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.
Alfons Mucha - Original Lithograph - Femmes Art Nouveau
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Title: Decorative Documents Author: Alfons Mucha. Publisher: Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 13 Rue Lafayette. Emile Levy publisher. Published ...
Lithograph
Alfons Mucha - Original Lithograph - Christmas Baby Party
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Title: Decorative Documents Author: Alfons Mucha. Publisher: Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 13 Rue Lafayette. Emile Levy publisher. Published ...
Lithograph
$1,850
H 20.75 in W 29 in
Some do not (A) R.B. Kitaj erotic nude drawing of nude blonde with man on bed
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
An erotic dalliance between a nude blonde woman lying down, and nude man, on a bed with white sheets. Subtle shades of peach, tan, yellow, and grey and black shadow behind the couple...
Lithograph
Femme au Collant Noir, 1969, (4/150)
By Rufino Tamayo
Located in San Francisco, CA
Rufino Tamayo Femme au Collant Noir, 1969 Color lithograph Unframed dimensions: 27.50 x 21 in Framed dimensions: 37.625 x 30.75 Edition 4/150 This limited edition color lithograph i...
Color, Lithograph
$720Sale Price|20% Off
H 22.5 in W 16 in
Rising I, Male nude lithograph by Trevor Southey
By Trevor Southey
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Male nude lithograph by Trevor Southey. Charcoal gray. There was also an edition done in terra cotta. Trevor Southey was born in Rhodesia, Africa (now Zimbabwe) in 1940. His African...
Lithograph
$350
H 27.5 in W 21.5 in
Poster for "Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990" at National Portrait Gallery
By Annie Leibovitz
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Framed poster for "Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990" at the National Portrait Gallery. Depicts Leibovitz's iconic image of a nude John Lennon with his arms and legs wrapped arou...
Lithograph
Femme Endormie, Cubist Lithograph after Pablo Picasso
By Pablo Picasso
Located in Long Island City, NY
This Pablo Picasso print portrays a nude woman who has fallen asleep. The figure reclines backward toward the viewer, resting on her back. The artist's use of flowing line and the br...
Lithograph
$294
H 19.69 in W 13 in D 0.04 in
Kneeling Female Nude, Turning to the Right - Lithograph - 2007
By Egon Schiele
Located in Roma, IT
Kneeling Female Nude, Turning to the Right is a beautiful lithograph from the portfolio "Erotica" by Egon Schiele. It is a reproduction of the ho...
Lithograph
$282
H 19.69 in W 13 in D 0.08 in
The Red Host - Lithograph After Egon Schiele - 2007
By Egon Schiele
Located in Roma, IT
The Red Host is a colored lithograph from the portfolio " Erotica" by Egon Schiele. It deals with a reproduction of the homonym artwork realized in watercolor and pencil by the Aus...
Lithograph
$550
H 28.25 in W 19.75 in D 0.3 in
Original nude exhibition poster "Ting" for Galerie Adrien Maeght, linen backed
By Walasse Ting
Located in Spokane, WA
Add a splash of vibrant Parisian art history to your home or office with this original Ting Galerie Adrien Maeght exhibition poster. This poster was made as an announcement for a leg...
Lithograph
Life Will Never Be The Same (Nor Should It)
By Tracey Emin
Located in London, GB
2022 Lithograph on Somerset Velvet Warm White 400gsm paper 94 x 74 cm Edition of 50 Signed, numbered, dated and titled by Tracey Emin Published by Counter Studio, Margate Tracey Emi...
Paper, Lithograph
$4,498
H 56 in W 4,225 in D 5 in
Original Cycles Clement Motocycles Belle Epoque vintage poster
By Pal (Jean de Paléologue)
Located in Spokane, WA
Original French poster: Cycles Clement Motocycles, La Plus Vaste Usine de Monde; artist: PAL, (Jean de Paléologue) 1860-1942, c. 1895 original stone lithograph; archival linen backe...
Lithograph
$1,200Sale Price|20% Off
H 17 in W 20 in D 1.75 in
Henri Matisse Planche XLII Lithograph, Modern Style, 1920
By (after) Henri Matisse
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This artwork by Henri Matisse is a lithograph from the book Cinquante Dessins, published by Les Soins de L'Artiste in 1920. First Edition. The portfolio was edited and printed by M...
Lithograph
$15,000
H 33 in W 23 in
Nobuyoshi Araki - Private Tokyo, rare two sided signed 26/50 museum lithograph
By Nobuyoshi Araki
Located in New York, NY
Nobuyoshi Araki Private Tokyo, 1996 Two Sided Offset Lithograph Boldly signed and numbered 26/50 by the artist in black marker on the lower right front 33 × 46 3/5 inches Published b...
Lithograph, Offset
Sold
H 7.88 in W 5.52 in D 0.4 in
Alfons Mucha - Anatole France - Clio - 13 Original Lithographs
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Alfons Mucha - Anatole France - Clio - 13 Original Lithographs Title: Clio Author: Alfons Mucha and Anatole France Publisher: Published by Calmann Lévy, ...
Lithograph
Alfons Mucha - Original Lithograph - Women
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Title: Decorative Documents Author: Alfons Mucha. Publisher: Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 13 Rue Lafayette. Emile Levy publisher. Published ...
Lithograph