La Dame aux Camélias (Variant 1), Alphonse Mucha

Artwork Overview

Alphonse Mucha, La Dame aux Camélias (Variant 1)
Alphonse Mucha, La Dame aux Camélias (Variant 1)
Alphonse Mucha
La Dame aux Camélias (Variant 1)
1896
Alphonse Mucha
1860–1939
La Dame aux Camélias (Variant 1), 1896
Where object was made: France
Material/technique: color lithograph
Dimensions:
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 2060 x 760 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 81 1/8 x 29 15/16 in
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 2060 x 750 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 81 1/8 x 29 15/16 in
Frame Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 90 1/2 x 38 3/4 x 2 1/4 in
Weight (Weight): 46 lbs
Credit line: Anonymous gift
Accession number: 2005.0087
Not on display
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Label texts

Archive Label: The graphic works of Alphonse Mucha epitomize what we today think of as art nouveau; indeed, the artist literally wrote the book on the subject. His Documents Décoratifs became the definitive art nouveau text used by art schools for a generation. Mucha used feminine and floral subjects, elaborate ornamentation, and whiplash lines with a mastery that elevated his work beyond its commercial purpose. Mucha’s career was much advanced by his association with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the time. During the Christmas rush, when no other designer could produce a poster for her, Bernhardt was forced to hire the then little-known Mucha. She was delighted with the results. Mucha’s work appealed to her decadent nature, and the artist became her favorite designer. For Bernhardt, Mucha produced not only posters, but designs for jewelry, stage sets, and costumes.

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 41 ? Sep-2005, Joseph Keehn, Education Intern I’m David Cateforis with another art minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. Sarah Bernhardt, the “Legendary French star of stage and screen,” was perhaps the most famous actress of the turn of the twentieth century. In “La Dame aux Camélias” - the lady with camelias - a color poster in the Spencer’s prints and drawings collection, Alphonse Mucha described Bernhardt’s melodramatic performance as Camille. The title heroine of Alexandre Dumas’s tragic love story, Camille is a courtesan dying of consumption who resolves to free her lover from his promise of marriage. Depicted with sensuous curves, spirals and rich ornamentation that were characteristic of the “art nouveau” style, Mucha’s weakening heroine leans on a balustrade against a background of silver stars. White camellias, her favorite flower and her namesake, figure prominently and suggest her vanity. One camellia adorns her hair, while below her a disembodied hand of fate holds a stem of flowering buds, symbolizing her imminent death. Camille’s waning vitality contrasts with surrounding architectural decoration of human hearts pierced by thorns, suggesting the play’s principal theme - love’s ultimate sacrifice. With thanks to Joseph Keehn for his text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.