Gazette Drouot logo print

Alfons MUCHA

Price Tax incl.:
25000 EUR

JOB. 1896. MUCHA Alfons (Ivančice (Moravia) 1860 † 1939 Prague) Lithographed poster. 600 x 451 mm (sheet, sight). Good margins. Sheet slightly oxidized, some pale marginal foxing, traces of moisture in lower margin. Two pinholes in upper margin. Handling creases Rennert & Weill, n°15, variant 2 (of 5). Very fine proof on vellum, printed in 8 colors and gold ink by F. Champenois, Paris. Signed in the composition lower right. Printed on a lavender ground from the current edition, circa 1899. Period frame. Between 1895 and 1916, cigarette paper brand JOB commissioned over thirty artists to produce calendars, postcards and posters. This vast advertising campaign was aimed not only at male consumers, but also at the young women of good society, who were massively adopting cigarettes as a sign of modernity. The company called on the best illustrators of the time: Jules Chéret, Georges Rochegrosse, Firmin Bouisset, Charles Léandre, Georges Meunier, Armand Rassenfosse, Jane Atché and others. Between 1896 and 1898, Alfons Mucha, discovered by the general public thanks to Sarah Bernhardt, produced two famous posters for JOB. The first, presented here, sums up his style, powerfully decorative, as well as his feminine ideal: graceful, dreamy features drowned out by volutes of abundant hair, a worldly silhouette with an impeccable outline, soft, subdued colors enhanced by golden tones of Byzantine preciousness. The poster's success was immediate, as evidenced by the many variations in color, format, support and lettering. A deluxe edition was printed on satin (Rennert & Weill n°15, variant 1), and the standard edition was printed on a purple or lavender background. The composition was also produced in smaller formats (postcards, rigid advertising leaflets for stores), and in several languages (R. & W. n°15, v. 4: trilingual version, in Greek, French and Arabic; R&W, v. 5: caption in Spanish).

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