Description

A 1897 lithograph of the 1897 Art Nouveau poster “Salon des Cent” by Alphonse Mucha (Czechoslovakian, 1860-1939) as published in “Das Moderne Plakat” by Jean-Louis Sponsel, Printed by Verlag von Gerhard Kuhtmann, Dresden, 1897.

Title: Salon des Cent / XXme Exposition

Sheet Size: 8 1/2 in x 11 1/4 in. (21 cm x 29 cm)

Framed: 23 X 20 Inches with Museum non reflective glass.

“This poster is one of the artist’s first works to follow his standard archetype. It advertises the twentieth exhibition of the group of artists who exhibited at the premises of the art journal ‘La Plume.’ The members were famous Parisian artists: Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Steinlen, Ensor, Grasset, Rassenfosse, and the American Louis Rhead. Mucha’s ambition was to become a member of the group, and he succeeded with this poster, which attracted the attention of the gallery owner Leon Deschamps. He visited Mucha in his studio while he was designing the poster. Fascinated by what he saw, he persuaded Mucha to print it in this unfinished version, according to the artist. Mucha agreed, and the publisher’s feeling, that this lightly outlined, impressive poster would make Mucha famous, proved to be correct (Mucha/Art Nouveau p.156)

“The Salon of the Hundred, was a small gallery on the premises of the magazine ‘La Plume’ where promising designers displayed their work. The publication’s marketing arm, Editions d’Art, also issued these posters and decorative panels in various editions, often on quality paper as art for the home. The bottom half of these posters, there were 43 in all, is normally filled with text” (Gold p.132)

Salon des Cent posters also include De Feure, Grasset, Lautrec, Cazals, and Gottlob