Original lithograph from "Les Maitres de L'Affiche" series. Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris, 1897. Presented in 16 x 20 in. acid free, archival museum mat, with framing labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat. Certificate of Authenticity.
Maitre Sheet Size: approx 11 3/8 in x 15 3/4 in 29 cm x 40 cm
Full size sold for $ 26,400 US Poster Auctions International, NY Feb 2022
"This Mucha from the Maitres de L'Affiche series, perhaps more than any other demonstrates the outstanding printing skills of the time. The smaller format, on high quality paper, lent it self to the use of cutting edge technology not seen in the full size posters of the day. The golds used in the printing of the Salon des Cent are unequal to anything printed before or since. This is truly a lithographer's lasting masterpiece from the printer Imprimerie Chaix" (Greg Yaneff) Ink Study
"This poster is one of the artist's first works to follow his standard archetype. It advertises the twentieth exhibition of the group of artists who exhibited at the premises of the art journal 'La Plume.' The members were famous Parisian artists: Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Steinlen, Ensor, Grasset, Rassenfosse, and the American Louis Rhead. Mucha's ambition was to become a member of the group, and he succeeded with this poster, which attracted the attention of the gallery owner Leon Deschamps. He visited Mucha in his studio while he was designing the poster. Fascinated by what he saw, he persuaded Mucha to print it in this unfinished version, according to the artist. Mucha agreed, and the publisher's feeling, that this lightly outlined, impressive poster would make Mucha famous, proved to be correct (Mucha/Art Nouveau p.156)Watercolor Study
"The Salon of the Hundred, was a small gallery on the premises of the magazine 'La Plume' where promising designers displayed their work. The publication's marketing arm, Editions d'Art, also issued these posters and decorative panels in various editions, often on quality paper as art for the home. The bottom half of these posters, there were 43 in all, is normally filled with text" (Gold p.132)