?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 35,000 - $ 45,000
[THE SEASONS.] Four decorative panels on silk. 1900. 28<1/2>x121/2 inches. Champenois, Paris. Condition varies, generally A-: minor foxing in images. Once in a while Mucha panels appear printed on satin. While it is known that these deluxe versions are much rarer than their paper counterparts, nobody has ever done the research to determine just how few of these were ever printed. By going through several of the primary sources, L'Estampe et l'Affiche, La Plume and a salesman's catalogue for Champenois, we have been able to, more precisely, figure out just how scarce these pieces are. In L'Estampe et l'Affiche (1898, p. 90) the print dealer Arnauld advertises Mucha's silk panel L'Annee Nouvelle for 15 francs-but it is listed as being already sold out. He also lists the silk panel La Reverie as being from a run of only 25, at 35 francs (the paper poster was being sold for 10 francs). In the 1899 Catalogue des Affiches published by La Plume, La Fleur et le Plume is offered as "a few series printed on satin at the price of 40 francs" with the unheard of stipulation that they had to be paid for in cash, in advance before the pieces were sent! Finally, in Champenois' catalogue, Spring and Autumn are the only satin pieces listed (at 15 francs, wholesale!), and their mention has been added to the catalogue using a rubber stamp! Champenois was the only publisher who experimented with printing decorative panels on satin. It was an incredibly difficult process to print the entire sequence of colors onto such fragile material-and we can see that the runs were very small and very expensive. To add to their rarity, satin does not age well and is practically impossible to restore. Silk panels in good condition are exceptionally hard to find. Three of the Four Seasons that we offer have the imprint of Champenois. This was a common practice through which Champenois would try and get clients to order the panels with their own name imprinted on them (such variants exist in the paper versions too).
![[THE SEASONS.] Four decorative panels on silk. 1900. 28x12 inches. Champenois, Paris.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//511\535511.jpg)
