Streets as Open-air Art Exhibitions

The streets became open-air art exhibitions. In 1887, after two years of study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Mucha arrived in Paris, where he furthered his training at the Académie Julian and the Académie Colarossi, later working as a freelance illustrator. In 1894, on December 26 – Saint Stephen's Day – Mucha gained visibility. 

The illustrator, who happened to be grading proofs for a friend in Lemercier's print shop, received a commission, replacing a regular artist who had gone on holiday for the year, to produce a poster for Sarah Bernhardt's theatrical show Gismonda, which would debut on January 4, 1895. The poster appeared on the streets of Paris on New Year's Day and was an immediate success.  

Mucha's Gismonda poster was surprisingly different from the posters of artists such as Jules Chéret or Henri Toulouse-Lautrec: it used an elongated format – which was not common –, more restrained and harmonious colors and more fluid and elegant lines.

After the success of that first poster, Mucha worked for Bernhardt as artistic director and designer, creating six more theater posters for her. Gismonda and other theater posters made for Sarah Bernhardt, as well as advertising pieces, made Mucha one of the most  in-demand graphic designers in Paris.

Mucha portrayed her in this role after being asked to design a poster with a dual purpose: to announce a banquet to be held on December 9, 1896 in honor of the leading actress and to publish an article about her in La Plume magazine.

Light accessory inspired by 'Princesse Lointaine', by Mucha, made by Adolphe Armand Truffier. 

Patina in bronze gold; malachite, amethyst and lapis lazuli cabochons; mounted on the original, curved panel in pear wood.

Adolphe Armand Truffier | (c.1899 to 1937)

The great success of the play La Princesse lointaine led to the publication of a novelised version under the title, Ilsée, Princesse de Tripoli, in 1897.

The parisian actress, Sarah Bernhardt (1844 - 1923), was the greatest stage personality of her era, hailed as "The Divine Sarah". She was also the single most influential figure in Mucha's life as an artist. 

Under this contract, he produced six more posters promoting her productions, including those shown here. Muchas consistent design formula heightened the recognisability of Bernhardts image, and thus the posters consolidated her status as a theatre icon of the era, hailed as "The Divine Sarah". 

Here, Mucha portrayed her as an exotic Byzantine noblewoman wearing a splendid gown, with an orchid headdress...

... and a palm branch in her hand. The pose was taken from Gismonda’s Palm Sunday procession, the climax of the play.

Founded in 1873, the Théâtre de la Renaissance was a Parisian theatre company based in the boulevard Saint-Martin, which is still active today.

During the 1880s, the theatre went through a series of management problems, but in 1893 Bernhardt bought the lease and ran it as actor-director-producer until 1899.

Monochrome lithograph featuring the cover image of L'Illustration magazine, Christmas 1896/1897, by Mucha

In the course of designing this exhibition poster, Mucha incorporated various Slavic elements from his homeland (Moravia) into his decorative motifs...

... such as the embroidered folk cap worn by the girl and the daisy crown that evokes the meadows of his homeland. 

Mucha’s appeal reached beyond Paris. He produced designs for English clients, such as the new literary periodical "The West End Review".

Appropriately, the thoughtful-looking woman and the two cherubs are pictured reading and writing.

“La Dame aux Camélias” was originally written as a novel by Alexandre Dumas (1824–1895), and subsequently adapted for the stage in 1852. This poster was prepared for Bernhardt’s new production of the play, which was premièred on September 30, 1896.