Description
Mucha, Alfons Maria 1860 – 1939
Lefevre-Utile – Sarah Bernhardt
Lithograph 1903
Dimensions: 27.5 x 20 in. (70 x 51 cm)
Framed: 28 x 35.5 Inches
Printer: F. Champenois, Paris
Condition Details: (A-/B+) framed. Gold and colors are crisp. Wear commensurate of age and use. Framed in glass and with wear commensurate of use.
Mucha used an explosion of colors and the most famous actor on the planet in this advertisement lithograph for Biscuits Lefevre. Sarah Bernhardt, wearing stage clothes, jokes about the Petit Beurre biscuit : “I don’t know of anything better than a Petit LU except two Petit LU” – “Je ne trouve rien de meilleur qu’un Petit LU, oh si ! deux petits LU.”. This inscription is in the plate. This poster marked the end of Mucha’s collaboration with the Lefèvre-Utile biscuit company.
Alphonse Mucha’s romantic posters and paintings epitomize the Art Nouveau movement that swept through Europe and North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With a palette of subdued pastels, the artist depicted beautiful women posed against sensuous, botanical backdrops. In keeping with dominant Art Nouveau aesthetics, his compositions feature florid lines, decorative elements, and natural forms. Mucha first found success as a commercial artist in 1894, when he designed a poster for a play featuring Sarah Bernhardt, the leading actress of the day. After that, he was consistently commissioned to create posters, paintings, theater set designs, costumes, jewelry, textiles, sculptures, and furniture. During his lifetime, Mucha exhibited in Paris, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, London, New York and other major cities; since his death, he has been featured in shows at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Jewish Museum, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, and the Kunsthalle Rotterdam. On the secondary market, Mucha’s work has sold for seven figures.
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.
