?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 6,000 - $ 9,000
ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939) OESTERREICH AUF DER WELTAUSSTELLUNG / PARIS 1900. 1899. 39 3/4x27 3/4 inches, 101x70 1/2 cm S. Czeiger, Vienna. Condition B+: creases, abrasions and light offsetting in margins and image; tears, repaired tears and time-staining at edges; tape on verso; vertical and horizontal folds; text banner affixed to image. Paper. This image is virtually unique among Mucha's work, as it does not display a woman posing on her own, but a young ephebe unveiling a generously proportioned lady. It surpasses Mucha's normal, passively evocative images and borders on the overtly suggestive and sexual. Contemporary publicity explained the image as "Paris revealing Austria to the world;" a marvelous revelation indeed, superbly drawn by Mucha and bathed in a palette of soft, warm earth tones. The right side of the poster was designed by the architect, G. Rossman, and depicts architectural renderings of Austria's various buildings at the Paris World's Fair of 1900. When the poster originally appeared, many collectors cut the piece in two and kept only the sensuous half designed by Mucha. This poster has the uncommon addition of a text banner with the train schedule from Vienna to Paris. Rennert / Weill 66, Wiener Plakat 90, DFP-II 649, Triumph des Jugendstils p. 76, Lendl / Paris p. 41, Mucha A45, Cesky Plakat 76.
