1905
Alphonse Mucha is acclaimed for his distinctly stylized and decorative Art Nouveau illustrated posters and prints — particularly those depicting beautiful French actress and famous artists’ muse Sarah Bernhardt. His work remains widely loved by everyone from bohemian students to serious collectors.
Mucha and his contemporaries treated femininity as the antidote to the impersonal, masculine world of the industrial revolution — it was to be celebrated and embraced. He fervently believed that art is a crucial, enjoyable benefit to humankind, and it should be accessible to as many people as possible.
Mucha showed an early talent for drawing. Rejected when he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 1878, he traveled to Vienna — two years later at the age of 19 — and found work painting theater backdrops. After a tragic fire that destroyed the theater that employed him, he returned home and began painting portraits. Count Eduard Khuen Belasi hired Mucha to paint a series of murals for his residence.
In 1885, the Count sent Mucha to the Munich Academy of Fine Arts — paying his tuition and living expenses. Mucha moved to Paris in 1888 to continue his studies, where he shared a studio with Paul Gauguin. There, he became enamored with the nude female form and allegorical studies. He enjoyed some financial success with magazine illustration work, which led to lucrative book illustration commissions. One of Mucha’s illustrations for the book Scenes and Episodes of German History received a medal of honor at the 1894 Paris Salon of Artists.
In 1894, Mucha began a six-year contract for the acclaimed stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, creating posters for her shows and tours. His first poster was an immediate sensation and cemented his fame in the Art Nouveau poster artist community.
Mucha designed some of the most famous posters of the era — a time when these works were key to the fabric of the cosmopolitan thoroughfare in the French capital. He created advertisements for JOB cigarette papers, Ruinart champagne, Lefèvre-Utile biscuits and Moët-Chandon champagne. Although Mucha is renowned for his posters, he spent the latter half of his life on decorative panel works and Czech nationalist artworks — many of them in the collection at the Mucha Museum in Prague.
Find original Alphonse Mucha nude prints, figurative prints, wall decorations and other art on 1stDibs.
Gonthier-Meymans by Henri Meunier, Art Nouveau Japon lithograph, 1897
By Henri Meunier
Located in Chicago, IL
Henri Meunier’s Gonthier-Meymans lithographic poster, published by Verlag von Gerhard Kühtmann in Dresden, 1897. While this poster was printed in multiple sizes and formats, this edi...
Lithograph
Le Cénacle by Victor Mignot, Art Nouveau Commedia dell'Arte lithograph, 1897
By Victor Mignot
Located in Chicago, IL
Elegantly-dressed society women observe silhouettes of Commedia dell’Arte characters Pierrot, Columbine, and Harlequin at the shadow play theater Le Cénacle. In a manner reminiscent...
Lithograph
Spring by Robert Engels, Medieval Art Nouveau lithograph with gold ink, 1897
By Robert Engels
Located in Chicago, IL
Allegorien-Neue Folge was a serialized folio published in installments between 1895 and 1900. Martin Gerlach, its publisher, was inspired by the rise of modernist design in Vienna an...
Lithograph
Hélyett Marjolaine by Georges de Feure, Art Nouveau theater lithograph, 1896
By Georges De Feure
Located in Chicago, IL
Lithograph of George de Feure’s 1896 theatrical Art Nouveau poster promoting Mistinguett’s role as Hélyett in Marjolaine. Hélyett is shown in a delicate pastel palette, enveloped b...
Lithograph
Cinderella by Dudley Hardy, Art Nouveau theater lithograph poster, 1897
By Dudley Hardy
Located in Chicago, IL
Art Nouveau Cinderella theater poster by Dudley Hardy, published in 1897 by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris, the printing house known for publishing the works of Belle Epoque master Jules Ch...
Lithograph
The Thirst, Plate 52 from Gerlach's Allegorien, Vienna Secession lithograph
Located in Chicago, IL
Wilhelm List, a friend and follower of Gustav Klimt, was a founder and leading member of the Vienna Secession and contributor to its official magazine, Ver Sacrum...
Lithograph
Alphonse Mucha Figures Decoratives Plate 4
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Dallas, TX
A framed Art Nouveau lithograph collotype poster by Alphone Mucha from 1905 representing the artist’s sketches of nudes, women and beautiful ladies in blacks and white pigments on ve...
Paper
Late 19th century color lithograph art nouveau ornate bookplate figures
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Going to Meet the Princess" and "Ilsee's Followers" are two sides of one double-sided original lithograph by Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha. These illustrations were pages 53 &am...
Lithograph
Alphonse Mucha "Reverie" Lithograph
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in New York, NY
Titled "Reverie" (or "Dream"), this lithograph by Alphonse Mucha is one of his most noted and most desirable printed designs. The original use of the design was as an in-house poster...
Paper
Late 19th century color lithograph art nouveau ornate bookplate figures floral
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Dream Weavers" and "Soul of the Land" are two sides of a double-sided lithograph by Alphonse Mucha. These illustrations were created for "Ilsee, Princess of Tripoli" and are the rare proofs before the text. These artworks were for pages 31 and 32. 8" x 6 1/4" art 19 1/4" x 17 1/8" frame Alphonse Mucha was born in 1860 in the small town of Ivancice, Monrovia. Though it is rumored that Mucha was drawing before he was walking, his early years were spent as a choirboy and amateur musician. It wasn’t until after he finished high school that he came to realize that living people were responsible for the art that he admired in the local churches. That epiphany made him determined to become a painter. He was soon sent off to Paris, where he studied at the Academie Julian. On January 1, 1985, he presented his own new style to the citizens of Paris. Spurning the bright colors and the more square-like shape of the more popular poster artists, the design was a sensation. Art Nouveau can...
Lithograph
Alphonse Mucha JOB Original Lithograph
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Dallas, TX
Alphonse Mucha OriginalJOB Lithograph Paris, France 1898 Condition: (B+) condition. Linen Backed with beautiful frame under plexiglass ready to hang. No Issues. Poster: 60.85 x 4...
Ink, Archival Paper
Late 19th century color lithograph art nouveau ornate bookplate figures floral
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Milwaukee, WI
From: Ilsée, Princesse de Tripoli "Ilsee and Jaufre" is an original color lithograph by Alphonse Mucha. Exquisite double-sided color lithographs from "Ilsee, Princesse de Tripoli," ...
Lithograph
