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ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939)
95
●
MEDEE / SARAH BERNHARDT. 1898.
81
1
/
2
x29
5
/
8
inches, 207x75
1
/
4
cm. F. Champenois, Paris.
Condition B+ / A-: repaired tears, restored losses and minor restoration in
margins, some affecting text. Two-sheets. Framed. Unexamined out of frame.
The production of
Medee
advertised here was a contemporary adaptation
of a play originally written by Euripides. A classic, violent Greek tragedy
about the warrior Jason, the play begins when he returns home from his
quest for the Golden Fleece, bringing with him Medea. When he falls in
love with another woman, Medea, “driven by a pagan code of honor and
her own dark passions . . . conceives a terrible vengeance of gothic cruelty:
she kills Jason’s father, her own two children, and his new mistress, so that
he would have to go through life deprived of everything he loved” (Rennert
/ Weill p. 208). The somber and tragic image depicts a glimpse of the
slaughter, with Medea, a mad look in her eyes, standing with a bloody
dagger over one of her victims. “Mucha’s exquisite design uses Medea’s arm
and the dagger as a giant exclamation point, emphasized by the look of
stark horror on her face as she exacts her gothic revenge. It is one of
[Mucha’s] most powerful posters” (Lendl p. 53). “It carries all the signs of
Mucha’s masterpieces in composition and color as well as the decorative
certainty with which he left the bottom two-thirds of the background
white” (Spirit of Art Nouveau p. 151). The composition is organized
vertically with Mucha’s trademark “halo” behind the actress’ head, and
lettering designed in the style of mosaic to evoke the story’s origin in
ancient Greece. Sarah Bernhardt was so enamored with the snake bracelet
that Mucha depicted adorning her arm that she actually had one made by
Fouquet for her to wear. Rennert / Weill 53, DFP-II 645, Lendl p. 53,
Brno 35, Mucha Grand Palais 93, Darmstadt 80, Mucha / Henderson 80,
Mucha / Bridges A33, Triumph des Jugendstils 12, Art Nouveau p. 111,
Spirit of Art Nouveau 13, Abdy p. 138.
[12,000/18,000]