Description

The poster that launched an epoch – Mucha’s first and justly one of his most prominent posters. The printer, Lemercier, received a rush order from the Theatre de la Renaissance on Christmas Day of 1894, to have a poster for Sarah Bernhardt’s revival of “Gismonda” ready by New Year’s Day, 1895. With much of the staff away for the holiday, the desperate printer used the only artist available-Mucha, who up to then was regarded primarily as a book illustrator.

When the poster appeared on the billboards of Paris it became an instant sensation with its delicate pastel shades and its Byzantine decorative effect. “There are three main elements in Mucha’s art between 1895 and 1900-the woman, the flower, and an exoticism that belongs to the Slavonic countries, of rare flowers, sumptuous brocades, weighty jewelry, and smell of incense in the air. This epitomized in Gismonda” (Abdy, p.132). The project was a success for both artists.

For Mucha, the poster meant the launching of a bright career as much sought-after poster master, a six-year close relation with the most celebrated stage personality of the era, involvement in the world of the theater, and an entry into social circles which upgraded him to the stature of an influential art personality.