Dec 19, 2007 - Sale 2133

Sale 2133 - Lot 113

Price Realized: $ 5,280
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939) SARAH BERNHARDT / [LA PLUME.] 1896.
25 3/4x18 1/4inches.
Condition A-: trimmed bottom margin; repaired tear through bottom margin; minor restoration in image.
At the end of 1896, La Plume decided to publish an article on Sarah Bernhardt (which came out in the very first issue of 1897). To promote the event, they asked her favorite artist to design a poster. The result is a superb textbook Art Nouveau image by Mucha at his best, in which he combines his favorite decorative elements: a halo, stars, byzantine motifs, overgrown stylized hair and flowers (in this case the tiara of lilies Bernhardt wore in one of her most successful plays, Princess Lointaine). "The L'Edition d'art department of La Plume offered this design for sale with no text in the lower left corner" (Rennert/Weill p. 112). Rennert/Weill, 21 (var 2), Mucha, A16 (var).