Alphonse Mucha
"Lorenzaccio" by Alphonse Mucha from Les Maitres de l'Affiche
1896

Name: "Lorenzaccio" by Alphonse Mucha from Les Maitres de l'Affiche
Brand: Alphonse Mucha
Price: 9500 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Alphonse Mucha "Lorenzaccio, a play in five acts and an epilogue by Alfred de Museet" Plate #114 Image Size: 15" x 11" 1896 Alphonse Mucha was born in Southern Moravia on July 24, 1860. At the age of seventeen the artist left his home, to work as a painter of stage decorations at the Vienna "Ring Theater". When there was a fire at the theater, Mucha lost his job. He found new employment at the Viennese castle with Count Khuen, who became his patron and sent him to the Munich art academy a few years later. From there, Mucha went on to Paris in 1887 to continue his studies at the "Académie Julian" and then at the "Académie Colarossi". Due to a lack of support from Khuen, the student was forced to leave the academy and earn a living as an illustrator. During this time he produced a large number of drawings. These were studies for illustrations, which were later published in "Figaro illustré", "Petit Parisien illustré" and other journals. This early work and the prints for illustrated books like "L´éléfant blanc" by Judith Gauthier, at which Mucha worked during this time, still reflect the usual academic historic style of the time. By coincidence, thanks to an employer of Lemercier printers, Mucha was commissioned to design a poster for Sarah Bernhardt in 1894. This provided the launch pad for Mucha's future success and importance as an influential designer of French "Art Nouveau". From then on, the famous actress not only had Mucha design her posters but also her costumes and stages. The public also liked Mucha's works very much and he became a famous, widely talked about and celebrated master almost overnight. Around 1900 Alphonse Mucha reached the peak of his fame. Mucha's theoretical theses "Documents Décoratives" and "Figures Décoratives" influenced the applied art of the time significantly. People talked about "Mucha style" whose typical elements like the arabesque hair and the aureole surrounding the female profile, were often copied. In 1900 Alphonse Mucha took part in the Paris World Exposition, evoking general attention with his wall decorations in Bosnia and Herzegovina's pavilion. In 1904 Mucha went to America, where he produced wall decorations, stages settings and portraits during a prolonged stay in New York. Alongside he taught drawing and composition at the Chicago Art Institute. After Mucha's return to his home country, shortly before World War I, he dedicated considerable time to lithographic work. Mucha died in Prague 1939.

Creator:

Alphonse Mucha (1860 - 1930, Czech)

Creation Year:

1896

Dimensions:

Height: 23 in (58.42 cm)Width: 14.5 in (36.83 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)

More Editions & Sizes:

Unknown edition sizePrice: $9,500

Medium:

Lithograph

Movement & Style:

Art Nouveau

Period:

1890-1899

Condition:

The custom guild corner frame has two small chips in the gold, that can be touched up upon sale.

Gallery Location:

Hinsdale, IL

Reference Number:

Seller: 18691stDibs: LU138427289772

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Shop All Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha is acclaimed for his distinctly stylized and decorative Art Nouveau illustrated posters and prints — particularly those depicting beautiful French actress and famous artists’ muse Sarah Bernhardt. His work remains widely loved by everyone from bohemian students to serious collectors.

Mucha and his contemporaries treated femininity as the antidote to the impersonal, masculine world of the industrial revolution — it was to be celebrated and embraced. He fervently believed that art is a crucial, enjoyable benefit to humankind, and it should be accessible to as many people as possible.

Mucha showed an early talent for drawing. Rejected when he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 1878, he traveled to Vienna — two years later at the age of 19 — and found work painting theater backdrops. After a tragic fire that destroyed the theater that employed him, he returned home and began painting portraits. Count Eduard Khuen Belasi hired Mucha to paint a series of murals for his residence.

In 1885, the Count sent Mucha to the Munich Academy of Fine Arts — paying his tuition and living expenses. Mucha moved to Paris in 1888 to continue his studies, where he shared a studio with Paul Gauguin. There, he became enamored with the nude female form and allegorical studies. He enjoyed some financial success with magazine illustration work, which led to lucrative book illustration commissions. One of Mucha’s illustrations for the book Scenes and Episodes of German History received a medal of honor at the 1894 Paris Salon of Artists.

In 1894, Mucha began a six-year contract for the acclaimed stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, creating posters for her shows and tours. His first poster was an immediate sensation and cemented his fame in the Art Nouveau poster artist community.

Mucha designed some of the most famous posters of the era — a time when these works were key to the fabric of the cosmopolitan thoroughfare in the French capital. He created advertisements for JOB cigarette papers, Ruinart champagne, Lefèvre-Utile biscuits and Moët-Chandon champagne. Although Mucha is renowned for his posters, he spent the latter half of his life on decorative panel works and Czech nationalist artworks — many of them in the collection at the Mucha Museum in Prague.

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