?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 12,000 - $ 18,000
ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939) RUBY. 1900. 24 x 10 inches. Condition B+: minor fraying in image; faded. Printed on silk. Matted and framed. Mucha had a long, rich collaboration with Fouquet, a Parisian jeweler, as a result of which he most certainly got the inspiration to create a series of four decorative panels based on precious stones. From 1899 to1900, Mucha not only designed jewels for Fouquet but also conceived the entire decoration of his store on the Rue Royale. Published by Champenois these panels represent Mucha at the height of his talent and artistic maturity, with graphic purity, harmony of colors, masterly drawing and perfect composition. This image is less extravagant than his "macaroni hair" images from a few years before. The color scheme is more consistent and is an integral part of the design, which no longer resides inside one of his elaborately decorative frames. "There is still a circular motif in the background, but otherwise the design is virtually bare of adornments and ornamental borders." This is the extremely rare, and unreferenced version on silk. (Rennert / Weill p. 264).
