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ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939)
117
●
NECTAR. Documents Décoratifs pl. 14. 1902.
16
3
/
4
x10
5
/
8
inches, 42
1
/
2
x27 cm. [Emile Levy, Paris.]
Condition A-: minor abrasion in central image; mat staining, time-staining, minor tears and pencil marks
in margins. Matted and framed.
This poster design is one of the two most sought-after individual plates from
Documents Décoratifs
.
Like the other plates in the portfolio, it was created purely as a teaching method, “advertising a purely
mythical product” (Rennert / Weill p. 390), which visually encapsulated Mucha’s whole oeuvre of
commercial design. Although it never appeared as a full sized poster, it contains all of his classic,
stylistic Art Nouveau trademarks - a woman with stylized hair, a decorative halo behind her, dressed
in a flowing gown, with text grouped at the top and bottom of the image, within a vertical format and
with sophisticated decorative elements that support the vertical structure of the design. Rennert /
Weill A8, Lendl p. 247, Mucha / Henderson 87 (var), Mucha / Bridges A31.
[3,000/4,000]