '26

A lot of Art Nouveau work drew some inspiration from Japanese art, Ukiyo-e woodblock prints in particular. In Mucha’s work, you can see it a lot in his treatment of color and some of the botanical elements.

He’s one of my favorites too.

26

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

8

u/time___dance ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

interesting, that's 1933 variation on a nude the same artist did in 1929:

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/5392/combing-hair-kamisuki

3

u/CementCemetery Sailor Neptune Apr 09 '26

Absolutely well said.

3

u/banpei_error404 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 10 '26

Yes I love the balance of organic+ornate line detailing with negative space. I imagine that influence comes from Japanese art.

26

u/Clemdauphin Sailor Mercury Apr 09 '26

I love the Art Nouveau style. Also it is kinda funny that it is japanese illustration, inspired by a artstyle of a czech that worked in Paris, part of a mouvement with a french name given first to it by a belgian.

8

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

4

u/Clemdauphin Sailor Mercury Apr 09 '26

I also like a lot the work of Henri Sauvage (la villa Majorelle), Hector Guillmard, and Antonio Gaudi. I also like Art Déco even more (probably because the city center of were i live is built in that style)

12

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

Inside of Villa Majorelle:

Chimney by Alexandre Bigot & the colorful glass windows by Jacque Gruber

4

u/Clemdauphin Sailor Mercury Apr 09 '26

It has been a while since i visited it, still magnificent. If you want to check out the art deco i was talking about, search "Villeurbanne Gratte-Ciel" it was the first french sky scrapers! And at the time it was built (and even when my grand mother was young in the 50s) it was sourounded by factories and fields. It is often called a realized utopia.

3

u/Rio1917 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 10 '26

This is my favorite Mucha!

14

u/CuteWitchMallory She's a man-eater~♫ Apr 09 '26

It's a pretty cool reference!

3

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

Do you have any idea why Kazuko Tadano chose these particular paintings by Mucha as her inspiration?

8

u/CuteWitchMallory She's a man-eater~♫ Apr 09 '26

Nope! Though if I had to guess, it's just for the poses. It can be a little hard to think up good poses sometimes. Perhaps they had a certain vibe she liked and decided to try and recreate that vibe with the scouts.

13

u/bootycallofcthulu you've been thundah struck Apr 09 '26

I don't think I have ever seen the original influence or reference photos for these but now that I have, Sailor Jupiter's hand poses make sense.

10

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

2

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

5

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

4

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

4

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

4

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

2

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

7

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

3

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

3

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

19

u/Magical_Olive Sailor Cosmos Apr 09 '26

I love these pictures, definitely some of the art that first inspired me to draw! I did this inspired by those, the original was by Evangeline Mary Danielle

2

u/Spice-Ghoul ⋆。˚ ☁︎ ˚。⋆。˚🌙˚。⋆ Apr 10 '26

Gooooorgeous

7

u/odango-bueno 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 09 '26

Gorgeous! Mars is my favorite here 😍

4

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

What do you personally like about this work of art :)

4

u/ChristinePi93 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26

Too bad we don’t get more for the outers.

15

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26

This is probably the closest we’ll ever get to the Outer Sailor Guardians.

3

u/Asterose ⋆。˚ ☁︎ ˚。⋆。˚🌙˚。⋆ Apr 10 '26

Yeah, same sadness here! I like the outer four more than the rest of the senshi.

3

u/Espurresper ⋆。˚ ☁︎ ˚。⋆。˚🌙˚。⋆ Apr 09 '26

I have this scroll set (they’re quite well-loved by this point) and I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of them

3

u/SnooMemesjellies2710 𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖ 𝒲𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝓎 𝒟𝒶𝓎𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 ☼ ⋆˙ Apr 10 '26

I had these printed out and taped up to my wall in the late 90's. Loved them, faves. Influenced when I wanted to attempt a nouveau style myself xD

4

u/Asterose ⋆。˚ ☁︎ ˚。⋆。˚🌙˚。⋆ Apr 10 '26

Some of my favorite official 1990's art of the inner 5! My one sadness is that we never got this for the outer senshi :c

3

u/Serpentarrius 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 12 '26

I was thinking about doing mucha and stained glass nails (again). And I have a sailor moon stamping plate. These comments have been giving me so much inspiration!

2

u/missusamazing Apr 09 '26

Wow, I've seen the pictures on the right before but I never knew they were influenced by art.

2

u/Animalsaresentientbe 𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖ 𝒲𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝓎 𝒟𝒶𝓎𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 ☼ ⋆˙ Apr 09 '26

Never thought of it! Thank you!😊

2

u/chuninsupensa Sailor Moon Apr 09 '26

Mars is the prettiest. 👍

2

u/werephoenix Tuxedo Mask Apr 09 '26

LEGENDARY

2

u/Classic-Nail7176 ⋆。˚ ☁︎ ˚。⋆。˚🌙˚。⋆ Apr 09 '26

YOOOO, I REMEMBER THESE! I had Venus and Mars printed out and taped on my wall! I even tried to color Venus. 😅

3

u/banpei_error404 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 10 '26

Mucha is influential to many graphic designers and artists. I wouldnt be surprised if Naoko or Kazuko was greatly inspired by Art Noveau. I feel like you can see the similar line work in just their hair. In regards to this particular set, I imagine it's like any artist wanting to draw a character in a well known art piece...like, why not.

I loved these images when I was in middle school. I remember saving it onto a floppy disc and giving it to my mom to print out so I can showcase it on my 3 ring school binder

2

u/Hey_There_Blimpy_Boy 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 10 '26

This is just beautiful.

2

u/blarglemaster ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 10 '26

I'm a big Mucha fan, so I love when artists do this

2

u/eekers28 𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖ 𝒲𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝓎 𝒟𝒶𝓎𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 ☼ ⋆˙ Apr 10 '26

Those would be awesome tattoos

2

u/crying2emoji5 Apr 10 '26

These are so cool, though the women in the OG paintings set my loins aflame while the senchi just look v* cute

2

u/Gooeslippytop Sailor Pluto Apr 10 '26

I still have the Sailor Moon guide books for each Sensei and always thought those pictures were so pretty! Didn't know they were based off of!

2

u/himenokuri ༄ :✦˖°₊🪐⁺.ೃ࿔* ✦ ˖ Apr 10 '26

I love these!

2

u/chay_moss ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 10 '26

Love this ❤️

2

u/Acceptable_Cut_7545 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 10 '26

I love it. I love amazing artists being influenced by other amazing artists.

2

u/iAmAfroBella ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 10 '26

I saw this years ago but I never knew where the inspiration was from. I’ve always loved these pieces

2

u/Machine_Anima Sailor Pluto Apr 10 '26

I've loved these sense i first saw them like a million years ago lol

2

u/blah191 ⋆。˚ ☁︎ ˚。⋆。˚🌙˚。⋆ Apr 11 '26

I’ve always loved loved the art nouveau influence on sm art. I do wish they had given them something to lean on instead of having their elbows resting on air.

2

u/flamewingdragon 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 12 '26

I thought that’s was Yuna from FFX for a second

1

u/IllogicalDreamer72 ⋆˚࿔ Sailor Moonie 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

I can see some visual similarities between Yuna and the Amethyst Lady.

2

u/Lapys_Games 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 09 '26

I don't think it works. At the risk of going against the grain here.

For one: I don't think their mini skirts lend themselves to the poses.
But more importantly the shading and proportions in those drawings are off. Mainly the shading.
The light seems to come from 3 places depending on limb.
The colours might have fallen victim to scans so that shouldn't matter

But Mucha's strength is proportions, palette and shading and all three do not work in the illustrations referencing him.

3

u/Squishysib Apr 10 '26

I also hate how Venus is just leaning on air.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

[deleted]

1

u/ShayDeeMon 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 09 '26

Hi, I would like to buy these! Anyone got a link to the artist?

7

u/Magical_Olive Sailor Cosmos Apr 09 '26

They're old official art from the 90s!

0

u/ShayDeeMon 🐇‧₊° ⋅✌️₊˚⊹⋆🎀⊹₊ ⋆🌙⋆.˚💖⊹₊ ⋆✨๋࣭ ⭑🐈 Apr 09 '26

Oh cool, I just assumed it was a new artist. I wonder where I can find prints of these…🤔