Alphonse Mucha
Alphonse Mucha Figures Decoratives Plate 4
1905

Name: Alphonse Mucha Figures Decoratives Plate 4
Brand: Alphonse Mucha
Price: 2100 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

A framed Art Nouveau lithograph collotype poster by Alphone Mucha from 1905 representing the artist’s sketches of nudes, women and beautiful ladies in blacks and white pigments on vellum paper. Plate 4 of “Figures Decoratives par A. M. Mucha,” (PARIS: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, Emile Levy Editeur, 13. Rue Lafayette. Paris, 1905). Sheet: 13 x 18 inches (33 x 46 cm) Framed:17.75 x 22.5 inches Excellent Condition ready to hang on your wall. This is one of seven left from the album collection. I was going to keep these for myself as they represent the four colors in the series and are exquisite. Explore them and buy 2-3 to make a room and a discount will be applied. Framed tastefully with archival matting, glass and gilt wood. To many, Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860–1939) is best known for his beautiful bell époque posters and magnificent decorative panels. His distinctive graphic approach to the 1895 poster advertising Sarah Bernhardt’s performance in Gismonda captured the Parisian public’s imagination and catapulted the artist into overnight success. During the next ten years he became the high priest of Art Nouveau, publishing several stylebooks which were to have a lasting influence on 20th century art and design. Figures decoratives, originally published in 1905, is a landmark book of the Art Nouveau movement and perhaps best exemplifies Mucha’s artistic product in the years 1895–1905, the decade that made him famous. Mucha’s purity of line and beauty of proportion take their inspiration from nature. But more than nature’s imitator, he was its interpreter, translating its rhythms and designs into works that exude an indefinable charm. His unique approach combined originality of invention with spontaneous energy supported by flawless draftsmanship. These posters represents the essence of Mucha’s genius and documents the subtle shadings and linear excellence that characterized his masterful illustrations. Placed in rectangles, triangles, stars, circles, and a number of irregular geometric forms are figures of women, young girls, and children of both sexes. The harmony between the movement of head, limbs, and drapery and the sense of balance in each pose are the result of Mucha’s instinct for composition, gift for ornamentation, and profound knowledge of his Craft. Mucha’s hand and eye are clearly evident in all his work though one can see other artistic influences which shaped the artist’s development, including Gauguin’s cloissonnism, Horta’s and Van de Velde’s Kinetic treatment of curvilinear design, as well as the linear conventions of Moorish architecture and Islamic ornamentation. Yet Mucha himself believed that he owed his greatest artistic debt to the Folk Art traditions of his native Moravia. AVANTIQUES is dedicated to providing an exclusive curated collection of Fine Arts, Paintings, Bronzes, Asian treasures, Art Glass and Antiques. Our inventory represents time-tested investment quality items with everlasting decorative beauty. We look forward to your business and appreciate any reasonable offers. All of our curated items are vetted and guaranteed authentic and as described. Avantiques only deals in original antiques and never reproductions. We stand behind our treasures with a full money back return policy if the items are not as described. Please also consider Avantique’s eclectic collection of wonderful fine art paintings with artists such as Anthony Thieme, Emile Albert Gruppe, Alphonse Mucha, Maximilien Luce, Alfred De Breanski, Antoine Blanchard, and Marcel Dyf. We strive to collect the highest-quality paintings in exceptional condition.

Creator:

Alphonse Mucha (1860 - 1930, Czech)

Creation Year:

1905

Dimensions:

Height: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)Width: 17.75 in (45.09 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)

Medium:

Paper

Movement & Style:

Art Nouveau

Period:

1900-1909

Condition:

Gallery Location:

Dallas, TX

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU2724214289392

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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.

Find original Alphonse Mucha nude prints, figurative prints, wall decorations and other art on 1stDibs.