ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860 1939) [TIMES OF THE DAY] Group of four

Sale 2389 - Lot 40

Unsold

Estimate: $ 30,000 - $ 40,000

ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939) [TIMES OF THE DAY.] Group of four decorative panels in folding screen. 1899.
Each panel 40x14 1/2 inches, 101 1/2x36 3/4 cm. [F. Champenois, Paris.]
Condition varies, generally B: abrasions at edges; foxing, staining and rippling in margins and image. Mounted to beechwood screen.
An exquisite Art Nouveau quartet representing "Nightly Rest," "Evening Reverie," "Daytime Dash" and "Morning Awakening." "The borders are worked out in such an exquisite pattern that each picture appears to be mounted in an elaborate frame of its own, or else seen through a decorated window" (Rennert / Weill p. 232). Mucha brilliantly adds an additional flourish by presenting different floral patterns behind each border. The fashion of putting Mucha's posters onto screens may have originated with the artist himself, as visitors to his studio noticed "here and there on mobile screens posters by the master taking on the airs of icons" (Abel Fulcran Cesar Fabre, Le Mois Litteraire et Pittoresque, no. 17, May 1900, pps 579-598). Rennert / Weill 62, Wine Spectator 77, Mucha P28-31.

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