ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939) DOCUMENTS DÉCORATIFS. Complete portfolio with 72 plates. 1902.
Each plate approximately 18x13 inches, 45 3/4x33 cm. Emile Levy, Paris.
Condition varies, generally B+ / A-: skinning and wear to portfolio cover and spine; foxing and minor creases on some plates.
Mucha had a privileged relationship with the Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, the publisher of the Documents Décoratifs. When he arrived in Paris in 1890, the library was among the first to give him commissions for illustrations. They also published his key theoretical essays, the Documents Lithographiques, and the Combinaisons Ornementales, which is rightly considered the bible of Art Nouveau decorative elements. In this portfolio, Mucha shows examples of jewelry, furniture and silverware, and illustrates how to draw women and flowers (the two main themes of Art Nouveau), in all cases brilliantly demonstrating his stylistic prowess. Each of the 72 plates is a masterpiece of Art Nouveau design. Complete copies are extremely rare, since most have been broken up to sell plate by plate. Lendl p. 132-33 no. 105, Mucha L31, Spirit of Art Nouveau 123, Art Nouveau p. 114.