LUCHON. 1895.

41 3/4x29 3/4 inches. Camis, Paris.
Condition B+: staining in margins; vertical and horizontal folds.
For many years this unsigned poster was attributed to a string of different artists. The Lorilleux Ink catalogue lists the image as being designed by Tamagno; Victor Arwas has attributed it to Eugene Grasset; while the famous Reims poster catalogue (compiled by Henriot, a champagne producer and a poster collector extraordinaire) lists the poster as being designed by Mucha. Ultimately, a preparatory drawing discovered by Alphonse's son Jiri Mucha ended the dispute. It is no wonder the authorship was questioned, as the poster is quite atypical of Mucha's recognizable style. It is an early work designed before his style fully matured; it is one of his very few posters to depict a man; and it is also a poster which he only partially designed. One can clearly see the influence of Grasset in the design of the horse (see lot 39) aand clearly all the detailed little vignettes were designed by an in-house lithographer at the Camis printing plant. Nevertheless, the image does bear the flamboyance of Mucha's drawing, which befits this southwestern resort in the Pyrenees. Rennert/Weill p. 60, Grand Palais A.7, Lendl 39.