ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939) SALON DES CENT. 1897. 25 3/8x18 1/4 inches. F. Champenois, Paris. Condition A-: pinholes in corners; restoration in bottom margin; minor repaired tear in left image. Leon Deschamps, the publisher of La Plume, met Mucha in 1896 when the artist first designed a poster for the Salon des Cent. That poster was a huge success and Deschamps became one of Mucha's biggest supporters. In 1897, Deschamps organized a one-man show for Mucha which was coordinated with a special edition of La Plume dedicated to Mucha's work (458 different works were ultimately exhibited). Instead of depicting one of his typical beauties to advertise his show, Mucha presents a young woman with Slavic features wearing a traditional Moravian hat. "Her left hand supports a panel on which a heart is encircled by three garlands. The first is composed of flowers, the second of thorns, and the third of fruit. This is the artist's metaphysical expression of the complexity of life" (Spirit of Art Nouveau p. 165). To balance the relatively empty panel, and perhaps offset the profound implication of the design, Mucha makes sure to include extraordinarily exaggerated, curvy hair — his signature trademark for which the public would have been clamoring. Rennert/Weill 36, Spirit of Art Nouveau 25.
