ALPHONSE MUCHA DOCUMENTS DECORATIFS. 1902. Portfolio with 72 plates.

Each plate approximately 18x13 inches. Emile Levy, Paris.
Condition varies, generally B+: minor darkening and foxing in some images; wrinkling, tears and creases along some edges.
Mucha had a privileged relationship with the Librairie Centrale des Beaux Arts, the publishers of the Documents Decoratifs. When he arrived in Paris in 1890, they were among the first to give him commissions for illustrations. They also published his key theoretical essays, the Documents Lithographiques, the Combinaisions Ornementales, which is rightly considered to be the bible of Art Nouveau decorative elements. In this portfolio, Mucha who was at the height of his artistic career, shows examples of jewelry, furniture and silverware, and illustrates how to draw women and flowers (the two main themes of Art Nouveau), in all cases brilliantly demonstrating his stylistic prowess. Each of the 72 plates is a masterpiece of Art Nouveau design. Complete copies are extremely rare, since most have been broken up to sell plate by plate. This copy is especially desirable because it is complete with the 4 original Mucha wrappers that bound each section of the portfolio as it was issued. Lendl p. 132-33 no. 105, Grand Palais no. 281-297.