Online offerings
▪ Alphonse Mucha created this art nouveau poster advertising JOB cigarette rolling papers circa 1898. Prints and Photographs Division
Art Nouveau theater poster by Alphonse Mucha for “Lorenzaccio,” depicting a richly dressed figure standing against an ornate decorative background with stylized lettering and a dragon motif above.
▪ Actress Sarah Bernhardt employed Mucha to create posters for her productions, including this one for the play “Lorenzaccio.” Prints and Photographs Division

The Magic of Mucha

This Czech artist’s lush, irresistible designs helped define art nouveau.
The Library’s vast print collections include more than a dozen striking images by Alphonse Mucha, the Czech artist widely credited as an originator of the art nouveau style, most notably in the realm of the graphic arts.

Like many other aspiring artists from Central Europe in the period, Mucha had moved to France in 1887 to further his already extensive artistic training. Although he worked steadily as an illustrator for Parisian publishers into the early 1890s, he was living in relative obscurity when he got his big break through a fortuitous collaboration with famed French actress Sarah Bernhardt.

In search of an artist to design a poster advertising her new play, “Gismonda,” in December 1894, Bernhardt contacted publishing firm Lemercier to ask if they could complete the job on a tight deadline. Most of the higher-profile artists were on holiday leave, and Mucha, who happened to be on-site to help a friend with proofs, seized the opportunity to design the poster, a new format for him.

Bernhardt was so pleased with the result that she asked Mucha to produce designs for future productions. Botanical imagery, muted and metallic coloring and both rounded and elongated shapes characterized these and many of Mucha’s future designs.

The success of the Bernhardt posters quickly led to more advertising work for Mucha. With his newfound popularity, Mucha received more commissions to promote commercial products that featured his distinctive style. Like the Bernhardt prints, many also were in poster format, including a series advertising JOB cigarette papers produced by the French Joseph Bardou Company.

The Library’s U.S. Patent Office Advertising Prints and Labels Collection holds several of Mucha’s designs. In the case of Savon Mucha, produced by Armour & Company, the product itself was also named after the artist. In true Mucha fashion, the text on the soap box labels featured the undulating lines often seen in his lettering and the prominent floral elements often seen in his designs.

—Melissa Lindberg is a reference specialist in the Prints and Photographs Division.
Portrait of Czech Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha in profile, wearing a dark suit and patterned tie, photographed by the Geo. K. Lawrence Company in Chicago, circa 1906.
▪ Portrait of artist Alphonse Mucha, circa 1906. Photo by Geo. K. Lawrence Co., Chicago. Prints and Photographs Division
Art Nouveau poster by Alphonse Mucha advertising actress Sarah Bernhardt’s American tour, depicting a robed woman crowned with flowers holding a palm branch beneath an arched “Bernhardt” title and decorative floral motifs.
▪ Art nouveau poster advertising an American tour for actress Sarah Bernhardt. Alphonse Mucha, 1896. Prints and Photographs Division
Art Nouveau illustration by Alphonse Mucha representing spring, showing a young woman with flowing hair in a pale dress surrounded by blossoming branches and swirling floral forms.
▪ Spring, one of four panels depicting each of the seasons as a woman. Alphonse Mucha, 1880–1910. Prints and Photographs Division
Art Nouveau poster by Alphonse Mucha promoting cellist Zdeňka Černý, featuring a woman seated with a cello and bow, reaching toward sheet music above large lettering announcing the musician.
▪ Poster advertising the 1914–15 concert tour of cellist Zdeňka Černý. The tour was canceled due to World War I. Alphonse Mucha, 1913. Prints and Photographs Division
Decorative Art Nouveau soap label designed by Alphonse Mucha for Savon Mucha violet, featuring a woman surrounded by violets and floral ornament within an ornate geometric frame.
▪ Label for Savon Mucha violet soap. The product is named for Alphonse Mucha, who also designed the label. Alphonse Mucha, 1907. Prints and Photographs Division
French Art Nouveau poster by Alphonse Mucha promoting the 1904 St. Louis Universal and International Exposition, depicting an allegorical female figure seated within a circular frame surrounded by decorative motifs and French text.
▪ Label for Savon Mucha heliotrope. The product is named for Alphonse Mucha, who also designed the label. Alphonse Mucha, 1907. Prints and Photographs Division
French Art Nouveau poster by Alphonse Mucha promoting the 1904 St. Louis Universal and International Exposition, depicting an allegorical female figure seated within a circular frame surrounded by decorative motifs and French text.
▪ Art nouveau poster promoting the St. Louis International Exposition of 1904. Alphonse Mucha, 1903. Prints and Photographs Division
Color advertising poster for Whitman’s Salmagundi chocolates showing an ornate decorative box on a table beside a silver dish of chocolates and stacked books against a dark background.
▪ Advertisement shows a box of chocolates featuring a profile of a woman, a reproduction of Alphonse Mucha’s Zodiaque La Plume, 1924. Prints and Photographs Division
Back to Issue